Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card Review

Full Review of Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card

Pros Explained

• Generous Bonus Offer for New Cardholders: Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in the first 6 Months. The bonus miles alone are worth $720 according to our valuation of 1.44 cents per mile when redeemed for Delta travel.
• Outstanding Travel Benefits: This card offers a range of travel benefits, the most notable of which is the annual travel companion certificate. Cardholders receive a domestic main cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal. With this certificate, you only pay applicable taxes and fees of no more than $75 to bring a companion with you—a potential savings of hundreds of dollars or more per year. Cardholders also get the first checked bag free for themselves as well as for up to nine passengers traveling on their same reservation. That’s in addition to other perks like main cabin 1 priority boarding and access to Delta Sky Club lounges for $39.
• Opportunity for higher rewards: Earn up to 20,000 Medallion(R) Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost(R) per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion(R) Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion(R) Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights. If in that same calendar year eligible purchases on the card are $50,000 or more, an additional 10,000 MQMs will be awarded.

Cons Explained

• No Free Lounge Access: Premium travel cards often come with complimentary lounge access, sometimes to thousands of lounges worldwide. This card charges for you and up to two guests to the Delta Sky Club at $39 per person. While those are exclusive cardmember rates, they could add up quickly if you frequent airport lounges often.
• $250 Annual Fee: This card's annual fee isn't the highest among travel cards—the Delta Reserve card, for example, has a $550 annual fee. But if you don't take advantage of enough of the benefits to justify its $250 annual fee, it's likely not worth it.

Who This Card Is Best For

Delta devotees will undeniably get the most benefit from the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex card. If you travel at least a couple of times per year and choose Delta and its partners over other airlines, this card can help you get more value when you travel while providing some nice perks.

This card is worth considering as long as you maximize the benefits enough to outweigh the annual fee. For example, since companions travel free (other than taxes and fees), this card can be an extra value and help further justify the annual fee if you often have a travel buddy. Using the companion certificate to pay for one big trip each year will save on average more than the $250 annual fee.

Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Bonus Offer

Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months. Based on our valuation, that puts the value of the one-time offer at $400 when redeemed for domestic travel through Delta.

Rewards Earning Details

Cardholders earn unlimited 3 miles per dollar spent on purchases where Delta is the merchant, including flights, seat upgrades, in-flight food, Sky Club membership or passes, and Delta Vacations. Hotel expenditures made directly from hotels charged to the card earn the same 3-points-per-dollar rewards, while restaurant and U.S. supermarket spending earns 2 points per dollar.  

All other purchases made with this card earn 1 mile per dollar spent. Your miles never expire.

Rewards Redemption Details

You must be enrolled in the Delta SkyMiles rewards program to redeem miles with this card. You can redeem your miles through Delta's website, by phone, or at a Delta ticket counter.

Miles can be redeemed for Delta flights and other Delta purchases, including Sky Club membership, seat upgrades, gift cards, experiences, and merchandise.  

At 1.54 cents apiece, according to Investopedia's Points valuation Survey, miles redeemed for domestic Delta flights are not consistently on a par with those of the most valuable loyalty programs. For comparison, United's credit cards offer a value of 2.19 cents per mile when redeemed for domestic flights.

How to Maximize Your Rewards

Using this card for all of your Delta travel expenses and taking full advantage of its perks can really amplify rewards.

If you aren't already a member of the Delta SkyMiles rewards program you will be assigned a rewards number when you’re approved for the Delta Skymiles Platinum Amex. In addition to earning 3 miles per dollar spent on Delta purchases, general SkyMiles rewards members earn an additional 5 miles for every $1 spent on Delta flights. 

You should also be sure to take advantage of this card's biggest feature: the companion pass. You could potentially obtain enough value to justify the annual fee by using it for a single trip per year. The card's other benefits—free checked bags, priority boarding, and savings on in-flight purchases—will maximize rewards even further.

Average Case

A couple who travels together twice a year could earn 4,368 miles (worth about $67 when used for flights) with this card on average and save nearly $300 on flights alone with the free companion pass.

If a round-trip flight costs $364, a couple using this card's companion pass who take two round-trip flights per year would save $289 or more (assuming they pay the maximum taxes and fees of $75 per round-trip ticket with the companion pass). They would then earn 3 miles per dollar spent on flights with this card. That's worth about $33 when redeemed for travel through Delta.

This calculation doesn't include the miles earned for additional spending on those two trips or for day-to-day spending, or the welcome bonus of 100,000 miles. It also doesn't include the free checked bags each way, which could potentially add an additional $120 to the card's value.

Aspirational Case

This card provides even more value for families who fly together throughout the year. Let's assume, for example, that you’re a family of four taking two domestic trips a year at the national average ticket price. We’ll further assume the annual companion certificate is used for one of those round-trip flights, leaving seven remaining to be purchased. With round-trip tickets costing $364, you would spend $2,548 on flights, which would earn nearly 7,644 points by using the card. 

Those are worth about $118 when redeemed for domestic Delta flights. Like in the scenario above, you would also save an additional $289 or more by using the companion pass (the net cost after the fees of $75, which are the cardholder’s responsibility, are deducted from the $364 fare.) Assuming the family also checked bags on every flight, the free checked bag for each family member would help even more, adding $480 to this card's value.

Our calculations for this card again assume you earn 3 miles per dollar spent on Delta purchases with this card. It doesn't include the miles you would earn for spending outside of flights.

Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card's Outstanding Benefits

• Companion pass
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-check Credit
• Annual Miles Boost
• First checked bag free
• Main cabin 1 priority boarding
• 20% in-flight savings
• Discounted per-rate visit to Delta Sky Club

Standard Benefits

• Car rental collision insurance (secondary to your own policy)
• 24/7 global assistance hotline*
• Baggage insurance*
• No fraud liability
• Year-end summary 

*Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

Cardholder Experience

American Express ranked first in J.D. Power's 2021 credit card customer satisfaction survey.

American Express customer service can be reached 24/7 at 800-528-4800, or you can log into your online account and chat with a representative. Customer service is also available on Meta, and you can tweet questions and comments to @AskAmex.

Security Features

American Express maintains a number of standard security features for its cardholders. Its website offers encryption technology, automatic time-outs, email confirmation and password recovery, and personal security keys for authentication.

It also offers fraud protection, including pre-purchase verification, automatic monitoring for suspicious transactions, and alerts for irregular account activity.

Our Verdict

The Platinum Delta SkyMiles card’s luxury benefits and generous bonus offer make it a worthwhile choice for frequent Delta travelers. But the companion pass is this card's best feature and significantly increases its annual value.

Those who won't use the companion pass or other premium perks might be better served by the less costly Delta SkyMiles Gold Amex card. It has an annual fee of $99 and offers the same 2 miles per dollar rewards on restaurants and U.S. supermarkets as this card. It has the same rewards rate on Delta purchases, and 1 mile per dollar on everything else.

If you're seeking more freedom with how you earn rewards for travel, and don’t want to be limited to Delta, you might consider a card like the American Express Platinum card. It has a $550 annual fee but offers 5 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express travel and also allows you to transfer points to its travel partners, including Delta.

To see the rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card please see the following link: Rates and fees