Delta SkyMiles - should I get the Delta Amex Platinum? need advice

Hello,

After finishing too many years of schooling, I will finally have a job and feel it is time to have my first credit card and use my debit/checking accounts less.

I really like the idea that you can get EQM on the platinum, but not cool about the fact that there is an annual fee.

I hit silver on delta about 3 years ago after doing a lot more flying for LAX to Michigan, France, and vacation x1 per year.

I doubt I'll ever hit gold, but I feel that I should be able to maintain Silver status on delta for a while.

I also have 100k miles banked towards the million miler mark on delta.

Should I get the platinum amex?

what is the math?

you have to spend how much to get how many miles?

Is it rewarded per dollar spent or do you have to hit the threshold amount (guessing in the 10s of thousands of dollars? ... maybe 25k, 50k per year if I remember the ads correctly?)

If I'm not going to hit 25K spent on the card a year, is it worth it?

If I'm going to hit 25K on the card, but not 50K on the card, is it worth it?

the max elite qualifying miles you can earn on the card is 20k, correct?
any max to miles earned per dollar spent?

Any tips on how you use your delta cc?

any tips on how to get the best sign-up bonus??

TY

If you can spend the $50k a year to get the 20k MQM, its probably worth it to get the boost to gold. Once you are gold, you get much better benefits like 100% bonus miles when you fly, same day change etc. The other benefits like pay with miles, companion pass etc are marginal in my opinion.

The companion pass in theory can wipe out the cost of the annual fee, but bear in mind the restrictions of continental 48 states only travel, you have to fly with the companion, availability of fares etc. Also, you don't get the companion pass until your first annual renewal, so you have to stick it out a year before you can reap that benefit. Pay with miles comes in handy occasionally when you cant find a decent award ticket, but I've only used it once.

If you can spend the $50k a year to get the 20k MQM, its probably worth it to get the boost to gold. Once you are gold, you get much better benefits like 100% bonus miles when you fly, same day change etc. The other benefits like pay with miles, companion pass etc are marginal in my opinion.

The companion pass in theory can wipe out the cost of the annual fee, but bear in mind the restrictions of continental 48 states only travel, you have to fly with the companion, availability of fares etc. Also, you don't get the companion pass until your first annual renewal, so you have to stick it out a year before you can reap that benefit. Pay with miles comes in handy occasionally when you cant find a decent award ticket, but I've only used it once.

I have had the card for a decade and love it for the MQMs and DL miles. I am always a PM and on at least two occasions the 10K MQMs for spending $25K have helped me hit the PM mark.

OP, your situation sounds similar to mine, as a casual flyer paying his own way. I also reasoned that if I only fly Delta, I can maintain at least Silver Medallion, and toward that end I upgraded to the Delta AmEx Platinum from the Delta AmEx Gold last year. The 5,000 signup MQMs were a one-time deal, but I seriously doubt I will ever reach the $25,000 spending threshhold to get more MQMs. Would you?

A few things I've noted from reading this forum:


Wait for the best signup deal you can get, and then print the email or web page, as AmEx has been known not to honor the terms in a few cases.
Use the card for Delta purchases, because you get double miles. Even for inflight purchases.
Use your card for everyday purchases and for whatever monthly bills (mobile phone) that can be billed to a credit card.
Although the card is an upgrade tie-breaker, it isn't likely to make a difference for you at the Silver Medallion status.


A lot of people—big spenders and frequent flyers—aren't satisfied with AmEx or this card (or the Gold or Reserve options). If you aren't committed to Delta, there are definitely better reward cards out there. Regular AmEx Membership Rewards cards earn points with many more redemption options (and better rates).

I viewed my upgrade to the Delta Platinum card as a one- or two-year experiment. In my case, I gave up the regular Gold AmEx I'd had for years, and it's annual fee, so my total AmEx fees is about the same as before. You might start with the Delta AmEx Gold card unless you're sure you'll spend more than $25,000 in a calendar year. I think the Gold card still has a lower MilesBoost threshhold (for 5,000 bonus redeemable miles) than the Platinum, but of course it earns no MQMs.

I'm in a similar situation. My home airport is DTW, I fly enough to care about silver* but I only fly enough to maybe reach it each year.

A 5,000 MQM signup bonus and rollover would provide enough cushion to make silver for the foreseeable future and I spend enough to put $25k on the card reliably starting in 2011.

I signed up for the Delta Amex gold last August during one of the merger promos. Inquiring over the web indicates that I am not eligible for the AmEx Platinum 5k MQM signup bonus. Have I read correctly that there is a 12-13 month promo timer? (I.e., can I confidently wait for September expecting to upgrade with the bonus?)

* I wasn't around for the discussions that led to FO and always feel a little odd about participating in in jokes where I'm late to party. Agreeing that SM is ambiguous, any objections to my using AgM to denote the "plebian elite" level of Delta's Best in Lower Middle Class (tm) FF program?

--
The lower tier FFA is a lie.
The lower tier FFA is a lie.
The lower tier FFA is a lie.

It is worth it for one year to get the bonus MQMs, in my opinion. It is worth the cost forever if you spend $25k and get the 10K MQMs. Plus the companion ticket. While I dislike the cost of AmEx, as a 24 year cardholder, I will vouch for them in backing up the customer in a dispute. I have had less positive experiences with Visa.

In a typical year, I would not make FO without some of the 10k MQM miles that I receive from AmEx.

George Dickel