Platinum Delta Sky Miles Credit Card Review - Earn 20,000 MQMs

Summary - The Platinum Delta SkyMiles(R) Credit Card from American Express will appeal to members and frequent travelers of Delta Airlines. It is a one of the three Delta credit cards available (the other being the Gold and Reserve version). This card is a step up from the Gold Delta Skymiles® Credit Card from American Express as it allows you to earn MQMs as well (though not as much as the Reserve version). But is this version right for you? Read on.

How is this card different from the Delta cards? - One of the things that all three delta credit cards have in come is that they have pretty much similar features in terms of earning points and perks. For example, all could earn double miles, have an annual companion ticket, allows you to pay with miles and cash and allows a free first baggage check in for tickets booked on the card.

Reward Formula Recap - OK - let's recap the miles earning capacity of this card. Like we mentioned earlier, you can earn double miles for every dollar that you spend on the card and one miles per dollar on other normal purchases. But, the Platinum Delta Skymiles® Credit Card from American Express (unlike the Gold version) allows you to earn MQMs. This is really valuable because most miles earned from credit cards or from booking flights with discount online travel sites like Expedia do not count towards elite status. Only flights booked from their websites and miles flown are counted towards the elite status (which has many upgrade benefits). Specifically, once you spend $25,000 on your card, you get 10,000 extra MQMs. Spend another $25,000 (ie total annual spend of $50,000) and you get an extra 10,000 MQMs (which makes it a total of 20,000 MQMs a year without flying.(see screen shot below)



What is this worth? Well, look at the Elite Status requirements below.



As you can see from the chart above, you need 25,000 MQMs to get an Elite Silver status. So for example, if you spend $50,000 annually on the card, you are just 5,000 MQMs from getting the silver elite status.

Bonuses - You also get a nice sign up bonus (which consist of 5,000 MQMs and 25,000 miles)

First Bag Fly Free - Ok - so this is not quite like SouthWest. But your first bag avoids the dreaded baggage fee charges.

Annual Companion Coach Ticket - Every year, cardholders will get an annual companion coach ticket (though you have to pay for any taxes!)

Fees and APR - The annual fee of this card is $150.

Comparison With Other Delta Credit Cards

How Does This Card Compare With The Delta Reserve Card? - Before we reach a verdict about how good this card, I think we owe it to ourselves to compare it with the Delta Reserve Card. The Delta Reserve Card comes with a $450 annual fee. For that you get concierge service, access to the Delta Lounge (Sky Club as they call it now). But more importantly, you will be able to earn 30,000 MQMs when you spending $60,000 a year on the card. Like this card, it is split into two tranches. Spend $30,000 and you get 15,000 MQMs. Spend another $30,000, and you get the remaining 15,000 MQMs (30,000 MQMs in total for the Delta Reserve). That means that if you simply charge $60,000 to the card every year, you get automatic Silver Elite Status without flying - which brings you closer to the Gold Status.

Verdict - We recommend the Platinum Delta SkyMiles(R) Credit Card from American Express to skymiles members who want to earn faster miles. The advantage of the Platinum version over the Gold version is that you can earn MQMs that count towards elite qualifying status. If you spend anywhere between $25,000 and $50,000 on the card a year and want to earn additional MQMs to qualify for elite status, then this card would suit you. If you spend $60,000 or more, then you should consider the Delta Reserve Credit Card as well.