Thanks for your input. The card has been nice for lounge access, esp. when Delta/NW were separate, and also since Delta/NW left Priority Pass. My home airport is PBI - only Delta Crown lounge now since the Continental one closed. Anyway, usually I fly Delta, and have to go through ATL or DTW. PBI is a quiet airport and usually lounge access is not necessary, but in ATL and DTW it's nice to get away from the crowds.

Since moving here I've cut down a lot on travel though, so I'd like to keep an Amex primarily for the benefit of transferring MR points to airline miles or hotel points - the faster earning the better. I've been thinking of moving to the Gold PR and it looks like it may be a good fit for me. I would like to be free of dependence on any airline program - since I won't be travelling enough to rack up elite status anymore, I need to try and use miles for award tickets or to upgrade.

For the occasional lounge access, I may instead go with the Delta Amex, to get the daypass purchase benefit - you can include up to 2 guests as long as you pay for them with the Delta Amex card.

Delta is not the best with award bookings, but there is that Pay with Points option for cardholders. Recently on a trip to DCA, using straight miles required 40,000 points but Pay with Points only required 25,000 since the fare was about $250. It's ok considering I probably won't be making Gold Elite anymore. (When I had Gold Elite, I usually had a good choice of 25,000 mile award flights flying domestic) I'm thinking I can use up my points this way, and then depend solely on my Gold PR to rack up MR points for transfer for future travel.

Does this make sense?

On another note, after saying my home airport is PBI, does staying with Delta make sense for me or should I switch to another airline? My trips are usually 2x a year to JFK/LGA, 2x a year to IAD/DCA and once every few years to MNL. (perhaps I should transfer that question to a new thread)