Originally Posted by
halls120
Perhaps. But DL is still clueless as to how uncompetitive their card product is.
Today I received this great offer from DL - apply for a DL Skymiles AMEX Card with the the following benefits - 15% off award travel when you use DL miles to book travel, fly with a plus one once a year with a Main Cabin Companion Certificate, first checked bag free, and 85K miles if I spend $3000 on the card within six months - all for $250 a year.
United's similar card product gives you 80K miles, two bags free, priority boarding, 3x miles on UA purchases and 2X miles on other travel purchases, all for $250. However, for $525 a year, I could get the UA Club Card, giving me United Club membership, 80K bonus miles with $5000 within the first 3 months, two bags free, priority boarding, 4x miles on UA purchases and 2X miles on other travel purchases.
I get it that DL's card is platinum, but I'd rather have a plain plastic card, 2 bags free, priority boarding, and for $275 more, UC membership.
The DL Plat is a bit more competitive than you make it out to be. Y domestic companion certificate, 3x on DL and hotels, 2x on restaurants and supermarkets, first checked bag free, uncapped 1:20 MQD earn, 15% mileage discount, and Main Cabin 1 boarding (same as Silver). The UA Quest card offers a $125 UA credit, up to 10k miles rebated from award flights, 3x on UA, 2x on other travel/dining/"select" streaming services, 2 free checked bags, 1:24 PQP earn (capped to 6k, limited 1k applicability), and group 2 boarding (same as Silver). I believe Chase added a PWM-ish benefit as well, though I seem to remember it being a long the lines of being able to use the miles from a statement to cover arbitrary charges on that statement.
So it comes down to 3x hotels vs 2x travel and 2x supermarkets vs. 2x "select" streaming (can't easily find a list of which services are selected), 15% discount vs. 10k mile rebate, companion certificate vs. extra checked bag and $125 credit. Interestingly, $120k will get you an extra elite tier (up to Platinum) on both airlines. I'd be inclined to score 3x DL for hotels over 2x UA travel, 2x DL supermarkets over 2x UA streaming, and 15% discount over 10k rebate as wins for DL. If you're checking multiple bags more than a couple times a year, that plus $125 is quite possibly a win over the companion certificate, especially if you don't take domestic vacations. The nerfing of the MQD waiver and lounge buy-ins definitely makes it a bit closer.
The UA card is the one you'd think was Amex, relying on a statement credit and bonus earnings at select vendors, funnily enough.