Delta and American Express are out with huge, new limited-time welcome bonus offers on their suite of SkyMiles credit cards of up to 90,000 SkyMiles. But, they’re all ending fairly soon.
Through next Wednesday, March 29, you can earn bigger bonuses on each of these Delta SkyMiles credit cards:
- You can earn 70,000 SkyMiles after spending $2,000 in the first six months of membership on the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
- You can earn 90,000 SkyMiles after spending $4,000 in the first six months of membership on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- You can earn 90,000 SkyMiles after spending $6,000 in the first six months of membership on the Delta SkyMIles® Reserve American Express Card
To sweeten the deal, Delta and American Express recently launched TakeOff 15 – a splashy new benefit for both new and existing Delta SkyMiles American Express credit cardholders that gets you at least a 15% discount on Delta flights booked using SkyMiles. It’s available on both consumer and business versions of the Delta SkyMiles Gold, Platinum, and Reserve credit cards – only the no-annual fee Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card won’t have access to this new discount.
These aren’t the biggest bonuses we’ve ever seen on the SkyMiles cards, but it’s still nearly double the amount of SkyMiles as the standard bonus on each of these cards. And while SkyMiles take some heat for sky-high business class rates and constantly changing pricing, there are few things better than hopping on an unbelievable Delta SkyMiles flash sale like a 10,000-mile roundtrip flight to Hawaii or 32,000 SkyMiles to Europe and back.
Already got a Delta credit card in your wallet? You can apply for a different Delta card and still earn these big bonuses!
But remember: Credit cards are serious business. No amount of SkyMiles is worth digging yourself into credit card debt. If you can’t afford to immediately pay off the $2,000 to $4,000 you need to spend in the first six months to earn these bonuses, it’s not worth it.
Read on for more details on each of the current Delta credit card offers and everything you need to know to take advantage.
Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
- Earn 70,000 SkyMiles after you spend $2,000 in purchases in the first six months of card membership. This limited-time offer ends next Wednesday, March 29.
- Check your first bag free on every Delta flight – savings of at least $60 on each round-trip flight, per person.
- Priority boarding (even with a basic economy ticket)
- Earn 2x SkyMiles per dollar spent at both restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets
- Earn 2x SkyMiles per dollar on eligible Delta purchases and 1x mile for all other eligible purchases.
- Earn a $100 Delta flight credit towards future travel if you spend $10,000 on the card in a calendar year.
- Get 15% off SkyMiles award tickets with TakeOff 15 when booking on delta.com or through the Fly Delta app
- Get 20% off in-flight purchases such as food & drinks in the form of a statement credit
- No foreign transaction fees
- $0 introductory annual fee for the first year (then $99 per year). See rates & fees.
Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card.
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Earn 90,000 after you spend $4,000 in purchases in the first six months of card membership. This limited-time offer ends next Wednesday, March 29.
- Check your first bag free on every Delta flight, savings of at least $60 on each round-trip flight, per person.
- Priority boarding (even with a basic economy ticket)
- Get a domestic main cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon card renewal – one of this card’s best benefits!
- Earn 2x SkyMiles per dollar spent at both restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 3x SkyMiles per dollar spent on eligible Delta purchases, and at hotels.
- Get up to a $100 credit to cover the cost for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck once every four years. You can use this benefit every four years for Global Entry and every 4 1/2 years with TSA PreCheck®
- Get 15% off SkyMiles award tickets with TakeOff 15 when booking on delta.com or through the Fly Delta app
- Get 20% off in-flight purchases such as food & drinks in the form of a statement credit
- Get into the Delta Sky Club when you’re flying Delta by paying $39 (and bring up to two guests for $39 each)
- No foreign transaction fees
- $250 annual fee. See rates & fees.
Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card.
Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Earn 90,000 SkyMiles after you spend $6,000 in purchases in the first six months of card membership. This limited-time offer ends next Wednesday, March 29.
- Check your first bag free on every Delta flight – savings of at least $60 on each round-trip flight, per person.
- Priority boarding (even with a basic economy ticket)
- Complimentary Delta Sky Club access when you are flying Delta. You’ll also get two, one-time guest passes each year to the Delta Sky Club.
