by Daniel | Last Updated Feb 5th, 2024
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So Delta just made some pretty big changes to their line up American Express branded credit cards.
And not all of these changes are good.
Thats because they have decided to increased the annual fee on their Gold, Platinum and Reserve personal cards and business cards.
This comes after they made headlines last year when they decided to restrict entry into the Delta Sky Club for Platinum and Reserve card holders, and essentially devalue the Delta SkyMiles loyalty program.
Now thankfully they were thoughtful enough to help reduce the impact of jacking up the annual fees of their cards by including a few new benefits.
But are these new perks just another coupon book of useless benefits?
Well, let’s jump straight into the article and take a look at what has actually changed, and if it is still possible to find some value.
Increased Annual Fees
Now let’s start with the bad news first, which is the increase in annual fee on the Gold, Platinum and Reserve cards.
And this price increase is the same for both Personal and Business cards alike.
So if you currently have the Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card the annual fee has been increased from $99 up to $150 a year.
And thankfully, it still offers the first year of card ownership free of charge.
Now whilst it not a terrible amount of money to pay for a credit card, it’s a price increase of more than 50%, which in my optioning is a bit of a steep increase.
Next up the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card will be increasing its annual fee by $100 from $250 a year up to $350 a year, which is a 40% price increase.
This is slightly less of a percentage increase than the Gold card, but still quite a large increase.
And then finally the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card will also be increasing its annual fee by $100 from $550 up to $650.
So although this is now quite an expensive credit card to pay for each year, it’s price increase is only up by 18%, which in my opinion, is more reasonable than the other two cards 40% plus price increase.
Updated Benefits
So let’s take look at what new benefits have been added to each card to see if they help to justify the increased annual fees.
Starting with the Delta SkyMiles Gold card there is now a $100 Delta Stays Credit.
And with this you can basically get a $100 statement credit each year when you book a pre paid hotel or vacation rental though the website delta.com/stays.
So this shouldn’t be to hard to take advantage, as most hotels will cost at least $100 a night.
Along with this you will now be able to get a $200 Delta Flight Credit (which was previously a $100 credit).
And this is available after you make$10,000 worth of purchases on the card.
So if you can manage to spend the required $10,000 in a calendar year, just this benefit alone will make up for the $51 price increase.
Now with the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card there are quite a few new benefits that have been added to the card to help cover the cost of the increased annual fee which is now $350.
The first new benefit is a $150 Delta Stays Credit, and just like the Gold card, it can be received as a statement credit when you make a hotel or vacation rental booking through the website delta.com/stays.
And just this benefit alone covers the $100 increase in the annual fee.
There also a $120 Resy Credit that is provided to you in $10 monthly credits.
And to find eligible restaurants just go to Resy.com or use the Resy app.
This is nice addition to have on the credit card, but it would be much more useful as a card holder if you could receive the credit all at once.
Another new benefits is a $120 Rideshare Credit, and this is provided to you in $10 monthly statement credits.
And this credit can be used on either Uber, Lyft, Curb, Revel, or Alto.
But again, it would be much better to receive the credit in all at once.
Now an another nice benefit that has been added is the MQD Headstart, and with this you will receive $2,500 Medallion Qualification Dollars each Medallion Qualification Year.
Along with this you can now earn $1 Medallion Qualification Dollar per $20 spent on the card, which should help to bring you closer to Medallion status.
So at least you get a bit of help with your journey to gaining Medallion status
Another new benefit that has been added is Hertz Five StarStatus, this provides you with a one class car upgrade and the ability to earn 25% bonus points.
Now thankfully there has been a welcome change to Annual Companion Certificate.
Previously it was only possible to travel within the 48 contiguous United States, but now you can travel to all 50 US states, including parts of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
And finally there is now access to the Complimentary Upgrade List.
This is very useful for anyone that is not a Medallion Member, basically it will put you on the Upgrade list after Delta SkyMiles Medallion members and Reserve Card members.
So with all of these new benefits, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card actually provides you with a decent amount of value, it’s just unfortunate that it doesn’t include any access to the Delta Sky Club.
I personally think it should come with at least 4 guest passes the Delta Sky Club each year, as you are already paying $350 a year to technically stay loyal to Delta.
