Sign up for a Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and you can earn 30,000 bonus miles toward Award Travel after spending just $500 on the card in the first three months of account opening. Delta just revised their award ticketing process, so this signup bonus gives you more than enough SkyMiles to toward a trip, even during the busiest travel week of the year.

Delta's new award ticket booking engine will look familiar if you've ever used a discount travel website. Enter your desired departure and arrival dates, and Delta's website will suggest itineraries that will cost you the fewest SkyMiles. For instance, we found a coast-to-coast flight in the heart of the busy Thanksgiving travel season for just 40,000 SkyMiles plus a $10 processing fee. The website suggested leaving a day earlier and returning a day later, bringing the total down to just 25,000 SkyMiles + $10. (At the time we researched this article, Delta sold tickets for the same flight for $488 plus tax.)

Free bag checks and priority boarding save time and money

If you're planning group travel with family, you can even use your leftover SkyMiles to cut the cost of your family's airfare. You'll enjoy some of the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express's biggest benefits when you get to the airport. Book your entire itinerary on the card, check your first bag free on every Delta flight - that's a savings of up to $200 per round trip for a family of four. That's $50 per person in savings per round trip, a benefit that covers this card's $95 annual fee with just four check-ins. American Express offer a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95, so you're already in the black.

With your bags safely checked in, use this travel credit card's priority boarding benefit to get to your seat early, guaranteeing best pick of the available overhead compartments. If you indulge in any in-flight meals, snacks, or entertainment, this card cuts your costs by 20 percent. With two bonus SkyMiles for every dollar you spend with Delta on this card, this winter's family trip can help you save even more money on next summer's vacation. Like other airline credit cards, this account carries a somewhat high APR. However, if you pay down your balance in full, you can enjoy one of this fall's most generous credit card deals.

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