Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum benefits

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For those interested in a better experience when booking and flying Delta, there are Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card benefits that can maximize your earnings, savings and comfort when traveling with Delta.

The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card has a welcome bonus of 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of account opening. The components of this intro bonus can all justify the card’s $250 annual fee (See Rates & Fees).

And the other benefits are what will ultimately make frequent Delta flyers want to keep it in your wallet long-term. 

Time and money-saving Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex benefits

The Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum card is offering a welcome bonus of 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of account opening.

It also has perks that allow cardholders to get closer to Delta elite status, travel with friends at a lower cost, breeze through boarding and save lots of money. Here are the best:

Companion certificate

Upon renewal of the card each year, Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum cardholders are granted a companion certificate. With it, travelers can add a friend to their domestic Delta reservation for only the price of taxes and fees. The companion certificate covers one round-trip companion ticket in coach. 

Now, you’ll be able to bring your favorite kid on your business trip or your best pal along with you for the journey for next to nothing … every year.

Annual mileage boost

Cardholders are able to earn 10,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $25,000+ on your card in a calendar year. And once you spend $50,000+ in total in the same calendar year, you’ll earn another 10,000 MQMs.

For reference, Silver status requires 25,000 MQMs, so you be very close to elite status provided you could meet the spending requirement. And you’d be well on your way to becoming an elite Delta traveler for the rest of 2020, all the way through January 2022.

Points-earning categories

Like many credit cards, the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum offers bonus spending categories:

• 3x Delta miles per dollar spent on Delta, including flights booked on Delta.com, Sky Club membership or passes, Delta Vacations packages, upgrades and inflight purchases
• 3x Delta miles per dollar on purchases made directly with hotels
• 2x Delta miles at restaurants
• 1 Delta mile per dollar spent on other eligible purchases
• Terms apply

Priority boarding

Every time you fly Delta, you’ll automatically get Main Cabin 1 Priority boarding, regardless of the ticket type you bought. This way, you’ll get to pass the other groups and go straight to your seat. What a breeze.

First bag checked free

If you’re frequently on long-term trips and find yourself dropping money to check a bag, this benefit is guaranteed to save you big bucks. With the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum first checked bag free perk, travelers will pay nothing to hand off their large bag preceding security when traveling domestically on a Delta flight.

Cardholders can save up to $60 per round-trip flight, and that adds up quick. Before you hit the fourth round-trip flight with a checked bag, you’ll have offset the annual fee — and that doesn’t account for any other perk associated with the card.

Plus, you can share it with up to eight companions traveling on the same itinerary as many times as you want!

Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit

Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum cardholders can receive either a $100 statement credit for Global Entry or an $85 credit for TSA PreCheck. You’ll get one credit every 4 year period for Global Entry or one every 4.5 year period for TSA PreCheck, depending on whichever application fee is charged to your card first.

Reduced fee Delta Sky Club airport lounge access

For most, a single day pass to a Delta Sky Club — equipped with food, drinks, free WiFi and ample seating — costs $59. Unless the situation is dire, not many would opt to pay.

Thankfully, with the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum, access to Delta Sky Clubs is discounted to only $39. Plus, up to two guests or a spouse/partner and children can join the cardholder at the same $39 per person rate. All who wish to access the Sky Club must be traveling on a Delta flight same-day.

20% back on inflight purchases

An added perk to the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum is 20% back on pre-purchased meals and inflight purchases of food, alcoholic beverages and audio headsets on Delta flights. The return comes in the form of a statement credit.

So, the next time you decide on a Tito’s and soda (or your favorite beverage) in the air, there will be a little less guilt.

No foreign transaction fees

No one wants to switch up their high-earning payment method when traveling abroad, which is why it’s nice to skip foreign transaction fees with the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum (See Rates & Fees). 

Baggage, car rental and trip delay insurance

The Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum accounts added protection on things you charge to your card. The insurance included could completely turn around a trip gone wrong.

Generally, the baggage insurance can cover the cost of “damaged, stolen or lost baggage, whether checked or carry-on, when Common Carrier tickets are purchased” with the card.

As for the car rental insurance, when you pay for the entire rental with the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum, “damage to or theft of most rental vehicles” is insured with the card, though this coverage is secondary to any other coverage you already have.

The card will also provide trip delay insurance if a round-trip ticket is paid for entirely with the card and your trip is delayed 12+ hours. Trip delay insurance will cover eligible expenses charged to the card, up to $300 per trip and a maximum of two claims per eligible account per 12 consecutive month period.

Extended warranty and purchase protection

Alongside the insurance that the card provides, an extended warranty is provided on specific purchases. According to the card’s terms, the perk can “extend the terms of the original manufacturer’s warranty on warranties of five years or less.” If the warranty is less than two years, the card will match the original warranty. If the warranty is between two and five years, the card will add an additional year.

As for the purchase protection, the card provides coverage for purchases for 90 days from the date of purchase.

Bottom line

While a $250 annual fee is a cost to consider, the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum has over a dozen high-earning benefits that will justify the cost year after year.

With the current welcome offer, this card allows for comfort in the sky and in your wallet. You’ll get to boost your journey toward obtaining elite status, save when you fly with friends, when you check bags and much more.

You can apply for the Amex Delta SkyMiles Platinum here.

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For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, please click here.