Choosing The Best Airline Credit Card

by Daniel | Last Updated Oct 29th, 2022

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If you travel a lot for work or leisure it makes sense to have an airline reward credit card that can provide you with as much value as possible.
Having access to an airport lounge or receiving a companion certificate each year can really make all of the travel you do more enjoyable.

In this article, I’m going to review and compare the Delta SkyMiles Platinum and Reserve card against the United MileagePlus Quest and Club card.
I’ll go over everything each card has to offer and then give my opinion on which cards are the best value and why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdRFiGjNUlM

Who are these cards good for?

All four of the cards in this review, are going to be most useful if you travel a fair amount on either United or Delta as that is where most of the benefits are focused.

Now if you’re on a limited budget and don’t want to spend too much money on an annual fee, these cards may be a bit expensive as the cheapest cards in this review start at $250 a year and the most expensive card is $550, which is not exactly cheap.

If you are looking for some cheaper airline reward credit cards I recommend you check out my review where I compare 6 different airline credit cards that all offer a companion certificate, with four of them having an annual fee of less than $100.

Annual Fee

Now when it comes to the annual fee of these cards they are relatively similar in terms of price for each level of card.
With the mid-tier cards being exactly the same price and the top-tier cards being almost the same.

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Sign-up Bonus

All of the cards in the review have pretty decent sign-up bonuses, and at the time of making this video both Amex Delta Skymiles cards are offering an increased bonus.
Now Delta Skymiles are worth 1.1 cents per mile, and then United Miles are worth about 1.2 cents per mile.

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So because of the increased signup bonus offered with both Delta cards at the moment they both offer more value than the United Milageplus cards and it is a lot easier to receive the signup bonus as there is 6 months to meet the spend requirement compared to just 3 months with the United cards.

Earning Miles

Now when it comes to earning miles with these cards they all offer a broad range of options to choose from.

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So in terms of earning miles, the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card is the only card in this review that has a limited ability to earn a decent amount of miles. 

Benefits And User Perks

Now when it comes to benefits and user perks, all of these cards offer a fair bit of value.
But as you might expect the more expensive and exclusive Delta SkyMiles Reserve card and United Club Infinite card offer the most benefits. 

Now it’s important to know that when using the companion certificate with the Platinum card it is only possible to book seats that are in L, U, T, X, and V classes of service.

So as an example when looking the see how much this benefit is potentially worth, there are return flights on Delta from LA to Miami in November from $490, which is almost twice the cost of the annual fee, which makes this benefit really quite valuable. 

Then when flying on Delta-marked flights it is possible to receive Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding which is always nice, as waiting forever to board the plane is never fun.
Along with this, your First Checked Bag will be free for you and up to 8 people traveling on the same reservation, and this in itself is quite a valuable perk.

When flying on Delta flights it is possible to receive 20% back on in-flight purchases.
And this includes things like food, beverages, and audio headsets

As with most decent travel reward cards, there is a $100 credit that can be used for either Global Entry or TSA Precheck

If you manage to spend at least $25,000 on the card within a calendar year it is possible to receive 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles

Then finally is possible to bring up to 2 guests to the Delta Sky Club when flying on a Delta-marked flight at an exclusive per-visit rate of $39 per person.

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When flying on United-operated flights it is possible to get your first and second checked bags checked free of charge for you and one travel companion traveling on the same flight.

Each account anniversary it is possible to earn up to 10,000 miles in anniversary award flight credits. Basically each time you book a United-operated award flight with your own miles it is possible to receive 5,000 miles back to your MileagePlus account, with a maximum earning of 10,000 miles.

Similar to the Platinum card there is also Priority boarding on United flights, and it is possible to get 25% back on United flights for the following purchases:

• Food, beverages, Wi-Fi
• Club premium drinks

Now if you are traveling on an award ticket, you and one travel companion are eligible for Complimentary Premier Upgrades, although this is subject to availability.

There is a $100 credit that can be used towards TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, or NEXUS.

Another nice benefit is access to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.
And this provides you with daily breakfast for two, a $100 hotel credit, a room upgrade, early check-in, and late check-out if available.

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This benefit can be quite valuable if you use it wisely.
Basically, it is possible to receive a free domestic First class, Comfort+, or Main Cabin round trip fare.
Just note that there may be taxes and fees of up to $80 on return domestic flights.

Now let’s take a look at an example of just how much this can benefit can be worth.
And based on a same flight I showed you before which was a return flight from LA to Miami, but this time in February 2023, there is a return first class flight for $1,078.

So just this one benefit is worth almost twice the cost of the annual fee, and in my opinion a really valuable benefit to have access to.

Another nice benefit of the Reserve card is that you will receive Upgrade Priority over other Medallion members that are within the same Medallion level and fare class grouping.
Your first checked bag will be free on Delta flights and then you will receive 20% back on in-flight purchases.

When traveling on a Delta Marked flight it is possible to gain access to the Delta Sky Club which has over 50 locations.
Along with this, it is also possible to access Centurion Lounges which has 27 lounges around the world, and yes you must be traveling on a same-day Delta marked flight to access the Centurion lounge.

Then finally there is two Delta Sky Club One-Time Guest Passes available each year, and this will allow you to bring a couple of friends into the lounge free of charge.

