Delta offers several co-brand credit cards through its partnership with American Express. The Gold Delta cards are the mid-level entry point of the portfolio. These cards have an annual fee and provide worthwhile benefits if you’re an occasional Delta flyer.
This review is for the personal version of the Gold Delta SkyMiles American Express card. If you decide that you want to sign up for this card, or any of the Delta American Express personal or business credit cards, we’d appreciate it if you use our link. We receive a bonus for each referral and that helps us keep Your Mileage May Vary HQ going strong.
What benefits does this card provide upon signing up and does it make sense to keep this card for the long run?
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
Annual Fee
$150 per year (fee waived for the first year)
Sign Up Benefits
The link we have for this card currently has a 70,000-mile bonus once you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first six months from account opening.
This card is subject to AMEX’s one sign-up bonus per lifetime rule. To read more about that, check out this post from Doctor of Credit. AMEX also has added stipulations, which include the new “Family Rule,” to cut down on card churners.
You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards. You also may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer based on various factors, such as your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors. If you are not eligible for a welcome offer, we will notify you prior to processing your application so you have the option to withdraw your application.
If we in our sole discretion determine that you have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with this offer in any way or that you intend to do so (for example, if you applied for one or more cards to obtain an offer(s) that we did not intend for you; if you cancel or downgrade your account within 12 months after acquiring it; or if you cancel or return purchases you made to meet the Threshold Amount), we may not credit, we may freeze, or we may take away bonus miles from your account. We may also cancel this Card account and other Card accounts you may have with us.
Bonus Categories
The Delta SkyMiles Gold card earns 2X points on Delta purchases, such as purchases via delta.com, the Fly Delta app, phone reservations, or ticket counters, such as upgrades, miles, seat selection, Delta Sky Club membership, and in-flight purchases of food, alcoholic beverages and audio headsets on Delta-operated flights
The card also earns two points per dollar for purchases at US supermarkets and restaurants worldwide. You’ll earn one point for all other types of spending.
No Foreign Transaction Fees
As you would hope a card you can use on Delta flights worldwide would, the Gold Delta SkyMiles card does not charge any foreign transaction fees.
Priority Boarding
The primary cardmember and eight companions on the same reservation will be invited to board Delta-operated flights before general boarding. This boarding is with Main Cabin 1 that includes the following:
- Silver Medallion Members
- Delta Corporate Travelers
- Gold, Platinum and Reserve Delta SkyMiles credit card members
- Flying Blue Silver members
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Silver members
- SkyTeam Elite
- SkyMiles Select members
- LATAM Pass Gold+ Elite
- WestJet Rewards Silver Elite
This advanced boarding sounds great, but there are still at least twelve groups of people, including Delta Platinum and Gold Medallion members, Delta Comfort+ passengers, and SkyTeam Elite Plus members, who will get to board before you. If you book a basic economy ticket on Delta (which I recently did for the second time), having the credit card will allow you to board at the same time as if booking a Delta Main Cabin ticket.
$200 Delta Flight Credit
If you spend $10,000 on the Delta SkyMiles Gold Card in a calendar year, you’ll receive a $200 Delta Flight Credit.
$100 Delta Stays Credit
You can receive a $100 credit when you reserve hotels or vacation rentals at delta.com/stays. On a quick look, it’s a travel portal site powered by Expedia. According to the landing page, SkyMiles members earn 2 miles per dollar spent on stays booked through Delta. (excluding taxes and fees).
Free First Checked Bag
Delta provides a free checked bag for the cardholder and up to eight other people traveling on the same reservation. You don’t have to pay for the ticket with your Gold Delta SkyMiles card, but the cardholder does have to have their SkyMiles number on the reservation.
This means you’d be able to get the free checked bag benefit while still paying for the ticket with a card like the Sapphire Reserve to take advantage of the better trip delay and lost baggage insurance this card offers.
TakeOff 15
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite perks of having a Delta co-brand AMEX card. Delta SkyMiles Gold, Gold Business, Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve and Reserve Business American Express Card Members save 15% on reservations booked with Delta SkyMiles. There are no lockout dates, and it works on all Delta award tickets.
Pay With Miles
This little-known benefit allows you to pay for part (of all) of your ticket with your SkyMiles. In essence, this will enable you to use your miles at the value of a penny per point to pay for a cash ticket on Delta. You redeem miles in increments of 5,000 miles for $50. While not the best value for your points, if you find a really cheap cash ticket and don’t want to spend money, this may help. To find out more about this benefit, check out the Delta website.
20% In-Flight Savings
You’ll receive a 20% savings in the form of a statement credit on eligible pre-purchased meals and in-flight purchases of food, alcoholic beverages, and audio headsets on Delta-operated flights. To receive the savings, you must use the Delta SkyMiles Card to complete the in-flight purchase.
Final Thoughts
The Delta SkyMiles Gold card gives many of the perks we want to get from an airline co-brand card, such as priority boarding and free checked bags. You don’t even need to use the card to purchase the tickets to get the benefits, which comes in handy if I’m booking an award ticket.
Delta rightfully gets grief for its award pricing and the lack of an award chart. While some award prices are hyperinflated, I have also found flights for a reasonable number of miles.
It’s a good idea to keep at least one Delta co-branded American Express card because of the benefits it provides when flying with Delta. Even if we only check one bag on one trip, we can save $120. While I don’t use the card for everyday purchases, if we spend over $10,000 in a year, we can earn a $200 flight credit, which is equivalent to a 2% rebate. And that’s in addition to the miles we’ll earn.
There’s an argument against earning Delta SkyMiles with the card since Delta is a partner with Membership Rewards. IMHO, it makes more sense to use a card that earns flexible points. If you need Delta SkyMiles, you can just transfer the Membership Rewards points instantly to Delta when needed. It will cost you slightly extra since AMEX charges a fee to transfer points to U.S. airlines. That’s a price I’ll gladly pay for the ability to move points to Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic if they have a Delta flight available at a much lower cost than Delta is offering.
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