Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card Review

CardName BENEFITS

If you fly often and Delta is your preferred airline, the CardName might be the card for you. It’s jam-packed with luxurious benefits that can enhance your travel experience and help you save money. American Express is a CardRatings advertiser.

The first benefit to catch your eye will likely be the welcome bonus. First-time cardholders can earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases with the card in your first six months. And, every time you use the card to make a Delta purchase, you’ll earn 3X miles per dollar spent. For all other eligible purchases, you’ll earn 1X mile per dollar.

Some other major benefits include:

DELTA SKYMILES® RESERVE AMEX CARD COMPANION CERTIFICATE

Primary cardholders receive a companion certificate each year upon renewal of the card. You can redeem the certificate when purchasing a round-trip Delta flight (Main Cabin, First Class or Delta Comfort+) for a travel companion.

The offer is subject to government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights. Still, not a bad deal…

STATUS BOOST

If your goal is to reach Medallion® Status, the CardName could help. With Status Boost, earn 15,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $30,000 in purchases on your card through 12/31/23, up to four times per year getting you closer to Medallion status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion status and are different from the miles you earn towards flights. Effective 1/1/24, this benefit will no longer be available, and there will be a new way to earn toward Medallion status with the card. Learn more at delta.com/skymilesprogramchanges.

Cardholders who qualify for one of the four Medallion Tiers — silver, gold, platinum or diamond — can unlock additional benefits. For instance, if you earn Silver Medallion status, you’ll earn seven miles for every dollar spent.

COMPLIMENTARY UPGRADES

Cardholders who haven’t reached Medallion status qualify for the Delta SkyMiles Complimentary Upgrade Program. As a member, you may upgrade your Main Cabin seat to a more comfortable DeltaComfort+ or First Class seat. Upgrades are subject to availability and Medallion Members have first dibs.

DELTA SKY CLUB ACCESS

Cardholders receive complimentary access to more than 50 Delta Sky Club locations when catching a same-day Delta-Marketed or Delta-Operated flight. Once inside the club, you can relax and enjoy complimentary drinks, food and high-speed WiFi.

Enjoy Delta Sky Club access at no cost and bring up to two guests or immediate family at a rate of $50 per person per visit. Effective 2/1/25, Reserve Card members will receive 10 visits per year to the Delta Sky Club; to earn an unlimited number of visits each year starting on 2/1/25, the total eligible purchases on the card must equal $75,000 or more between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24, and each calendar year thereafter.

CENTURION LOUNGE ACCESS

You’ll also receive complimentary access to the Centurion Lounge or Escape lounges when flying Delta. These lounges offer complimentary signature cocktails, food prepared by local chefs and high-speed WiFi. Some locations even offer spa services, conference rooms and luggage lockers. You can bring up to two guests at a price of $50 per person.

GLOBAL ENTRY/TSA PRECHECK REIMBURSEMENT

Avoid long customs and security lines by applying for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership. These programs allow you to skip the regular security and customs lines at the airport. If you apply and pay with the Delta Reserve SkyMiles Amex card, you’ll receive up to a $100 statement credit. (Enrollment required)

FREE CHECKED BAGS

When you use the card to book a Delta fight, your first checked bag will be free. This also applies to eight additional passengers flying under the same reservation. For a family of six, this represents a per roundtrip savings of up to $360.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

If your trip is paid entirely with the card, you may qualify for trip interruption or cancellation insurance. This means that if your trip is canceled or shortened due to the weather, sickness or another eligible event, you can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per trip, and up to $20,000 per year.

20% BACK ON IN-FLIGHT PURCHASES

While flying Delta, you can receive a 20% discount in the form of a statement credit when you pre-purchase an eligible meal or purchase these in-flight items: audio headsets, alcoholic beverages and food.

DISCOUNTS ON DELTA FLIGHTS

Eligible card members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.