- Complimentary access to the American Express Centurion Lounges when you are flying Delta on a ticket purchased with your Reserve card. You can also bring up to two guests in with you for a fee of $50 each.
- Get a domestic main cabin or first-class round-trip companion certificate each year upon card renewal.
- Earn 3x SkyMiles per dollar spent on Delta purchases.
- Get up to a $100 credit to cover the cost for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck once every four years. You receive this benefit every four years for Global Entry and every 4 1/2 years with TSA PreCheck®
- Complimentary space-available upgrades, even for non-Medallion members: A great way to improve your upgrade chances.
- Get 15% off SkyMiles award tickets with TakeOff 15 when booking on delta.com or through the Fly Delta app
- Enjoy 20% off in-flight purchases such as food & drinks in the form of a statement credit.
- No foreign transaction fees
- $550 annual fee. See rates & fees.
Learn more about the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card.
What About Delta Business Cards?
Got a small business – or can you get approved for a business credit card? Even if you don’t know it, you might just be eligible. And you’re in luck: There are a few thousand more SkyMiles on the table with these latest offers which will also end next Wednesday, March 29.
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card: Earn 75,000 SkyMiles after spending $3,000 within the first three months.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: Earn 95,000 SkyMiles after spending $4,000 within the first three months.
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: Earn 100,000 SkyMiles after spending $6,000 within the first three months.
Already got the personal version of one of these cards? Don’t worry: You could still earn the bonus on one of these small business cards, too.
And don’t forget: These business cards also qualify for the new TakeOff 15 benefit, giving you a 15% mileage discount when redeeming SkyMiles for Delta-operated award flights.
Read more: Are You Eligible to Open a Small Business Credit Card? Everything You Need to Know
Should You Upgrade Your Existing Delta Credit Card?
If you already hold a Delta SkyMiles Gold or Platinum Card, does it make sense to upgrade your card to the next tier? The short answer is … almost always no.
Delta and American Express constantly push cardholders to upgrade. But upgrading your current Delta card is typically not a smart move, as it will make you ineligible to earn the welcome bonus offers these cards have.
With American Express, you can simply apply outright for a new account to earn the huge SkyMiles bonus and then close out an older account after you are approved. That’s because American Express lets you earn a welcome bonus on all of their credit cards once per lifetime.
For example, you can apply for the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card even if you’ve already got the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card in your wallet. If you take the upgrade offer, you’d make yourself ineligible for the 90,000-SkyMile bonus.
We have seen some compelling upgrade offers in the past, with a combination of some bonus miles with a statement credit to upgrade from the Gold to the Platinum card – or Platinum to Reserve. Still, it’s almost always a much better deal to apply for a new card outright.
Read more: Already Had a Delta SkyMiles Credit Card: Can You Still Get Another Bonus?
Our Take on These Delta Credit Card Offers
Delta SkyMiles can get a bad rap, especially after a slew of devaluations that drastically increased the costs of flying economy or business class on partner airlines like Air France, KLM, or Korean Air.
And if flying business class is your goal, collecting SkyMiles isn’t the wisest move: Delta killed off the last valuable sweet spot to score lie-flat seats last year by increasing the rate to fly business class to the Middle East from 85,000 SkyMiles to 130,000 SkyMiles – with no warning.
But SkyMiles are still far from worthless.
We regularly see domestic fares under 10,000 SkyMiles roundtrip. But the real value of SkyMiles comes from frequent SkyMiles flash sales. Just take a look at some of the SkyMiles flash sales we’ve found and sent to ourThrifty Traveler Premium+ members.
- 32,000 SkyMiles roundtrip to Europe!
- 10,000 SkyMiles from Seattle (SEA) to Hawaii roundtrip or nationwide to Maui from 18,000 SkyMiles!
- 11,000 SkyMiles to Mexico roundtrip!
- 5,000 to 10,000 SkyMiles to Alaska roundtrip!
- Tahiti as low as 50,000 SkyMiles!
Plus, SkyMiles never expire. With the ability to easily cancel award tickets and get your miles back – plus any taxes and fees (as long as you book a main cabin ticket or higher) – we think SkyMiles are one of the best ways to book travel. It’s a great time to apply if you are eligible.
