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Throughout the past year, Delta Air Lines' infamous SkyMiles frequent flyer program has undergone a lot of change. SkyClub access, Medallion elite status qualification, MQDs — you name it. Almost everything has undergone some sort of overhaul. But now, there's more. Delta's American Express-issued credit card lineup is getting refreshed.
From new and enhanced benefits to higher annual fees, here's everything you need to know about what's changing with the Delta credit card lineup.
Page Contents
Here’s What Changing With the Delta Credit Card Lineup
New, higher annual fees
If you haven't caught on to the trend by now, “refresh” is synonymous with “higher annual fee.” All of Delta's cards with annual fees now carry higher annual fees. Here's a snapshot of what the new fees look like:
Annual fee increasing from $99 to $150 on:
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
Annual fee increasing from $250 to $350 on:
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
Annual fee increasing from $550 to $650 on:
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
For those who applied for a Delta credit card before February 1, the new annual fees will go into effect on May 1, 2024. Starting then, you'll be responsible for covering a higher fee if you elect to renew your card for another year. For new applicants, the higher annual fees take effect immediately.
New applicants for the Delta Gold Card and Delta Gold Business Amex can continue to enjoy an introductory annual fee of $0 during the first year. Once renewal rolls around, the new (higher) annual fee will kick in at $150.
If you're wondering, there are no changes related to the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card — which doesn't charge an annual fee (Rates & Fees).
Related: All Delta Credit Card Options, and How To Choose the Right Card for You
Enhanced Companion Certificate
Positive changes are coming to the annual Delta Companion Certificate perk on the Platinum Delta Amex, Delta Reserve, Delta Business Platinum Amex, and Business Delta Reserve. It's now easier to use and can take you and your companion further.
The certificate now includes round-trip flights to Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and the continental United States. You'll still need to pay government-imposed taxes and fees of between $22 and $250 (for itineraries with up to four flight segments).
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Companion Fares, Companion Passes & Companion Tickets
Improved Delta flight credit
As a result of the changes, holders of the Delta Gold Card and Delta Gold Business Amex will see an improvement to the annual Delta flight credit. Instead of receiving a $100 credit after spending $10,000 in a calendar year, cardmembers will receive $200 after spending $10,000.
Expanded statement credits
In typical Amex fashion, statement credits now adorn Delta's credit card lineup. Here's a run-down of the statement credits you'll find on the personal cards:
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card: Up to $100 Delta Stays credit
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: Up to $120 Resy credit (available as $10 per month), up to $120 rideshare credit (available as $10 per month), and up to $150 Delta Stays credit
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: Up to $240 Resy credit (available as $20 per month), up to $120 rideshare credit (available as $10 per month), and up to $200 Delta Stays credit
And for the business cards:
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card: Up to $150 Delta Stays credit
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: Up to $120 Resy credit (available as $10 per month), up to $120 rideshare credit (available as $10 per month), and up to $200 Delta Stays credit
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: Up to $240 Resy credit (available as $20 per month), up to $120 rideshare credit (available as $10 per month), and up to $250 Delta Stays credit
Enrollment is required for the Resy and rideshare (which includes Uber, Lyft, and other select providers) credits but isn't needed for the Delta Stays benefit. A spokesperson for Amex confirmed to AwardWallet that all that's needed to redeem the Delta Stays credit is to make a prepaid reservation on delta.com.
Enrollment is required for select Amex benefits.
Brand new earning categories for business cards
Unlike most typical business credit cards, Delta's trio of business cards never featured special bonus categories for spending on advertising, shipping, and the like. Instead, cardmembers were limited to increased earnings on Delta and 1X SkyMiles per dollar spent on pretty much anything else.
Thankfully, one of the major gripes about Delta's business card lineup has been reconciled. Bonus categories are here. Alongside the normal Delta and “other eligible purchases” earning rates, Delta's business cards will also earn the following:
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card: 2X SkyMiles per dollar spent on eligible U.S. shipping purchases and eligible U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (on up to $50,000 annually, then 1X).
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: 1.5X SkyMiles per dollar spent on transit, eligible U.S. shipping purchases, and eligible purchases greater than $5,000 (on up to $100,000 annually, then 1X).
