AMEX Delta Reserve Credit Card: Up to 100,000 Miles Welcome Offer

The Delta Reserve card is currently offering up to 100,000 bonus miles, but you have to complete the application to the final step before you find out exactly how many bonus miles you are eligible for. If you decide not to accept the offer, it will not affect your credit score, so it may be worth a try. That said, unless you specifically need Delta lounge access, this card is only so-so in terms of overall value. We’d also recommend starting with DeltaGold first.

• Delta Reserve application link

If you’re trying to decide which Delta card to get, check out our detailed analysis:

• Limited-time welcome offers on all six AMEX Delta co-branded cards: which one should you choose?

AMEX Delta Reserve SkyMile Credit Card Overview

Highlights

• Status Boost: For every $30,000 in spending per calendar year, you earn 15,000 MQMs (Medallion Qualification Miles), up to four times. (The extra 15,000 Delta miles that used to come with this has been removed.)
• Two SkyClub passes: Anyone can use them; each pass is valid for one visit.
• Complimentary upgrades: If premium cabins are not full at the time of travel, you may be upgraded automatically, but only after Delta Medallion members.
• Delta lounge benefit: The primary cardholder and authorized users can access Delta lounges, Delta Sky Clubs (regular lounge membership costs $450/year)
• Companion Certificate upon renewal: Starting in your second year, after you pay the annual fee you receive a Companion Certificate (CP). This CP lets you bring one companion on a Delta flight for free, including Main Cabin and First Class! The restrictions on using the CP are as follows: round-trip flights only within the 48 contiguous U.S. states, ticket must be purchased more than 14 days before departure, you must pay for the ticket and your companion’s taxes with this credit card, the stay at the destination must be 3-30 days, and eligible fare classes are L, U, T, X, V. For detailed terms and usage, see: Delta’s official explanation
• Delta flight benefits: priority boarding, first checked bag free, 20% off in-flight purchases, and lounge discounts when flying Delta
• AMEX card benefits
  • AMEX Offer: $20 back on $20 at Amazon; $5 off $15 at Walmart; $10 off $75 on phone bills. Generous AMEX often gives cardholders good Offers that let you earn cash back while spending. See also: AMEX Offer guide, recent best AMEX Offers roundup, and 2013-2016 AMEX Offer summary
  • Free ShopRunner membership: enjoy free two-day shipping at many online stores. For details, see the official link
  • Extended warranty: items purchased in full with an AMEX card get the manufacturer warranty extended by one additional year
  • Free credit score: AMEX provides your Experian credit score every month. See which free credit score is best

The latest benefit changes are as follows:

• Expanded Companion Pass eligibility: can now be used for the 48 U.S. states plus Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America
• $10 monthly rideshare credit: can be used with Uber, Lyft, Curb, Revel, Alto, and Via, limited to United States, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands only. Note that you need to enroll in this benefit (enrollment link, business card enrollment link)
• $20 monthly statement credit for dining purchases on Resy.com: usable after creating a resy.com account and making eligible dining purchases. Enrollment is required (enrollment link, business card enrollment link)
• $200 hotel credit: you must use this card to book through delta.com/stays, Delta’s own travel portal
• More Delta lounge passes: four per year
• Hertz President Circle status (top tier): enrollment required at delta.com/mypromos/eligible and delta.com/hertz.
• 1.5x on shipping, transit, and office purchases (Delta Reserve business card only)
• MQDs awarded directly: reduces the $2,500 spending previously needed to pursue elite status
• Earn MQDs from card spending: earn $1 MQD for every $10 spent; in theory you can reach elite status through spending alone
• The annual fee will increase to $650 (previously $550): if your card was applied for before February 1, 2024, your annual fee will be adjusted when it renews after May 1, 2024. Based on the wording, if your new annual fee posts before May 1, it should still be $550; if it posts after that, it will be $650 directly.

Drawbacks

• This card’s $450 annual fee is a bit high, and adding authorized users costs extra

About Delta SkyMiles:

• Value: about 1.4 cents per mile. The main reason is that the award chart changes frequently, so redemptions are not as stable as miles such as AA or UA.
• Redemptions: awards start at 35,000 miles one-way between China and the U.S., 5,500 miles for a one-way domestic U.S. flight, 7,500 miles for a one-way domestic China flight, and 80,000 miles for U.S.-Australia business class. A great short-haul sweet spot within the U.S., especially for people living on the U.S. West Coast and in the Northeast.
• More: for earning and redemption tips, see: Delta SkyMiles Intro 1; Intro 2; Intro 3

My Take

This card is clearly aimed at frequent Delta flyers and high-end business travelers. Its biggest selling point is the MQM boost from high spending, which helps with pursuing elite status. If you’re trying to work toward Delta’s million-miler-status and are short on some MQMs, both the welcome offer and the big-spend rewards on this card can be very helpful supplements. That said, looking at the other benefits, this card still falls short of the similarly premium AMEX Platinum credit card. That’s because the AMEX Platinum credit card can effectively reduce its annual fee to $250 through airline credits, and in addition to Delta lounge access it also gets you into AMEX Centurion Lounges. As for benefits like priority boarding and free checked bags, anyone considering the Delta Reserve probably already has those covered. If what you really want is Delta miles and flight benefits, the welcome offers on the $95 annual fee Delta Gold credit card and the $195 annual fee Delta Platinum credit card are better choices.

Application

This is a Delta co-branded credit card. When applying, you need to enter your Delta account number (if you don’t have one, one will be assigned automatically), but it’s still recommended that you first register for a Delta membership on the official website.

• AMEX official application status check link
• For the same AMEX credit card, the public welcome bonus is generally available only once (once-per-lifetime restriction)
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-528-4800, 877-399-3083, 866-314-0237) to speed up credit card approval or request a review of a denied application.
• AMEX limits you to 4 credit cards and 10 charge cards total.
• You can apply for a total of two AMEX credit cards every 90 days, excluding charge cards.
• After you submit your application, a pop-up may appear telling you that you are not eligible for the welcome bonus. In that case, it is usually best not to continue with the application (detailed analysis)
• More about applying for AMEX credit cards

Application Link