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Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express review
Kliment Dukovski is a credit cards writer. He's written over 600 articles to help readers find and compare the best credit cards. Kliment has also written on money transfers, home loans and more. Previously, he ghostwrote guides and articles on foreign exchange, stock market trading and cryptocurrencies.
Expert Review
Review by
Kliment Dukovski
The Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express is a mid-tier Delta card with a $0 intro annual fee. It offers 2x miles on Delta purchases, 1x miles on all other purchases, and a generous welcome offer of 30,000 bonus miles . Depending on what you redeem your miles for, this can be worth $600 or more.
Additional Delta perks include first checked bag free, priority boarding, discounted Delta SkyClub access, 20% back as a statement credit on your Delta purchases, 0% foreign transaction fees and more.
All this makes the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express a solid credit card option for the occasional Delta flyer.
Expert review
The Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express is a mid-tier Delta card with a $0 intro annual fee. It offers 2x miles on Delta purchases, 1x miles on all other purchases, and a generous welcome offer of 30,000 bonus miles . Depending on what you redeem your miles for, this can be worth $600 or more.
Additional Delta perks include first checked bag free, priority boarding, discounted Delta SkyClub access, 20% back as a statement credit on your Delta purchases, 0% foreign transaction fees and more.
All this makes the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express a solid credit card option for the occasional Delta flyer.
Changes coming for the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
Delta is preparing to relaunch the Delta SkyMiles line of cards, with the new versions of the cards touching down on January 30, 2020. As part of this relaunch, the annual fee of the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express is increasing to $99, with no introductory annual fee period.
In addition, American Express recently made changes to some of the card’s benefits, which took effect on January 1, 2020. These changes are:
Reduced extended warranty period from two years to one year.
Reduced purchase protection coverage from 120 days to 90 days.
Earn 30,000 miles after you spend $1,000 on purchases within the first 3 months your account is open. You’ll also get $50 in statement credit after you make your first Delta purchase within the same period.
The Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express cards offer bonus miles as well as Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs). If you don’t care about MQMs, the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express may be a better choice.
What are Medallion Qualification Miles?
Medallion Qualification Miles are a way to earn higher Medallion tiers in the Delta SkyMiles® Loyalty Program. You generally earn 1 MQM for each mile in your trip with Delta and its partners, with higher MQM rewards in first and business class.
You can also achieve higher Medallion tiers by collecting Medallion Qualification Segments and Medallion Qualification Dollars. Learn more on Delta’s website.
Earn Delta SkyMiles.
Earn 2 miles for each dollar you spend on such Delta purchases as flights, tickets, seat upgrades and food. Earn 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases. Redeem your miles toward travel rewards, gift cards, shopping and more.
To earn yet more miles, the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express could be a stronger choice — you’ll get more miles and MQMs based on your spending.
Priority boarding.
The card entitles you to Main Cabin 1 priority boarding on Delta and Delta Connection flights for up to nine passengers in the same reservation. For everyone else, the price of priority boarding is $15.
First checked bag free.
Save up to $60 round trip with Delta for all passengers traveling on the same reservation. Even if you don’t travel often, it takes only two round-trip tickets to offset the card’s annual fee.
The value of SkyMiles depends on the service or product you’re redeeming them for. You can explore your options on the Delta SkyMiles redemption site.
For example, as of October 2018, you can:
Redeem 35,700 SkyMiles for a $250 gift card — a value of 70 cents a mile
Redeem 25,600 miles to buy an Oakley Half Jacket 2.0 Sunglasses worth $133 — a value of around 50 cents per mile
Redeem 134,900 miles to buy an Apple 10.5″ iPad worth $600 — a value of 40 cents per mile
Redeem 10,000 miles or more toward a $130 round-trip domestic Delta flight, plus taxes and fees — a value of $1.30 per mile
Redeeming miles for flights offer the highest value per mile. To make the most of your Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, redeem your miles for airfare on future travels.
Buy your way into a Delta Sky Club for a reduced $29 — and bring up to two guests for $29 each. A regular single-visit pass costs $59, so it’s quite the deal if you’re traveling with company. From the Delta suite of cards, only the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express offers complimentary entry.
Getting free entry could save you a lot if you’re a Sky Club regular. But the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express could be a better choice if you’re less interested in the additional amenities and services.
You’ll find gems among the Delta Sky Clubs.
Delta owns a host of superb lounges in its portfolio. A few of the newer lounges include those at Newark Liberty International Airport and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. You may want to consider visiting the Sky Club at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which comes with an open-air Sky Deck.
