Updated 04.02.2026

This limited-time offer has ended, sorry for the confusion.

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Before we get started, we'd like to make a quick announcement about board membership.

The wear and tear board requires a separate membership, and we've always done it in a 24-hour, one-day-only fashion, usually every couple years.

This Saturday, 2/28, we're running a 24-hour signup window starting at 10pm Eastern time.

It's been two years since February 2024, check out the link in the bulletin for more information.

Shortcuts: Message board membership announcements 

So, let's get started with today's post.

Today's post summarizes the important features of the Delta cards currently being promoted, the Platinum and Reserve cards. 

A Delta card is now a must because of the 15% mileage discount that Delta cardholders are eligible for.for the first time.

In that regard, the low annual fee Personal Gold Card (Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card)is probably the easiest choice.

However, miles are earned by signing up, not by spending, so at some point you'll need to make the top Delta cards as well.

If you're going to make one

• During a card promotion
• And understanding the features of each card to maximize your benefits.

We thought it would make sense, so we've summarized the card's key benefits.

With the current promotion for the Reserve card (Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card), you'll earn over 130,000 miles with just one card, including the miles you earn from spending on the card. That's a lot of miles for a If the timing works out (which it doesn't always), you can get a one-way ticket on Delta One U.S.-South Korea.because it does.

1. you must create them in this order. 

Before I get into the features of each card, I think it's important to emphasize the most important thing first.

Delta cards are subject to the so-called family rule.

This means that all Delta cards are considered a “family” and you have to work your way up from the lowest tier cards to earn the welcome bonus.

That is,

• If you have personal Gold, you can get a bonus for creating a higher-tier Platinum card (Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card), but you'll have to pay a premium to get it.
• The rule is that if you make a Platinum card first, you won't get the bonus from a lower-tier personal Gold card later.

So, if you're new to the Delta card, you'll need to use the

• You'll need to create Gold first.
• Next, create a Platinum
• Reserve (Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card)

You'll need to create the cards in this order.

Keep this in mind.

2. Platinum Card: Basic Features

Platinum cards are currently available in

• 80,000 miles after spending $4,000 for 6 months
• An additional 20,000 miles when you spend an additional $2,000 within the same 6 months
• That is, 100,000 miles for $6,000 in total spendas a welcome bonus.

There are a number of credits here that can offset the $350 annual fee.

• $150 Delta Stays Credit: For prepaid hotel reservations on Delta Stays
• $120 Resy credit: $10 per month for spending at Resy-registered restaurants
• $120 Rideshare Credit: $10 per month for services like Uber (pre-registration required)
• 120 credit toward the Global Entry application fee every four years

These benefits could theoretically make up for the annual fee.

However, it's worth remembering that with the exception of the $150 hotel credit, these are pretty big ticket items, so it's going to take a lot of work to offset the entire annual fee.

3. Companion Certificates are received one year after the card is issued.

One companion ticket is included in the list of Platinum Card benefits.

“Receive a Companion Certificate on a Delta Main round-trip flight to select destinations each year after renewal of your Card.”

If you ticket a Delta Economy main cabin seat (applies to L, U, T, X, V pairs only), you get one more ticket for the same price.

The destinations aren't limited to domestic US flights either, and it's a great option for most Caribbean destinations (list of destinations: the United States, Puerto Rico, USVI, Mexico, Antigua, Aruba, Bermuda, Bonaire, Curacao, Grand Cayman, Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Costa Rica, Belize, Guyana, Panama, Honduras, and El Salvador. St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, and El Salvador.)

There is one caveat to this offer, however.

This benefit is not earned from the first year of card issuance, but rather annually after one year of card issuance, starting with the second year of card issuance.

We've found that some people mistakenly assume that they get this benefit as soon as they open their card.

So it's important to remember that if you cancel or downgrade your card after one year, you won't get this benefit.

4. What are Medallion® Qualification Dollars?

The Platinum card says it comes with a $2,500 Medallion® Qualification Dollars (MQD) offer. It also says that you'll earn 1 TP4T1 MQD for every $1 TP4T20 you spend on the card.

Understanding MQD is a prerequisite to understanding this benefit.

MQDs are the basis for elite status on Delta Air Linesfor example.

Depending on how many MQDs you earn over the course of a year, you can earn Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond status (these are different from credit card tiers), and depending on your status, you can get free upgrades and other benefits.

In the past, this elite status was based on distance and number of flights, so at the end of the year I used to do mileage runs by finding the cheapest ticket with the longest flight distance.

