Refreshed Delta Amex Cards Come with Up To 100K Bonus and Increased Annual Fee

Today is the day – the first day of the new Delta Amex cards. I wrote several months ago how Amex and Delta had failed in their attempt to make these new card changes everyday worthy and I am still right on that. However, if you have never had these cards and want a lot of Delta Skymiles, you can get in on that. But, be aware of the increased annual fees!

Refreshed Delta Amex Cards with Big Bonuses and Big Annual Fees

Link: New Delta Amex Cards (this is a personal referral offer – to get to the Delta Amex personal cards, select the “Looking for Personal Offers” button and then scroll down. Thanks for helping me with extra points also!)

The New Delta Amex Bonus Structure

The way that Amex and Delta structured these new sign-up bonuses is interesting – and it will take some awareness on your part to get the full bonus without getting hit twice with the fee.

The way it works is this – Amex will give you 60,000 miles on the Delta Gold card or 80,000 miles on the Delta Platinum and Delta Reserve card with your initial spending. To get another 10K miles on the Gold card and 20K more on the Platinum and Reserve, you have to wait until your card anniversary.

If you have never had one of these cards before, there are a lot of miles on the table! I would say that the best offer for most would be the Delta Gold card. Yes, it offers fewer miles but you also don’t have the $99 annual fee in the first year. With the other cards, you will have a $250 annual fee upfront (Platinum) or $550 annual fee upfront (Reserve). Yes, those cards come with elite miles to help you with elite status but if you don’t care about that, you are essentially paying $250 or $550 for 20,000 miles in the first year. Some may feel comfortable with that while many others may not.

The Refreshed Delta Amex Card Offers

So, here are those offers!

Delta Gold Card

• Earn 60,000 Miles after spending $2,000 in the first 3 months
• Earn additional 10,000 miles after your first anniversary
• Earn 2 miles per dollar at restaurants and US supermarkets
• Earn a $100 Delta flight credit towards future travel after you spend $10K in purchases during a calendar year
• Annual fee: $99 (waived the first year)

Delta Platinum Card

• Earn 80,000 miles after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months
• Earn additional 20,000 miles after your first anniversary
• Global Entry or TSA Precheck fee credit
• Earn 3 miles per dollar on purchases directly with hotels
• Earn 2 miles per dollar at restraints and US supermarkets
• Companion certificate each year upon renewal (for domestic main cabin roundtrip)
• Status Boost
• Annual Fee: $20

Delta Reserve Card

• Earn 80,000 miles after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months
  • Also earn 20,000 elite miles
• Earn additional 20,000 miles after spending first anniversary
• Complimentary access to the Delta Sky Club and 2 Delta Sky Club one-time guest passes each year
• Access to complimentary upgrades (without having status)
• Global Entry or TSA Precheck fee credit
• Companion Certificate for domestic round-trip each year
• Annual fee: $550

If you fly Delta often enough, the refreshed Delta Reserve could be attractive to give you upgrade access until you earn enough miles for elite status. The 20K elite miles will certainly help towards that elite status as well! Still, if you haven’t had this card yet, it may be worth getting for one year if you like to fly Delta – at least you get miles, lounge access, and the potential to see what it is like to be a Delta elite! 🙂