outoftown,
Correct me if I am wrong, but you are talking about the Delta Skymiles Platinum
card, for $135 per year, 15k miles, of which 5k count as base miles.

It sounds like tradewind is asking about the offer for the Delta Skymiles Gold
card.
With it, you can get 10k miles, with the first year free. After that I believe it is $85
per year. Should get the miles posted to Delta after the first purchase. Then cancel if
you want.
But if you reapply for the same card later, you may or may not get the bonus again.
They will have you on record as having got the bonus already and canceling. Then
again it may slip by them and you'll get it again. Some people have reported getting
the bonus more than once.

BTW ... You will not have to transfer the miles to Delta. AMEX sends them to your
Skymiles account every month.