Originally Posted by
Smaug
I'll be changing in January (or sooner) as well. All the other card benefits (except for the companion ticket), I get as a Medallion. Free bag - check. Priority boarding - check. Never use pay with miles since they don't earn MQMs or can get upgrades.
I charge roughly 15k-20k/year so I would never hit the MQM threshold for the Plat.
Not sure which card to choose. If the thresholds were lowered for the Plat, it would be a no-brainer. Otherwise, I could even consider the Reserve or the regular AmEx Plat if I felt there was enough value to justify paying the $450 annual fee.
If you are an elite on DL, I don't think the gold card makes much sense, seeing you already have the checked bags and zone 1 or 2 boarding anyway and there are other reward cards out there that give better compensation than 1 skymile/$.
I see you are a hilton gold. I consider a hilton point worth at least as much as a skypeso and with the hilton am ex you get 3 pts/$ charged. After I get my mileage spending in for the MQMs, all my non-delta am ex spending goes on the Hilton Am Ex since I realize better rewards from it.
Delta also has a Optima Am Ex card that my friend downgraded to a few years ago but it only gives 1/2 skymiles per $ charged but there is no annual fee.