About the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card From American Express
Having acquired Northwest Airlines, Delta is now a dominant force among the remaining legacy carriers in the United States. Delta also enjoys an extremely close relationship with one of the major issuers of credit cards, American Express. Through this partnership, they offer five different credit cards for consumers, and three for small businesses. Of all of these products, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card may represent the best value for the average consumer.
New customers are immediately rewarded with 20,000 bonus miles after their first purchase, 5,000 of which count towards Medallion status. A further 5,000 miles can be earned if cardholders choose to add two additional authorized cardholders to their account. One mile is earned for each dollar spent on most purchases, with two miles being received for each dollar spent with Delta. Cardholders can earn an additional 10,000 Medallion qualifying miles when they spend $25,000 in a calendar year and another 10,000 when they reach $50,000 in charges. This card is also on the forefront of the trend to add additional non-mileage benefits to airline credit cards.
For example, card members will receive a free checked bag for themselves as well as eight others traveling on the same reservation. Their party will also enjoy priority boarding and will receive a 20% discount on in-flight food, beverage, and entertainment purchases. Finally, cardholders will receive discounted access to Delta’s Sky Club business lounges. Each year when they renew their card, members will earn a free economy class companion certificate. Cardholders will receive a standard interest rate for both purchases and balance transfers that is equal to the Prime Rate plus 11.99%, 13.99%, or 15.99%, depending on their credit history. There is a $150 annual fee for this card, and purchases processed outside of the United States will incur a foreign transaction fee of 2.7%.
This card offers several valuable non-mileage perks many of the best credit cards in this category do not, as well as significant boosts towards the next level of status in Delta’s Medallion program. The free domestic companion certificate is also very valuable, easily eclipsing the cost of the $150 annual fee. In fact, this card represents a better deal than their Gold card, which includes a similar companion certificate that costs $99 to use as well as a $99 annual fee. Therefore, cardholder’s can enjoy all of the added benefits of this card over the Gold card, while paying $48 less in fees for the use of the companion certificate.
The current offer does not come with a first year waiver of the annual fee, unlike many similar cards. Since the companion certificate is only received after the first year of card membership, the annual fee paid is almost equal to the value of the 20,000 mile sign up bonus. Furthermore, experts find that Delta SkyMiles are worth less than those of other airlines due to the extreme difficulty of finding award seats at the lowest redemptions levels. Finally, the 2.7% foreign transaction fee is no longer competitive for a card marketed towards at international travelers.