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Another benefit that is included with this card is your first and second bags checked free of charge on United flights.
So if you tend to travel with a lot of luggage this will actually save you quite a bit of money.

And then it is possible to receive 25% back on United flights for food, beverages, and Club premium drinks

Just like the Delta Skymiles Reserve card, there is also a $100 credit that can be used for TSA Pre-Check or Global entry, although with the United card it is also possible to use the credit towards NEXUS.

There is then IHG Rewards Platinum Elite Status which gives you the ability to get complimentary room upgrades and late checkout if and when they are available.
It is also possible to receive up to $75 in statement credits for any purchases made at IHG Hotels and Resorts before December 31, 2022.

There is the same access as the Quest card to The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection.
And this provides you with daily breakfast for two, a $100 hotel credit, a room upgrade, early check-in, and late check-out if available.

With access to the United MileagePlus program you will receive the following benefits:

• A 10% discount on United Economy Saver Awards flights that are within the US and Canada, this means that when you book a flight it is possible to use 10% fewer miles.
• For every $12,000 that you spend on the card, you will earn 500 Premier Qualifying Points (PQP) that can be used towards reaching Premier Status, with Premier Silver status starting at 3,500 PQP, and this is limited to a total earning of 4,000 PQPs in a calendar year

Now Premier status has some decent benefits when flying with United which includes the ability to earn more miles and complimentary access to economy plus.

A nice benefit that comes with the card is Premier Access travel services which basically provide you with priority check-in, security screening, boarding, and baggage handling privileges. 

With Avis President’s Club, it is possible to receive complimentary two-car class upgrades and guaranteed availability 

Then finally there is a complimentary DashPass membership that provides you with free deliveries on orders that are $12 or more, and a DashPass is valued at $96.

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Insurance Coverage 

Now all of these cards offer quite a decent amount of travel related insurance, and as you might expect the more expense cards offer even more coverage than the mid tier cards.

So for this section I’ll just go over all the coverage for both Delta cards together and then both United cards together.

Now both cards also offer Trip Delay Insurance, with the Platinum card it is possible to receive up to $300 per trip if it is delayed for more than 12 hours.
And this has a maximum of 2 claims in a 12 month period.
Whereas the Reserve card offers up to $500 per trip if it is delayed by just 6 hours.

Both cards have the same Baggage Insurance Plan that covers up to $1,250 for carry on luggage and $500 for checked luggage.

Again, both cards offer Purchase Protection for 90 days.
With the Platinum card this covers $1,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per year.
Where the Reserve card covers up to $10,000 per occurrence, $50,000 per year.

There is Cell Phone Protection with both cards that offers up to $800, per claim, with a maximum of 2 claims per 12 months period and each claim will incur a $50 deductible fee.

Both cards offer an Extended Warranty of 1 extra year on any warranties that are 5 years or less.

Now the extra cover that comes with the Reserve card includes Trip Cancellation.
This gives you the ability to claim up to $10,000 per trip and a total of $20,000 each year if you flight is cancelled for a covered reason.

And then there is Return Protection that provides coverage on new purchases for 90 days  for items that a retailer wont take back, and covers up to $300 per item and a total of $1,000 per year.

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There is the same Baggage Delay Insurance with both cards which provides up to $100 a day for 3 days if your luggage is delayed by more than 6 hours.

And similar to this coverage both cards also include Lost Luggage Reimbursement that provides up to $3,000 per passenger if your luggage is damaged or lost by the carrier.

Both cards have Trip Delay Reimbursement that provides up to $500 per ticket if your travel is delayed more than 12 hours by a carrier.

Purchase Protection is provided on both cards and is the same.
Basically it provides 120 days of coverage on new purchases for up to$10,000 per claim and $50,000 per year.

Both card also offer Extended Warranty Protection of one extra year on any US warranties that are 3 years or less.

The only added coverage that the United Club Infinite card offers is Return Protection.
This gives you an additional 90 days of coverage on new purchases that a store wont take back and covers up to $500 per item and $1,000 per year.

APR

Now for the final section of this review, I’ll just go over what the differences are in terms of what the APR is and what fees are charged if you happen to make a late payment or have a payment returned by your bank. 

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Final Thoughts 

So that pretty much covers everything there is to know about these four travel reward credit cards, and as you can see they all have some great benefits.

Now if you do happen to travel on one airline more than the other, whether that be Delta or United it would make sense to get the related airline credit card as you will be able to maximize all of the extra benefits on offer.

However, if you are looking for the most value possible from a new credit card, I would have to say that either the Delta SkyMiles Platinum or Reserve card are the best choice.

And this is mainly because they both offer a companion certificate, which as I showed you earlier in this video can be quite valuable.

Both Delta Skymiles cards also make it easier to receive the sign-up bonus as they offer 6 months to meet the spend requirement whereas the United MileagePlus cards only give you 3 months. 

Now, this doesn’t mean that the United MileagePlus cards aren’t a good deal.
They both come with plenty of great benefits that can easily cover the cost of the annual fee.
And if anything they can be a good addition to either one of the Delta SkyMiles credit cards.

Now If you are looking for an amazing hotel reward credit card, check out this article here where I talk you through the fantastic benefits that come with the Chase Ritz-Carlton Credit Card.