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: 1.5X SkyMiles per dollar spent on transit, U.S. shipping purchases, and at U.S. office supply stores.
Related: The Best Small-Business Credit Card Offers for This Month
Here’s What Isn't Changing With the Delta Credit Card Lineup
As mentioned at the outset, the Blue Delta Amex escaped the changes unscathed. The recognizable, no-annual-fee product will remain as-is (Rates & Fees).
The “TakeOff15” benefit available on all cards except the Blue Delta Amex is also sticking around. You can still save 15% on award tickets when redeeming miles on Delta-operated flights.
It's also worth noting that Delta's Medallion Qualification Dollar (MQD) headstart is here to stay. While Delta announced this as a one-time benefit late last year in response to other program-wide changes, it'll become a mainstay on Delta's Platinum- and Reserve-branded credit cards. As a refresher, you'll receive the following number of MQDs just by holding eligible cards:
- $2,500 bonus MQDs for holding either the Platinum Delta Amex and Delta Business Platinum Amex
- $2,500 bonus MQDs for holding either the Delta Reserve and Business Delta Reserve
Related: How To Earn Delta Medallion Status in 2024
Also not changing? The recently announced limits to SkyClub lounge access. Those with Platinum-level Delta cards can no longer buy their way into the lounge using their card (which previously cost $50 per visit). Also, those flying Basic Economy have now lost access to the SkyClub, regardless of what cards they have in their wallet or lounge memberships they hold.
And restrictions put in place for Reserve-level cardmembers also aren't changing with today's announcement. Lounge access will be reduced on February 1, 2025, requiring significant spending to maintain your ability to garner unlimited visits.
Final Thoughts
The Delta credit card lineup has undergone some changes. As a result, almost every product has been outfitted with a few new bells and whistles, statement credits, and more. But these changes come with a cost, found in the form of now-higher annual fees.
On balance, the changes aren't overwhelmingly bad. However, they're not overwhelmingly positive. At best, they're fair.
For some current cardholders, these changes might be enough of a reason to say goodbye and move on from the Delta credit card ecosystem. But for others, the addition of statement credits, business spending categories, and more perks could provide sufficient reason to renew or apply for a new card. If you can make the benefits work for you, the annual fees can be justified. For many, that will require a re-evaluation when the higher annual posts to your account.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card (Rates & Fees), Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees), Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (Rates & Fees), Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees), Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (Rates & Fees), Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (Rates & Fees), and Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card (Rates & Fees)
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Ryan Smith – Can I ask which city you tried as I tried both Asheville, NC (which is where I am going) and randomly picked another city Detroit and wasn’t seeing anything. Did you use http://www.Delta.com/stays and which city can you use so I can see an example? I even called Friday and the Delta Stays people had no clue about the Delta Amex Platinum card program and said they didn’t offer prepaid options. Sorry I am just totally confused and we are trying to book travel for the end of the month. Any help is really appreciated!!!!! Thank you for your time and help!
Jen, that’s extremely odd. Here’s a random date and random hotel I chose in Asheville, and it didn’t ask whether I wanted to pay now or later, it just took me to the payment page and said to put in my card number, the full amount will be collected now: https://www.travelextras-delta.com/HotelCheckout?tripid=bcabe678-9062-5caf-8ea5-d6b4672938c1&c=476b0a6c-f135-4824-8566-7a44fbf97ad8&swpApplied=false&searchId=ae43535d-11e3-4534-aa3c-c5ac5f663a9b
Hi, I tried reserving online and even called customer support for Delta Stays and they were unaware of the benefit and how I can claim it. Thanks for providing information on the credit $ for $; however, I am not finding any cities in the US (tried typing in a few randomly) that offers. a prepaid option which is required for the credit. The site doesn’t even have a filter for prepaid option. So I’m stuck trying to book a hotel in Asheville, NC with NO options for prepaid stays but a ton of options for reserving now and paying later. How do I make sure I can actually use this credit? Delta and Delta.com/stays has barely any information on the actual redemption and what is required for the benefit. Please help! BTW this is for the Amex Platinum credit card.
Hey Jen! The new Delta Stay credit is on certain Delta co-branded cards, not the Amex Platinum Card. But we are also quite frustrated by the lack of details on this new benefit!