A single-visit pass to a Delta Sky Club costs $59. With the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, you can buy a pass for $29.
0% foreign transaction fees.
When traveling abroad, you can freely use your card without worry of international fees on your transaction.
Statement credit for in-flight purchases.
The Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express lets you get a statement credit equal to 20% of your in-flight Delta purchases on eligible meals, alcoholic beverages and audio headsets.
Car rental insurance.
When you use your Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express to pay for a car rental, you’re covered against damage or theft.
Global assistance.
Get 24/7 access to medical, financial, legal, missing luggage or any other service when you travel more than 100 miles from home. Keep in mind that you’re responsible for any third-party service costs.
Shopping benefits.
Get free two-day shipping with ShopRunner and free returns. Phones and another eligible items damaged within 90 days of purchase can also be covered up to $50,000 per year.
There’s a $0 intro annual fee for the first year. After that, you’ll pay $95 each year. You can easily offset the annual fee by taking advantage of the card’s free first checked bag on two round-trip flights.
High APR on purchases and balance transfers.
Compared with other Amex cards, the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express offers a relatively high 17.24% to 26.24% variable APR on purchases and balance transfers.
Not as widely accepted overseas.
Because the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express is an American Express card, you may have limited opportunities to use it when traveling abroad, where Visa and Mastercard are more widely accepted.
Steep penalty for late payments.
Try to make your payments on time to avoid a penalty APR as high as
29.99% variable
. You may also incur late and returned payment fees as high as $39.
I first opened the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express when I went off to college. I’m pretty loyal to Delta and decided it’d be worthwhile to have a card that I could earn miles with when I traveled home to visit family.
I liked that there was no annual fee for the first year — though it has a $95 annual fee for every year after — and that you could earn extra miles by purchasing flights with it. However, one downside is that it has a really high interest rate. If you don’t pay off your balance each month, that high rate can hit you hard.
But overall, I love this card and still use it today.
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To apply for the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, you must be:
At least 18 years old.
A US resident.
In your application, you must provide such information as:
Your name and contact information.
Your phone number and email address.
Your annual income and income source.
What credit score do I need?
You can apply with a fair credit score of 670. But to increase your chances of approval, get the lowest APR on purchases and balance transfers and get a higher credit limit, apply with a higher credit score.
What’s my likelihood of being approved?
You’ll have a better chance of approval for the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express if you apply with a good to excellent credit score of 670 or higher.
What do customers say about the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express?
Customers reviews are divided on the subjects of American Express’s customer support and the welcome offer’s bonus miles. Some cite poor customer support and claim they never received the bonus miles, despite meeting welcome offer requirements, while others praise help reps and had no issues receiving bonus rewards.
American Express is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and earns an A+ with a composite score of 3.78 out of 5 stars. Trustpilot, on the other hand, isn’t so generous — it rates American Express a 3 out of 10.
While the APR for the Delta Gold credit card was not the best, the annual fee was pretty fair and the opportunity to reach status tiers appealed to me.
I’m Australian and travel back there once or twice a year. When I travel within the US, I choose to fly with Delta over most US carriers.
Last year, I was traveling quite a lot both domestically and internationally and thanks to the card, I almost made status with Delta. Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, I had to cancel a flight in December. Not only did Delta not refund me any of the money for the flight, but they refused to grant me the miles just because I didn’t physically get on the plane — even though I still paid the full fare.
Utterly frustrated with the poor customer service, I decided to move away from both Delta and its cobranded credit card.
Consider getting the Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express in addition to your Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and earn 2x miles per dollar spent at US restaurants. This is the only card in the Delta suite that offers this option. It has no annual fee, which makes owning the card basically free, plus you can easily clear the welcome offer and get additional miles (see rates & fees).
The Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express is a fairly robust entry-level airline card. You may want to consider it if you’re a frequent Delta flyer and you don’t need miles for SkyMiles Medallion status.
If you spend more than $25,000 a year, however, the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express or the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express may be a stronger match with your spending.
Make sure to compare your options before settling on any one card. You may be able to find a better offer within the American Express family of cards or with another provider.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. After you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months your account is open, you’ll get 30,000 bonus miles. Plus, earn $50 when you make a direct Delta purchase within the same timeframe.
You’ll receive the bonus miles six to eight weeks after you reach the spending requirement. You’ll get the statement credit 8 to 12 weeks after you make a Delta purchase.
The penalty APR applies for at least six months. If you pay your balances on time and have no returned payments within that period, American Express may lower your APR.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.
Images: americanexpress.com
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