FEATURED CARD

 

Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express

• Earn a $250 statement credit after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card within the first 6 months.
• $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
• Buy Now, Pay Later: Enjoy $0 intro plan fees when you use Plan It® to split up large purchases into monthly installments. Pay $0 intro plan fees on plans created during the first 12 months from the date of account opening. Plans created after that will have a monthly plan fee up to 1.33% of each eligible purchase amount moved into a plan based on the plan duration, the APR that would otherwise apply to the purchase, and other factors.
• Low Intro APR: 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months from the date of account opening. After that, your APR will be a variable APR of 19.24% - 29.99%. Variable APRs will not exceed 29.99%.
• 6% Cash Back at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1%).
• 6% Cash Back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions.
• 3% Cash Back at U.S. gas stations.
• 3% Cash Back on transit (including taxis/rideshare, parking, tolls, trains, buses and more).
• 1% Cash Back on other purchases.
• Cash Back is received in the form of Reward Dollars that can be redeemed as a statement credit.
• Get up to $120 in statement credits annually when you pay for an auto-renewing subscription to Equinox+ at equinoxplus.com with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. That's $10 in statement credits each month. Enrollment required.
• Thinking about getting the Disney Bundle which can include Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+? Your decision made easy with $7/month back in the form of a statement credit after you spend $9.99 or more each month on an eligible subscription (subject to auto renewal) with your Blue Cash Preferred® Card. Enrollment required.
• Terms Apply.

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DELTA SKYMILES RESERVE® CARD ANNUAL FEE - IS IT WORTH IT?

Although the annual fee for this card is AnnualFees, it might be worth it for someone who travels a lot with Delta. If you take advantage of the plethora of benefits the card offers, you can quickly offset the annual fee. See Rates and Fees.

For example, if you earn the welcome bonus and visit a Centurion or Escape Lounge while you travel, that would be more than enough to offset the annual fee within the first year of opening the card.

However, if you don’t travel often or if Delta isn’t your favorite airline, the fee likely isn’t worth it.

HOW DOES THE DELTA SKYMILES® RESERVE CREDIT CARD COMPARE TO OTHER TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS?

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If you fly Delta often but not enough to justify the CardName's hefty annual membership fee, here’s another option to consider.

The CardName has a AnnualFees annual fee, and it’s better for earning miles on everyday purchases. You can earn 3X miles per dollar on purchases made directly with hotels; 2X miles per dollar spent at restaurants (including takeout and delivery in the U.S.), and 2X miles per dollar spent at U.S. grocery stores. This is in addition to 3X miles earned per dollar spent directly with Delta, and 1X mile on all other eligible purchases.

The welcome offers are similar. A key difference, though, is that the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum card has a lower minimum spend requirement. Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card in your first six months.

The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum card offers some of the same benefits as the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve card, such as free check bags, an annual companion certificate and priority boarding. However, with the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum card, you don’t get complimentary access to Delta Sky Club Lounges.

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If you prefer a card that offers a ton of ways to earn travel rewards, CardName could be a better fit.

CardName has a much higher fee of AnnualFees but offers a ton of premium perks. To begin with, you can earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of opening your card. Plus, the card comes with several credits, such as up to a $200 airline fee credit for incidental charges with a pre-selected airline and more. Terms apply. Enrollment required for select perks.

With the Amex Platinum card, you can earn 5X Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or via AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year) and 5X points on prepaid hotel purchases made on AmexTravel.com.

Lastly, cardholders have access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection which includes more than 1,300 airport lounges across 140 countries and counting.

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Do you travel often but Delta isn’t your favorite airline? The CardName credit card could be a better fit.

This card has an annual fee of AnnualFees and has a welcome bonus of 60,000 bonus points, which you can earn by spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening the card. The points are valued at $900 when you book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.

The CardName card offers more ways for you to earn bonus rewards than the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve card. You can earn 5X points on flights purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal; 10X points on hotels and rental cars purchased through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal; 3X points on other travel (after earning your $300 travel reimbursement), and more.

Plus, you receive a complimentary Priority Pass Select membership, which grants you access to over 1,300 VIP airport lounges worldwide.

IS DELTA SKYMILES® RESERVE A GOOD CARD?

The CardName is a good card if you fly with Delta frequently and can take advantage of its many perks. If you spend a lot of money on Delta flights and want to reach an elite status quickly, it is worthy of your consideration.

However, if you fly often but Delta isn’t your preferred airline, you’ll likely benefit more by picking a more flexible premium travel rewards card.

To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards in this post, please visit the following links: CardName (See Rates and Fees); CardName (See Rates and Fees); CardName (See Rates and Fees)