And if Delta can’t manage that, maybe they could offer a Priority Pass Select Membership that provides you with 10 free airport lounge passes each year.
So finally let’s take a look at what has changed with the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card.
And hopefully there is enough value added to thsi card cover the cost of the annual fee.
So first up there is now a $200 Delta Stays Credit, and this is provided as a statement credit just like the Gold and Platinum card.
And just like the Gold and Platinum card, just this one benefits makes up for the increased annual fee.
Then there is a $240 Resy Credit that is provided in $20 allotments each month.
And like I said before, it would be much nicer if you could receive all of this credit at once.
There is the same $120 Rideshare Credit as what you get with the Platinum card.
Then you get the same MQD Headstart of $2,500 Medallion Qualification Dollars as the Platinum card.
And then there is the MQD Boost that provides you with $1 Medallion Qualification Dollar per $10 spent on the card, this bascially allows you to earn twice as many MQDs than the Platinum card.
There is then access to the Hertz President’s Circle Status, which is the top level of membership provided by Hertz.
You will also receive the enhanced Annual Companion Certificate for travel to all 50 US states, including parts of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
This also now includes Delta Premium Select fares.
And finally, the only negative that has been added to this card is the fact that from 2/1/25 you will be limited to just 15 visits per year to the Delta Sky Club, which was previously unlimited access each year.
Although they have doubled the One-Time Guest Passes you now receive from 2 up to 4 passes each year.
Now if you manage to spend $75,000 on the card within a calendar year, you will review unlimited access to the club.
So if you do travel extensively you may find you are not able to access to DeltaSky Club now due to the limit of just 15 visits each year.
So taking account of all of these new benefits that have been added to the Reserve card, it certainly provides a reasonable amount of value, but I think it would make more sense to to give cardholders to option to pick and chose which benefits they actually want.
I personally would prefer additional credit towards lounge access than the Rideshare Credit or Resy Credit, but thats only because I travel extensively each year and really like using airport lounges.
Increased Sign-up bonus
Now along with the new benefits that have been added to these cards they are also offering a significantly increased sign-up bonus to each card.
And this can definitely help to justify the increased annual fee if you happen to be a new customer to the Delta SkyMiles American Express cards.
Now Delta SkyMiles are worth around 1.2 cents per mile, so that means the 70,000 bonus miles that are available for the Gold card are worth $840.
Then with the Platinum cards 90,000 bonus miles on offer you are looking at a value of $1,080.
And finally the Reserve cards 100,00 mile signup bonus is worth $1,200.
Now if you are considering one of these cards, just note that these increased sign-up bonuses are only available until 27 of March 2024.
Final Thoughts
So although the annual fee of each card has gone up significantly, the newly added benefits seem to make up for this increase, assuming you take advantage of the benefits.
And this is something worth considering as it seems like a lot of credit cards are starting to become glorified coupon books that provide you with some useful but also some no so useful benefits.
And like I said before, I think it would be so much more valuable to card holders if they could actually tailor the benefits of their own credit card more to their specific needs.
As it is somewhat waste of money if you can’t make use of all of the benefits that are on offer from your credit card.
And finally, if you are a first time customer looking to get a Delta SkyMiles Amex card, the increased sign-up bonus is definitely worth taking advantage of as it is worth substantially more than the regular sign-bonus that Delta usually offer.
Now if you are looking at either the Delta SkyMiles Gold or Platinum card and want to find a way to get affordable airport lounge access, I recommend checking out one of the 3 Priority Pass Memberships that are currently available.
With access to over 1,500 airport lounges all over the world, it is possible to reave a ton of value.
I been using my Priority Pass membership now for the past few years and really. love having access to so many different airport lounges all over the world.
Along with this I also get a credit at more than 30 different airport restaurants in the US alone, with plenty more location located around the world.
And if you use this link here you can actually save up to $118 off a Priority Pass membership.
Now if these new benefits and increased annual fees are enough to turn you off getting one of thee cards, or even make you consider changing your current Delta SkyMiles card, I recommend you read my review where I compare the Amex Platinum card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card and the Capital One Venture Card.