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The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card is a good choice for regular Delta flyers who don't need access to airport lounges
You can use the card to earn Medallion Qualification Miles toward Delta elite status without even flying
Other perks include a free first checked bag when flying Delta and 20% off in-flight purchases
Our quick take: The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card offers card members the ability to earn Delta miles while securing frequent flyer perks like a free checked bag and priority boarding, and the card’s Status Boost feature can help you earn Delta elite status without even flying.
Pros:
- Earn 3 miles for every dollar you spend on eligible Delta purchases and hotels.
- Earn 2 miles per dollar at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, and 1 mile per dollar on everything else.
- First checked bag is free on Delta flights for you and up to eight companions.
- Status Boost feature lets you earn Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) toward elite status.
- Up to $100 fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck.
- Annual companion certificate after your first card member anniversary.
- No foreign transaction fees (see rates and fees).
- Terms apply.
Cons:
- $250 annual fee (see rates and fees).
- Delta SkyMiles aren’t the most valuable frequent flyer miles.
- Status Boost requires at least $25,000 in annual spending to earn bonus MQMs.
Current welcome bonus: Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases in the first six months after opening the account.
Best for: Delta enthusiasts who want the option to earn elite status just by spending money on an airline credit card.
Digging into the Delta Platinum card
The Delta Platinum Amex credit card isn’t for casual Delta flyers, as it charges a $250 annual fee. But there are plenty of reasons the card is well worth the cost to people who fly on Delta regularly.
The card earns 3 miles for every dollar you spend on eligible Delta and hotel purchases as well as 2 miles per dollar at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets, and 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases. But since you can earn Delta miles with cheaper credit cards — and more valuable travel rewards with other cards entirely — the real value in this card lies in its perks.
Frequent flyer benefits include a free checked bag for the card member and up to eight others on the same reservation when flying Delta, priority boarding, a 20% discount on in-flight purchases and $39 per-visit passes to Delta Sky Clubs. Card members can also benefit from the card’s ability to earn bonus MQMs toward Delta elite status as well as its various travel insurance protections.
Delta Platinum Amex card members also receive up to $100 in credits toward the application fee for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership. And starting when you renew the card for the second year and every year thereafter, you’ll receive an annual companion certificate that can be used on any Delta round-trip domestic Main Cabin fare.
Advantages of the Delta Platinum card
While the Delta Platinum Amex has a number of useful features, one of the most important is the pathway to elite status it can create. Thanks to the card’s Status Boost feature, card members can earn 10,000 Delta Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after spending $25,000 in purchases on the card each calendar year, up to two times per year.
That means if you spend $50,000 on the Delta Platinum Amex in the calendar year, you’ll earn 20,000 MQMs, which would be just 5,000 MQMs short of Delta Silver elite status — without even taking into consideration the MQMs earned from the current welcome offer. Normally to earn Delta status you need to spend a certain number of Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) on flights with the airline as well, but when you spend $25,000 in a calendar year with the Delta Platinum Amex, that requirement is waived for any elite status level up through Delta Platinum status.
These MQMs can help you get Delta elite status, or help you climb up to the next elite status level if you’re already a frequent Delta flyer. And it’s a feature that’s not available on less-expensive Delta credit cards, including the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card.
Other features of the Delta Platinum Amex card can save you money, especially the free first checked bag when flying Delta for you and up to eight people on the same reservation. Since checked bags on Delta flights normally cost $30 apiece in each direction, this card benefit could potentially lead to as much as $270 in savings for a large group traveling together on a single flight.
Card members will also receive roundtrip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your card for a domestic roundtrip main cabin ticket, fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® and an exclusive rate of $39 per person per visit to enter the Delta Sky Club for you and up to two guests when traveling on a Delta flight.
Disadvantages of the Delta Platinum card
The biggest downside of the Delta Platinum Amex card is its $250 annual fee, which likely isn’t worth it if you rarely fly Delta and can’t take advantage of all the card’s perks. The annual fee may also make this card a nonstarter if you aren’t interested in earning elite status with Delta.
Another major downside of all Delta credit cards is the fact that the airline no longer has an award chart, so there’s no way to know in advance how many miles you’ll need for a flight redemption. While dynamic award pricing has sadly become the norm across most major US carriers, the cost of Delta’s award flights is all over the place, and it can — and does — frequently change from day to day.
That’s not to say there aren’t any great deals with Delta SkyMiles. There are, but the program makes it difficult to plan ahead, and frequent flyer websites like The Points Guy value Delta SkyMiles lower than other major flexible point programs such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards.
Stacking up the Delta Platinum card against our benchmark
CNN Underscored uses the Citi® Double Cash Card as our “benchmark” credit card. That doesn’t mean it’s the best credit card on the market — rather, it means we use it as a basic standard to compare other credit cards and see where they score better, and where they’re worse.
Here’s how the Delta Platinum Amex card scores against our benchmark. The features of each card in the below chart are colored in green, red or white. Green indicates a card feature that’s better than our benchmark, red indicates the feature is worse than our benchmark and white indicates the feature is either equivalent or cannot be directly compared to our benchmark.
Considering that the Citi Double Cash is designed to earn cash back instead of travel rewards, comparing these two cards isn’t easy. The Citi Double Cash can save you money on balance transfers while earning cash back with no annual fee. But it has no significant card holder benefits to speak of and no welcome bonus.
By contrast, the Delta Platinum Amex offers a solid welcome bonus and plenty of travel benefits, although most of its perks are geared to frequent Delta flyers. An annual fee also applies, which chips away at the total value of this offer. But you can look at the chart above to determine which one of these cards might work better for your own financial and travel needs.
Other credit cards similar to the Delta Platinum Amex card
If you want to earn Delta SkyMiles, there are several different Delta credit cards to consider. One option is the Delta Gold Amex, which offers fewer benefits but charges only a $99 annual fee with a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year (see rates and fees). The other option is the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, which has a much higher $550 annual fee (see rates and fees) but comes with a Delta Sky Club membership.
Also, keep in mind that Delta is a transfer partner of the American Express Membership Rewards program. This means any points you earn on a card like the American Express® Gold Card or The Platinum Card® from American Express can be transferred to Delta SkyMiles at any time, as well as 20 other airline and hotel programs, which could be a better option if you’re not committed to Delta as an airline.
Should you get the Delta Platinum card?
If you love flying with Delta or you live in a Delta hub like Atlanta or Minneapolis, earning miles in the Delta SkyMiles program makes a lot of sense. The Delta Platinum Amex card makes flying Delta even easier since you earn miles for each dollar you spend, and even get the chance to earn elite qualifying miles toward Delta elite status.
Of course, if you aren’t a regular Delta flyer, you should look elsewhere for another option, even if you want to earn Delta SkyMiles. But if you think the perks and travel protections of the Delta Platinum Amex are a good fit for you, it’s worth considering whether it might have a place in your purse or wallet.
Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card.
Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as our best travel credit cards currently available.
Click here for rates and fees of the Delta Platinum Amex card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Delta Gold Amex card.
Click here for rates and fees of the Delta Reserve Amex card.
**Purchase protection, extended warranty, trip delay insurance and car rental loss and damage insurance eligibility and benefit levels vary by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Trip delay insurance underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company. Purchase protection, extended warranty, and car rental insurance underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car rental insurance offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
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