I recently had to pay the $150 annual fee for my Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express card. Here’s why I gladly paid the fee for another year.
Honestly, I was surprised that I’ve kept this card for as long as I have. Normally, I switch out my airline co-branded cards every few years to take advantage of new sign-up bonuses. Unfortunately, American Express has a rule that you can only earn a sign-up bonus once in your lifetime (although I recently discovered that “lifetime” means less than 10 years.) I don’t really mind that I’ve had the card for all these years because the perks more than cover the annual fee, especially with the new benefits that were added when the annual fee went from $99 to $150
How I make money with the Delta Gold Business AMEX
I find the First Checked Bag Fee benefit particularly valuable, as it helps me offset the $150 annual fee for the Delta Gold Business AMEX. With Delta charging $35 for a checked bag, just four checked bags almost cover the entire annual fee. Delta consistently ranks among the top airlines we fly with and in 2023, it took the top spot, with 8 flights. If we checked 2 bags on each flight, we would have saved over $500.
We also benefit from early boarding with our Delta co-brand card, which ensures that we will have space in the overhead bins for our carry-on bags. This means no more having to file claims for broken items if a gate agent insists on checking our rollaboard when there is definitely space in the bins for our bags.
Easy money with Delta Stays
When the annual fee was $99, I depended on the checked bag fee benefit to cancel out the card’s cost. However, when the fee was increased to $150, the card added a $150 credit when you reserved hotels or vacation rentals at delta.com/stays.
I found a hotel where the Delta Stays price was the same as booking directly with the hotel. Immediately after the payment to the hotel hit my account, I received a $150 statement credit. Hello, I totally covered the annual fee with a single hotel stay.
Am I leaving points on the table?
Delta keeps trying to get me to upgrade to the Platinum card, but I think I’m going to keep my Gold Card. In fact, I’m considering spending $10,000 on the card next year, which will earn me a $200 flight credit. That’s a 3% return (1 SkyMile plus 2x credit) on otherwise non-bonused spending. That’s almost as good as you’ll get on any other card, and we’re sure to use a $200 Delta flight credit each year.
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