Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card Review

GET TO KNOW THE CardName

Frequent travel for business can be a grind. The CardName offers several ways to make the experience both more enjoyable and even, believe it or not, rewarding. American Express is a CardRatings advertiser.

The CardName is well-suited for companies that do high-volume travel, prefer to do it with Delta Airlines and appreciate a fair amount of comfort when they do.

The ball gets rolling quickly with a welcome offer of 70,000 bonus miles earned by spending $5,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of card membership.

On an ongoing basis, you earn three miles per $1 spent on eligible Delta purchases and one mile per $1 spent on other eligible purchases. Once you spend $150,000 on purchases in a calendar year, you'll earn 1.5 miles per $1 spent on your purchases (purchases qualifying for a higher amount will still earn that higher amount). Miles can be redeemed for flights, seat upgrades, gift cards or shopping.

The CardName also offers a Status Boost opportunity through which you earn 15,000 MQMs after you spend $30,000 on purchases on your CardName 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.)

Even though the annual fee is steep at AnnualFees, it could be largely offset with the various perks and features, not to mention the rewards you can earn, including complimentary access to The Centurion Lounge (you must book your flight on your Reserve card) when flying on a same-day Delta-marketed or Delta-operated flight, priority boarding, your first bag checked free, as well as 24/7 concierge service and no fee for foreign transactions. See Rates and Fees.

FEATURED CARD

 

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®
• $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
• Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards®. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $100 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck®
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more
• Member FDIC

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Credit Needed:

Excellent

DELTA RESERVE BUSINESS CARD BENEFITS

Who doesn't love upgrades, free travel and exclusive access? The CardName is loaded with all three.

Earning a welcome offer of 70,000 miles after spending $5,000 in the first three months is a nice perk. And don't forget to look forward to the other perks and features that come with being a cardholder.

For a business that relies on frequent travel, the CardName affords the opportunity to rack up miles in the Delta SkyMiles® frequent flyer program very quickly. Three miles per $1 spent on eligible Delta purchases and one mile for every $1 spent on other qualified purchases is very enticing, but it's the Status Boost opportunity that really piques our interest: spend $30,000 on your card in a calendar year and you'll receive 15,000 bonus MQMs up to four times a year.

For those who enjoy receiving special treatment, the CardName provides complimentary access to a few airport lounge networks, including the The Centurion Lounge, any time you book your flight with your Reserve card. You also receive priority boarding and, just to add to the money-saving perks, your first checked bag on Delta flights is free.

Using the CardName for all your Delta travel and related purchases can help you earn even more perks and upgrades as those annual MQM bonus opportunities will move you into higher tiers of the Delta Medallion Program.

As an added little bonus, you enjoy a 20% savings on eligible in-flight purchases (in the form of a statement credit on your card).

CardName POTENTIAL DOWNSIDES

The CardName has an annual fee of AnnualFees. That's a significant investment unless you know you will be doing enough travel to make it worthwhile. Keep in mind that the lounge access and miles you could earn should go a long way toward offsetting that.

And, as with any airline reward redemption, you will be responsible for paying the taxes and fees on the flight even if you have enough miles to cover the full cost.

CardName CARDHOLDER SCORES

CardRatings conducts a survey annually to learn what actual cardholders think of their cards. Here are the results:

*Scores above reflect the results of surveys with actual cardholders. Full methodology below.

HOW THE CardName COMPARES TO OTHER TRAVEL CARDS

CardName vs. CardName

See Rates and Fees.

CardName is a more general rewards card that functions on American Express' Membership Rewards program. That flexibility comes with an annual fee of AnnualFees. CardName is currently featuring a welcome offer opportunity of 120,000 Membership Rewards points earned after you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases within your first three months of card membership.

Cardholders also receive 35% of your points back (up to 1 million points a year) when you Pay with Points for a first- or business-class flight on any airline (or any class flight on your pre-selected airline) through amextravel.com.

In terms of earning rewards on an ongoing basis, the Delta card focuses on, well, Delta. The CardName offers three miles per $1 spent on eligible Delta purchases; whereas, CardName has more general earning options for travelers, including five points for every $1 spent on flights and prepaid hotels booked through amextravel.com.

CardName also rewards you with 1.5 points per $1 on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more (up to a cap) as well as 1.5 points per $1 on eligible purchases with U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers and software and cloud system providers, and shipping providers. With the Delta card, you'll earn 1.5 miles per $1 spent after spending $150,000 on your card in a year; otherwise, you earn 1 point per $1 spent.

Additionally, CardName has you select one qualifying airline at the start of each year and then you can qualify for a reimbursement of up to $200 per year for incidental expenses such as checked bags and in-flight drinks with that pre-selected airline.

And, really, flexibility is the key difference between these cards. Both offer luxury treatment like access to airport lounges and more, but if you aren’t loyal to the Delta brand you could find more value with CardName. Enrollment required for select benefits

CardName vs. CardName

The CardName discontinued is offering 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending at least $7,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening (Citi is a CardRatings advertiser).

Again, both cards carry higher-than-typical annual fees and, as we'll see, both offer similar luxury perks for their respective airlines.

The cards have similar rewards programs, with the CardName connected to Delta SkyMiles® and the CardName connected to American Airlines AAdvantage® miles. The American Airlines card offers four miles per $1 spent on eligible purchases with the airline, while the Delta card offers three miles. Both cards offer access to exclusive "members only" airport lounges (though up to two guests or immediate family members traveling with you can accompany you free of charge into the American Airlines Admirals Club lounges with that card and you'll pay for your guests with the Delta card) and both offer cardholders priority boarding and free checked bags.

CardName vs. CardName

While the CardName is perfectly suited for companies that do frequent business traveling, the CardName is designed for a wide range of business expenditures that could include travel or cash back.

The other big difference is in the annual fees. The CardName has an annual fee of AnnualFees, compared to just AnnualFees per year for the CardName.

The CardName offers 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points for spending at least $8,000 in qualifying purchases over the first three months – those points are worth up to $1,250 since your points are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through the Ultimate Rewards portal.

In fact, the overall miles/points systems for the two cards are very different. The CardName earns three miles per $1 spent on eligible Delta Airlines purchases and one mile per $1 on all other qualifying purchases. The CardName offers three points for every $1 (up to $150,000 spent per year) on shipping; advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines; travel; and internet, cable and phone services. You'll also earn one point per $1 on all your other purchases.

What you won't get with the Chase card is the luxury treatment or the rewards for your brand-loyalty – though you also won't be paying an above-average annual fee to carry the card.

WHO SHOULD GET THE CardName?

If you and your company do a great deal of traveling for business and if Delta is your airline of choice, the CardName is a card you should certainly consider having in your wallet. It's scope of benefits is admittedly narrow, and it isn't designed for just any cardholder. But it's luxury perks and rewards with Delta could save the right business quite a lot of money.

Survey Methodology: CardRatings commissioned Op4G in September and October 2022 to conduct surveys among 1,554 cardholders nationwide. CardRatings website analytics from Jan. 1, 2022-Aug. 31, 2022 were used to determine a selection of the most popular cards and additional cards were included to add survey breadth. Responses to each of nine questions were given on a scale of 1-10 and respondents' scores were then averaged under broad topics. To determine the overall score, responses from questions 1-8 were summed and the answer to "How likely are you to recommend this card to a friend, coworker or family member?" was double weighted. "Current Scores" reflect scores from the most recent survey (2022); "Past Scores" reflect scores from the 2021 survey.

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