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finder.com’s rating: 4.0 / 5.0
★★★★★
30,000
Miles as welcome offer
Up to 2x
Miles
$0
Intro annual fee
for the first year ($95 thereafter)
17.74% to 26.74%
Purchase APR (variable)
| Product Name | Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express |
|---|---|
| Card type | American Express |
| Annual fee | $0 intro annual fee for the first year ($95 thereafter) |
| Purchase APR | 17.74% to 26.74% variable |
| Balance transfer APR | 17.74% to 26.74% variable |
| Balance transfer fee | $5 or 3% of the transaction, whichever is greater |
| Cash advance rate | 27.24% variable |
| Cash advance fee | $10 or 5% of the cash advance amount, whichever is greater |
| Penalty APR | 29.99% variable |
| Foreign transaction fee | None |
| Interest free period | Up to 25 days |
| Late payment fee | Up to $39 |
| Returned payment fee | Up to $39 |
| Additional cardholder fee | $0 |
| Rates & fees | rates & fees |
This Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express comes with a strong welcome offer, decent Delta perks and the same mile earnings as its more expensive siblings, the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express. As a sweetener, the card comes with a $0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95.
Every time you make a direct Delta purchase, you get 2x miles, which you can redeem toward flights with Delta and its partners.
Scoop up the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express if you want a taste of frequent-flyer status without paying a premium price. But consider the Platinum and Reserve versions too, which offer more powerful Delta benefits.
If you’re not a frequent Delta flyer, consider a general travel credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the PenFed Pathfinder Rewards American Express® Card.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.Back to top 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: 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.
How much are SkyMiles worth?
How does the Delta SkyMiles program work?Back to top
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. 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.You’ll find gems among the Delta Sky Clubs.
When traveling abroad, you can freely use your card without worry of international fees on your transaction.
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.
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.
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.
Get free two-day shipping with ShopRunner and free returns. You can also get $1,000 in annual coverage for any returns not accepted by a merchant when it’s sent back within 90 days of purchase. 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.
Compared with other Amex cards, the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express offers a relatively high 17.74% to 26.74% variable APR on purchases and balance transfers.
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.
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.
Compare American Express travel cards
Rachel Dix-Kessler
Public Relations Manager
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.
To apply for the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, you must be:
In your application, you must provide such information as:
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.
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.
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.Back to top Adrian Tomkins 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.
Case study: Adrian’s experience
Senior Product Manager
Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express vs Chase Sapphire Reserve®Back to top
American Express can approve your application within minutes.
On approval, your card should arrive by mail in 7 to 10 business days.
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.
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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