American Express just launched their revamped their Delta co-branded credit cards with limited time offers for both their personal and business Delta co-branded credit cards. In this article, I’ll show you what the new changes are and highlight the new limited-time offers are. All offers expire 4/1/2020.

Changes to Delta Cards

Below, I’ll highlight the limited-time offers and then show you the changes that will come into effect later on. 

And one more thing, the business cards below will NOT count towards your 5/24 status but the personal cards will. I wouldn’t focus on getting a Delta personal card until you are over 5/24 since there are options to consider like the United Explorer Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred, etc.

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Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

The Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express limited time offer ending April 1, 2020: 

• 60,000 miles you spend $2,000 in your first three months 
• 10,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary

60,000 miles is a nice stash of Delta miles for a pretty low spend requirement of only $2,000. You can actually do a lot with Delta Sky Miles (they aren’t always Sky Pesos). If you need help learning how to maximize your Delta miles, be sure to read our article on the best ways to redeem Delta Sky Miles. 

Here’s a breakdown of some of the changes:

Positive changes: 

• 2x on restaurants & U.S. supermarkets (up from 1X)
• $100 Delta flight credit after $10,000 in spend within a calendar year

Negative changes: 

• MQD Waiver will be removed
• Delta Sky Club access for $29/visit will be removed
• Annual fee increased from $95 to $99

The biggest loss is the MQD Waiver. This is a benefit that waived the MQD requirements for Silver Medallion, Gold Medallion, and Platinum Medallion when you spent at least $25,000 and that benefit will no longer be there.

MQDs are how much you have to spend with the airline to achieve status and they are:

• $3,000 for Silver Medallion 
• $6,000 for Gold Medallion 
• $9,000 for Platinum Medallion  

The loss of the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American ExpressDelta Sky Club pay-to-play access is a bummer too since sometimes you might find yourself without a way to get into a lounge, and you’ll be willing to pay in order to avoid peasant status. As far as the annual fee increase, that’s a pretty nominal change and nothing I’m worried about. 

Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card

The Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card limited time offer: 

• 80,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months
• 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary

I like this card at 80,000 miles and think it’s a good choice to go with when trying to rack up Delta miles. Brad and I once used the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card to help us get enough miles to fly Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic from LAX to LHR with only about $5 in fees.

Positive changes: 

• 3X on Delta (up from 2X)
• 3X on hotels (up from 1X)
• 2X at restaurants (up from 1X)
• 2x on purchases made at U.S. supermarkets (up from 1x)
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit (every four years)

Negative changes: 

• Delta Sky Club visit fee will increase from $29 to $39
• Annual fee increased from $195 to $250

The spike from $195 to $250 in the annual fee is pretty noteworthy. With no offsetting credit, that’s a pretty big shift of 22%. 

The 3X on hotels and Delta is nice, especially since not many co-branded airline cards offer 3X on airline purchases. 

I’m not too crazy about 2X on restaurants and US supermarkets but if you put a lot of spend on the Delta SkyMiles Platinum, then this card just got a lot more valuable. Overall, unless you’re a big spender on your Delta cards, these changes are pretty negative.  

It’s worth noting these Delta cards will still retain their benefits like Priority boarding, First checked bag free, 20% off in-flight purchases, and the one time main cabin companion certificate.

Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express

Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express limited time offer: 

• 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $5,000 in your first 3 months.
• 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary

Positive changes: 

• Centurion Lounge access when you book a Delta flight
• 3X miles on Delta (up from 2x)
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check Credit
• Two Delta Sky Club One-Time Guest Passes
• Complimentary Upgrades
• Additional 15,000 bonus Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after spending both $90,000 and $120,000 in a calendar year (these are in addition the bonuses for $30,000 in spend and $60,000 in spend). 

Negative changes: 

• Annual fee increased from $450 to $550
• Miles Boost replaced with Status Boost
• Sky Priority Security removed

I was pretty surprised to see Centurion Lounge access added to this card but it does come with some restrictions. For example, you only get it when flying Delta with a ticket purchased on your Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card. As for guest access, you can pay $50 per guest for up to two guests. 

The two one-time guest passes to the Delta Sky Club is interesting. This card comes with Delta Sky Club access but the perk will give you two passes you can use for guests which is a nice way to save and keep your group together when traveling.  

If you meet the $120,000 spend threshold (and earn 60,000 MQMs), you’ll earn Delta Gold Medallion status. That’s a lot of spend but I always find it interesting when you can pick up an airline status with no actual flying. Here’s the Delta elite requirements for your reference. 

Medallion Tier	MQMs or MQSs requirement	MQDs requirement (only for US residents)
Silver	25,000 MQMs or 30 MQSs	$3,000 MQDs
Gold	50,000 MQMs or 60 MQSs	$6,000 MQDs
Platinum	75,000 MQMs or 100 MQSs	$9,000 MQDs
Diamond	125,000 MQMs or 140 MQSs	$15,000 MQDs

The complimentary upgrades are interesting but I’m wondering what the upgrade odds will be for most cardholders who don’t have Medallion status.

My guess is very low on most routes, but upgrades to Delta Comfort+ might be common? I do think it’s cool that apparently Reserve cardholders will get priority over other members in the event of a “status tie”

Overall, it’s a hard sell at $550 to me given that the The Platinum Card® from American Express offers way better lounge access but big spenders might be attracted to automatic status via spend. 

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

• 15,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 in your first 3 months.

The no-annual fee Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express Card is also getting 2X on Delta and restaurants worldwide (previously is was U.S. only). It will also lose foreign transaction fees (previously it was 2.7% per transaction).

Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express

Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express

• 60,000 miles you spend $2,000 in your first three months 
• 10,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary

Positive changes: 

• 2x on restaurants & U.S. supermarkets (up from 1X)
• 2x on U.S. advertising & U.S. shipping (up from 1X)
• $100 Delta flight credit after $10,000 in spend within a calendar year

Negative changes: 

• MQD Waiver benefit was removed on December 31st, 2019
• Delta Sky Club access for $29/visit will be removed
• Annual fee increased from $95 to $99

The only differences with the business cards are changes related to bonus spend rewards. I’ve bolded them so that they stand out.

Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express

• 80,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months
• 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary

Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express

Positive changes: 

• 3X on Delta (up from 2X)
• 3X on hotels (up from 1X)
• 1.5X on purchases over $5,000 (up to 50,000 miles)
• Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check credit (every four years)

Negative changes: 

• Delta Sky Club visit fee increase from $29 to $39
• Annual fee increased from $195 to $250

Reserve Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express

Reserve Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card from American Express

• 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $5,000 in your first 3 months.
• 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary

Positive changes: 

• Centurion Lounge Access 
• 3x miles on Delta spend (currently 2x)
• 1.5X on all purchases after $150,000 spending
• Global Entry or TSA Pre  Fee Credit
• Addition of 2 Delta Sky Club One-Time Guest Passes
• Access To Complimentary Upgrades
• Additional 15,000 bonus Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after spending both $90,000 and $120,000 in a calendar year

Negative changes:

• Annual fee increased from $450 to $550
• Miles Boost to be replaced with Status Boost
• Sky Priority Security will end January 29th, 2019

Final word 

These new changes have both positive and negative sides but I’d wager most view them as negative changes due to the increased AFs and lost benefits. The new bonus categories are cool but only really matter for heavy spenders.