Whether the Gold, Platinum, or Reserve Card is right for you can be a tough call. The value of the companion ticket on the Delta Platinum Card can be huge, easily offsetting the card’s $250 annual fee. You essentially get a BOGO ticket for flights within the mainland U.S. after your first full year with both the Platinum and the Reserve card.
Read more: How to Maximize the Companion Ticket on Your Delta Platinum Card
Not sure if you are eligible to earn the bonus? See our post on the American Express Apply with Confidence Tool which allows you to know if you’ll be approved for any American Express card before the bank actually pulls your credit card.
Finally, make sure to read our guide on Understanding Delta SkyMiles before you book your next trip.
Bottom Line
If you often fly with Delta, having a SkyMiles credit card gets you a free checked bag and priority boarding on every Delta flight. Those perks alone put these credit cards on many loyal Delta flyers’ radars. These bigger bonuses just sweeten the deal.
Through next Wednesday, March 29, you can earn up to 90,000 SkyMiles with these latest Delta credit card offers.
Is there a downside for you and your spouse to open up 2 separate accounts for the bonus miles? Other than the annual fee? Or is it not allowed….
It’s most certainly allowed. As long as you can be responsible with the line of credit, there isn’t a downside. Double your mileage 😎
Is there a way to check whether or not you’ve received a bonus in the past? I thought I recall seeing comments on previous posts that if you apply for the card, there is a screen at some point that tells you if you are ineligible. Is that true?
Hey Paul. If you apply and are not eligible to receive the welcome bonus, American Express will give you a pop-up warning before you submit the application and give you a chance to cancel it. If you don’t receive that pop-up, you are good to go!
I’ve heard conflicting reports on if new cardmembers are eligible for the restaurant credits or if it was only for existing folks. Any way to confirm? It’s a slam dunk to apply for the Delta Platinum if that’s the case.
Hey Andre, I’ve heard that as well. It’s possible this might not be available to new card members as you mentioned. I’ll confirm when we know more.
I have the Gold card & my husband is an “additional card holder”. Can he apply for his own card (gold) & still get the bonus?
He absolutely can!
If I already have existing sky miles do those also cancel out July 28, or is this just referring to the new promotional miles? Thanks.
On July 28, the current bonus offers on the credit cards will be ending. Any Skymiles you earn are yours to keep and SkyMiles never expire.
Two questions…. can you transfer a balance from a different card to go towards the $2000 spending requirement and do the balances have to paid off every month?
Hi Janet,
Most cards do allow a balance transfer option. however, the balance transfer will not count towards the minimum spending requirement to earn the welcome bonus points.
The Platinum and Gold card are both offering an introductory 0% APR period for the first 12 months, so for the first year, there will not be a penalty for carrying a balance from month to month. However, after the first year, the APR % is very high, and paying interest on the unpaid debt will likely wipe out any benefit you will get from the miles. We don’t recommend it.
If I have 25,000 miles on my Gold card and end up closing it after I get approved for the platinum card, can I get those miles transferred to the Platinum card plus the 90,000 bonus miles?
As long as the cards are associated with the same SkyMiles number, you won’t need to transfer anything. They will all pool into the same account.
Current platinum member 4/2021. I want to open a platinum business card. Will this make me ineligible for the new limited-time 90,000-SkyMiles bonus or will the business be treated as a separate entity so I can take advantage of this promotion.
Hi Kimberly. You are absolutely eligible for the business version. They are two separate products.
Buyer beware. The Delta Amex Reserve card will charge you $175 per add’l card ANNUALLY. Doesn’t say that anywhere until you read the comprehensive agreement (about four levels deep into the application process).
I just got approved for the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card, even though I currently have the Delta SkyMiles Gold. Choosing to apply anew for 90,000 miles + 10,000 MQM’s over a paltry 15,000 mile upgrade offer on my Delta Gold is a no-brainer. When the annual fee on the Gold comes around again, it’ll be on the chopping block. I will say that the upgrade option is appealing to people who don’t want the hassle of having to cancel one card to get another (if they’ve hit the max of 5 cards), but for me it was well worth my time, and not much of a bother.