Amex Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business card review: A heavy hitter for frequent Delta travelers with up to a 100,000-mile bonus

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The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card is an ideal card for frequent Delta flyers, especially given its limited-time increased welcome offer.

Through April 1, 2020, you can earn up to 100,000 bonus miles and 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs). You’ll earn 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 MQMs after you spend $5,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months, plus an additional 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary of card membership.

With the Amex Delta Reserve for Business, you’ll also earn an annual companion certificate each account anniversary which you can use for a free round-trip flight within the mainland U.S. (plus taxes and fees). Depending on the route, this could be worth hundreds of dollars,

At the very least, the card’s bonus is worth $1,000 in airfare. But it can potentially be worth lots more.

We’ll cover all the details in our Delta Reserve Business card review to help you decide whether it’s a good fit for your wallet.

Who is the Delta Reserve Business card for?

The Amex Delta Reserve Business card is for any loyal Delta flyer looking for premium perks and help toward elite status. If you appreciate benefits like lounge access and bonus MQMs, you’ll find plenty of value from this card.

Current welcome bonus

Through April 1, 2020, you can earn 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 MQMs after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Plus, you’ll earn an additional 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary of card membership.

Between the full intro bonus of 100,000 Delta miles and at least 5,000 miles from meeting the minimum spending, you’ll have 105,000 Delta miles to use toward flights.

How to earn points with the Delta Reserve for Business card

With the Amex Delta Reserve for Business, you’ll earn Delta miles for all purchases you make with the card.

There are two categories for bonus miles (terms apply):

• Earn 3 Delta miles per dollar spent when you use your card for purchases directly with Delta
• Earn 1 Delta mile per dollar spent on all other purchases

Delta purchases include flights, Delta SkyClub memberships, Delta Vacations packages, seat upgrades and inflight purchases of food, beverages and audio headsets. All other purchases earn 1 mile per dollar spent.

Benefits of the Delta Reserve for Business card

Like other American Express cards, this card is packed with great benefits. These perks can help make your flights more comfortable and save you time and money.

Benefits of the Amex Delta Reserve for Business include airport lounge access, an annual companion certificate, your first checked bag for free on Delta flights for yourself and up to eight companions traveling on the same reservation, priority boarding and more.

Another nice perk for those chasing status is the newly introduced Status Boost™ benefit. With it, you’ll earn 15,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $30,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year, up to four times per year, getting you closer to Medallion Status.

You’ll find a full rundown of the card’s benefits here.

How to use your points

Award flights within the U.S. can be a very good deal when you use Delta miles. Coach flights start at just 5,000 miles one-way. We always post rundowns on Delta’s SkyMiles sales to help you find incredible value, and we’ve even seen round-trip awards on sale to Europe for as little as 20,000 Delta miles.

You can redeem a lot of travel from the Amex Delta Reserve for Business welcome bonus if you can be flexible with your travel dates.

Here’s our guide to using Delta miles for award flights.

If you can’t find award flights you want, you can still easily redeem miles using Pay With Miles. With Pay With Miles, your miles are worth 1 cent each (in increments of 5,000 miles) toward paid Delta flights. With this method, you won’t have to worry about available award seats or blackout dates. However, you’ll typically get much better value by redeeming for award flights instead.

Is the Delta Reserve for Business card worth the annual fee?

The annual fee on this card is $550 (see rates and fees) which is not waived the first year. Whether or not this is worth it for the long term will depend on the amount of travel you do each year with Delta.

For those who frequently travel on Delta, this card can pay for itself between free checked bags and MQMs which can boost you to the next status tier. And the companion certificate you earn each year upon renewal will almost always be worth more than the cost of the annual fee.

Active duty military members can get the annual fee waived by American Express, which makes this an incredible deal.

Insider tips

Amex only allows folks to earn the welcome bonus on a card once per person per lifetime. So if you’ve had this exact card in the past, you won’t be able to earn the intro bonus a second time.

Otherwise, reports online indicate most folks with good credit (scoring at least 700) should be approved for this card. That said, remember that many factors are considered during the application process other than your credit score. So while your credit score can give you an idea about your approval chances, the bank has the final decision.

You don’t need to own a multi-million dollar company qualify for the Amex Delta Reserve for Business. Even folks with part-time businesses might be eligible to apply for the card and earn the bonus. For example, you could apply with your eBay business, Uber driving business or real estate business using your Social Security number.

Credit cards similar to the Delta Reserve for Business card

The Amex Delta Reserve for Business is a great card for Delta flyers who travel frequently. But depending on your purchase habits and travel frequency, here are other Delta cards to consider:

• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card – Earn up to 100,000 bonus miles: 80,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months, plus an additional 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary of card membership. Offer expires 4/1/2020. This comes with a higher $250 annual fee (see rates and fees). However, the card includes a domestic main cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your card.
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card – Earn up to 100,000 Delta miles and 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles. You’ll earn 80,000 miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of opening an account, and an additional 20,000 miles after your first anniversary of card membership. Offer expires 4/1/2020.
• Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card – Get perks that can save you time and money, like free checked bags and priority boarding, and you’ll earn up to 70,000 bonus miles. You’ll earn 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening, plus an additional 10,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary of card membership. Offer expires 4/1/2020. The $99 annual fee is waived the first year (see rates and fees).

Bottom line

The Amex Delta Reserve for Business card is a great option for folks and businesses who frequently travel with Delta. It has a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 Delta bonus miles. You’ll earn 80,000 bonus miles and 20,000 MQMs after you spend $5,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months, plus an additional 20,000 bonus miles after your first anniversary of card membership.

At the very least, you can redeem the bonus for $1,000 in paid Delta flights using Pay With Miles.

If you value Delta elite status and can use money-saving perks like the annual companion certificate, Delta lounge access and free checked bags, this card is worth the $550 annual fee (see rates and fees). But if you and your business employees don’t fly Delta frequently, you might consider other Amex Delta cards with a lower fee.

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For rates and fees of the Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card, please click here.