Sorry, the Amex Platinum credit card cobranded with Delta. I just didn’t state Delta in the name of the card again above. It is a Delta cobranded card and I did receive an email last week to tell me about the “new. benefits” without much information on how the program works.
Can you assist as I have the Delta SkyMiles platinum card and just checked again now on delta.com/stays and there are NO OPTIONS for booking prepaid hotel. How do you ever receive the $150 credit if rebooking is required and not available?
There appears to be a typo in the section on credits for the business Platinum. It says, “Up to $120 Resy credit (available as $20 per month).” That’s supposed to say $10/month, right?
Ack, yes. Thanks for pointing that out. It’s fixed now.
About the new $100/150/200 statement credit for Delta Stays…
NOWHERE in their fine print does it say how much you have to SPEND in Delta Stays to EARN the full credit. (Does it accrue as $1 spent = $1 fredit, up ti the limit, or does it accrue as some percentage of spent dollars?)
It’s really kind of irresponsible that they didn’t spell this out in any of the fine print online or in the email offer.
It would be nice to have an authoritative answer to this with a documented web link / FAQ from Amex or Delta.
Hi Jon, here are the terms if you click on “rates and fees” for any of the cards. It functions as a credit for spending, so it should be $1 for $1 you spent, up to the maximum.
From the Amex Delta Gold card terms: $100 Delta Stays Credit
Basic Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card Members can earn up to $100 in statement credits per calendar year when a Basic Card or an Additional Card on the Account is used to pay for a new Delta Stays prepaid hotel or vacation rental booking on the Delta Stays platform (delta.com/stays) (each, an “Eligible Delta Stays Booking”).
Purchases by both the Basic Card Member and any Additional Card Members on the Card Account are eligible for statement credits. However, the total amount of statement credits for Eligible Delta Stays Bookings will not exceed $100 on the Card Account per calendar year. Eligible Delta Stays Booking does not include interest charges, cancellation fees, property fees, resort fees, or other similar fees, or any charges by a property to you (whether for your booking, your stay or otherwise). American Express relies on the merchant’s processing of transactions to determine the transaction date. The transaction date may differ from the date you made the purchase if, for example, there is a delay in the merchant submitting the transaction to us or if the merchant uses another date as the transaction date. This means that in some cases your purchase may not earn the statement credit benefit for the benefit period in which you made the purchase. For example, if an eligible purchase is made on December 31st but the merchant processes the transaction such that it is identified to us as occurring on January 1st, the January statement credit would be applied. For additional information on Delta Stays, visit delta.com/stays. The Delta Stays program is subject to change, and American Express has no control over those changes. Bookings through Delta Vacations and products other than prepaid hotels and vacation rentals booked through Delta Stays will not qualify for statement credits. Statement credits may not be received or may be reversed if the booking is cancelled or modified. Please allow up to 90 days after an eligible charge is posted to the Card Account for the applicable statement credits to be posted to the Card Account. Call the number on the back of the Card if statement credits have not posted by that time, or for additional information. To be eligible for this benefit, the Card Account must not be cancelled or past due at the time of statement credit fulfillment. If American Express does not receive information that identifies your transaction as eligible, the Basic Card Member will not receive the statement credits. Prepaid hotels and vacation rentals available through the Delta Stays platform are subject to change. If American Express, in its sole discretion, determines that you have engaged in or intend to engage in any manner of abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with this benefit, American Express will not have an obligation to provide and may reverse any statement credits provided to you.
Thanks, but that is the same fine print, which does NOT exolicitly define at what rate the creidt is earned. You are making an assumption. But all it actually says is members “can earn” the credit by spending, and where, but not how much must be spent.
Jon, from a phone call with Amex, you get the credit for however much you spend. There’s no minimum spending requirement to receive the credit.
Ryan – Can you let me know how to prepay the hotel as it’s not even an option on Delta.com/stays?? Will Amex/Delta honor the booking for reserve now, pay later as that is the only option available?
Hi Jen, I’m not sure if I did something differently. I chose random hotels and tried to make some fake bookings, and it instantly gave me options for pay now or pay at the hotel. You need to use the pay now option for it to track as spending through Delta Stays.