Wow- surprised to see this back again- even if it is only for "first time" transfers.
A couple things to note:
1) you can link anyones delta to your amex membership rewards so creating a fake persons skymiles account and transferring for the 50% bonus should work. If you are feeling risky, you may be able to get them to merge a dupe account but I bet they'll be on the lookout for that
2) if you have a delta Amex, I recommend applying for a brand new platinum card, which you can get approved for separately.
3) once you have a platinum account, you can advance yourself up to 60,000 points instantly for free. The rules say you have to be a member for 6 months but the advance feature will work online
4) the gold card had a 25,000 signup bonus and np annual fee. You can advance yourself 15,000 miles with a gold card and buy extra Amex points for 2.5 cents a piece.