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Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
Tomorrow (July 5, 2017), the Delta Gold card 60,000 mile offer and the Delta Platinum 70,000 mile offer end.
Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards – Limited Time Credit Card Offers.
Both offers are the highest on record. It’s always important to apply for Amex cards when they have a historically high sign up bonus since you can only get the public sign up bonus on a card once in your lifetime. (See Best Order for Card Applications to Maximize Bonuses Over Your Lifetime.)
Why SkyMiles?
Delta miles are good for specific reasons even though they’re clearly not the program you want to be most invested in. Delta miles are great for:
- market standard/cheap economy awards
- flash sales they run roughly once a month when you can book heavily discounted awards
- people who live in a Delta hub city
- diversity of miles, which is crucial when trying to book at the last minute
The Offers
- Sign Up Bonus: Platinum: 70k miles, 10k MQMs, and $100 statement credit after spending $4,000 in the first three months. Gold: 60k miles and $50 statement credit after spending $3,000 in the first three months
- Category Bonuses: 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases
- Value of Delta Miles: Worth 1.3 cents each to me
- Free Checked Bag for you plus up to three others on same Delta reservation
- Priority Boarding
- No Foreign Transaction Fee
- Annual Fee:
Platinum: $195, not waived (so a net of -$95 after statement credit)
Gold: $95, waived for first year (so a net of +$50 after statement credit) - Eligibility: You can only get the bonus once per lifetime on public Amex offers. For example, if you’ve opened just a Gold card in the past, you are ineligible to get the bonus on the Gold again, but you can get the bonus on the Platinum.
Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards – Limited Time Credit Card Offers.
Delta Flash Sales
Delta often runs “flash sales” on awards to specific regions for specific travel dates, sometimes in a specific cabin class. These sales usually only last a couple days–hence the name “flash”–so when you see one that appeals to you, book fast. If there’s a particularly good one going I’ll be sure to write about it here on MileValue.
Examples of past flash sales:
United, Delta, and American Economy Award Chart
Below is a comparison of the three legacy carriers economy award prices to all regions from the continental United States. You can see charts for Business and First Class in Comparison of United, Delta, & American Airlines Latest 2017 Award Charts
Between the three, Delta has the cheapest economy prices to Alaska, Africa, and the Middle East. It has market standard economy prices to most other regions, with the exception of flying to South America, Australia, New Zealand, or the Pacific Islands.
Sometimes award space is excellent on a route with a good award price. For instance, award space is great with Delta miles to Europe for this September, a great time to visit.
Delta Hubs
This one seems obvious but I think is worth pointing out anyways. It’s easy to get caught up in the math and forget about logistics.
If you live in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Salt Lake City, or Seattle, Delta miles are going to give you access to more award space, as those are Delta hubs. In particular, if you live in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, or Seattle, Delta miles are even more important, as those cities are specifically, solely Delta hubs (United and American Airlines also have hubs in Los Angeles and New York).
Don’t Hold, Spend
All of this being said, it’s not wise to hoard Delta miles. Earn them and burn them as quickly as you can. All rewards depreciate over time, but I think it’s safe to say that SkyMiles do so more rapidly than other reward currencies.
Bottom Line
For the moment both Delta co-branded Amex cards are offering enhanced sign up bonuses: 60k for the Gold and 70k for the Platinum. Both are record high bonuses, and both expire tomorrow (July 5, 2017.)
If you’re wavering between the two cards, read more about the specifics of each offer here. Essentially, if you don’t value Delta status, they are similar offers. If you value Delta status, get the Delta Platinum card.
Value is subjective (to an extent). I collect SkyMiles for the purpose of having a diverse rewards stash. If you collect SkyMiles, what’s your reasoning?
Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards – Limited Time Credit Card Offers.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
Incorrect. These great Delta offers are not over and will be still be available until 7/26/2017 through this link:
http://refer.amex.us/JASONPRkqb?xl=cp01-141
http://refer.amex.us/JASONPAKbb?xl=cp01-112
[…] The Delta Gold card 60,000 mile offer and the Delta Platinum 70,000 mile offer end.Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards – Limited Time Credit Card Offers.LEARN MORE! […]
[…] The big summer rush of elevated credit card sign-up bonuses is starting to fizzle out like yesterday’s fireworks. The Platinum gets you 70k Delta Skymiles and the Gold gets you 60k. Today, July 5th, is the last chance for these two Delta Amex offers, which are the highest for each card, as far as I can remember. Since Amex limits you to one lifetime sign-up bonus per card, now would be a good time to get either of these. (Of course any card application should also fit into your overall card strategy.) To see a few more details on these offers, check out this MileValue post. […]
Please I am asking you send me no more offers for your American Express Credit Card. I don’t travel a lot, I am retired, and most important I will not pay an annual fee to a credit card company, when they make money on my purchases anyway. I travel Delta when the need arises, a couple times a year, but I cannot afford this card, nor do I want it, so please remove my name and address from future mailings regarding this card.
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