But in Delta's case, they've adopted a new philosophy of ‘strictly rewarding the price of the ticket," so now MQDs are earned based on the price of the ticket, not the distance flown.

That is,

• A person buys a round-trip ticket from the US to South Korea for $1,000 = 14,000 round-trip miles
• A person who purchases a roundtrip Atlanta-New York economy ticket for $2,000 just before departure = 1,500 roundtrip miles

So if there's two people, they're saying, "Hey, we're going to give more benefits to the person who paid $2,000 for the ticket.

As a result, to achieve the current Delta Elite status, you'll need to have a minimum of 10,000 points, as shown in the image below,

• Silver tier is 5,000 MQD
• Gold tier is 10,000 MQD
• Platinum tier costs 15,000 MQD
• The Diamond tier requires 28,000 MQD.

As an Amex Delta Personal Platinum Card member, you'll get 2,500 MQDs to get you started.

It's similar to how hotel partner cards give you qualifying nights at the beginning of the year for hotel elite status.

So, if you're an Amex Delta Platinum Card member, you could theoretically earn elite status without ever flying on a Delta flight.

As you can see below, spending $50,000 in a year means you'll get the $2,500 MQD base benefit and $1 MQD per $20 spent, which is calculated as $1 MQD per $20 spent, and you'll immediately achieve Silver status.

However, this elite status is only meaningful for business travelers who fly Delta frequently.

If you're only flying once or twice a year, I'd say it's much better value for money to fly Delta Comfort or domestic first class when you're redeeming miles in the first place.

Earning 50,000 Delta miles for spending $50,000 is hardly a good bang for your buck.

5. reserve Cards: Basic Features

The Reserve card is the highest tier of Delta's partner cards.

Currently

• 100,000 miles after spending $6,000 in 6 months
• Additional 25,000 miles when you spend an additional $3,000 within the same 6-month period
• That is, 125,000 miles for $9,000 in total spendas a welcome bonus.

There are a number of credits here that can offset the $650 annual fee.

• $200 Delta Stays Credit: For prepaid hotel reservations on Delta Stays
• $240$ Resy Credit: $20 per month spent at restaurants registered with Resy
• $120 Rideshare Credit: $10 per month for services like Uber (pre-registration required)

These benefits could, in theory, almost make up for the annual fee.

I mentioned earlier that using Resy credits would be a hassle for the Platinum card, but at $$20 a month, I think it would be worth the hassle for a year or so.

This brings the actual annual fee down to around $200 or so.

5. reserve Cards: Lounge Benefits

The Reserve Card is optimized for Delta frequent flyers and comes with lounge benefits.

Of course, lounge benefits have also been devalued, so it's not all unlimited lounge access like it used to be. There are some restrictions, including.

• First, you'll receive 15 Delta Sky Club® passes each year that you can use to fly Delta, and only you can redeem them. (Each year is based on 2/1 to 1/31)
• Four One-Time Guest Passes for companions are released each year at the same time.
• When booking a Delta ticket with an Amex card, Reserve card members also have access to The Centurion® Lounge, which is operated by Amex. If you have a companion, it costs $$50 per adult.

The Delta Sky Club® unlimited access benefit is supposedly available after spending $75,000 on the card in a calendar year, so unless you're a frequent Delta flyer, it's probably not worth it.

6. reserve Card: MQD, Companion Ticket 

Reserve cards also have MQD benefits.

Receiving $2,500 MQD after card approval is the same as the Platinum card.

Earning MQDs based on card spend is twice as good with the Reserve card.

This is because the Platinum card earns 1 TP4T1 MQD for every 1 TP4T20 spent on the card, while the Reserve card earns 1 TP4T1 MQD for every 1 TP4T10 spent.

Reserve Card members will also receive a Companion Certificate.

Whereas the Platinum Card's Companion Certificate is limited to economy tickets, the Reserve Card's Companion Certificate can be applied to First Class, Economy, and Comfort seats. It's a great perk that can save you quite a bit of money if you use it well.

However, it's worth noting that, as with the Platinum card, this benefit is earned every year after the card is renewed, starting in the second year, so it's not available in the first year of the card.

Let's wrap up today's post.

The Platinum and Reserve cards have benefits worthy of the annual fee.

However, these benefits are primarily aimed at business travelers who fly Delta frequently.

So if you're looking to earn miles to fly to Korea, you'll want to focus on the welcome bonus.