Suntrust Delta Debit card T&C Changes
 

I knew this was coming at some point, but I didn't think it was going to be this drastic....

"As of July 25, 2015, you will earn one mile for each $2 in eligible spending up to 2,000 miles per month / per card.... with an annual fee of $95......"

Miles earned on DL are exempt from the monthly limit, and instead of 2 miles per dollar, it's now 1 mile per $1 on DL spend.

Looks like SunTrust is really trying to push the people who have had the DL Debit card to get a different card (or bank).

Wow thats not even close to being worth it if you have one.

Yeah, saw this the other day. It was like losing a limb.

Mike

Ooops. Just became not worth it. Bye Bye on this debit card.

I always questioned what the value of the debit card was when Amex was always the better option to begin with. I guess this just seals the deal in that respect.

It can still be worthwhile. Certainly not for making any purchases that could be made with credit cards (you should never have been doing this anyway), but if you have high enough spend in areas where you cannot use a credit card, you can still earn 24,000 miles in a year for a $95 AF.

True, but you also have to factor in the $3000 that has to sit in a Sun trust savings account that earns next to 0% interest. I could instead put it in a 5% rewards checking account and make $150 per year. So I'm losing $150+$95.

That's an abnormally high interest rate for a checking account. Lucky you if you can get that.

Even so, $150 + $95 = $245. For 24,000 miles, that's right around $0.01 each. I would pay that to acquire miles.

Called SunTrust and voiced my 'concerns', the CSR claimed that it was Delta putting the 2000 mile monthly limit on the cards (not sure I believe that). But that said, I paid $75 for the card last year and racked up 48k miles, so paying $20 more for the card and getting half that is going to hurt.

I was offered 500 bonus miles to renew the card, I fought the urge to laugh. It's just as easy for me to put everything on the Sky Miles Amex and pay it off each month from my checking account and earn more miles.

You don't need a minimum balance account to keep the card. I dropped it down to the 'basic' account and run my expenses through there and keep the 'real' money in an interest earning account.

By the way, where are you getting 5% on a checking account?

Assuming someone has good enough credit to get an AmEx. And there are lots of places that don't take AmEx.

Its not 5% interest its 5% cash back checking - and I don't think its 5%. At least I've not seen anything like that.

I will not be surprised when the AMEX mile earning changes as well.

Agreed.

Until then, I'll be churning the crap out of it. Will probably just move in to my local Wal Mart.

AmEx
 

AmEx must be happy. They lost Cosco, and this will not make up for it, but there will be many ST folks that liked the DL advantage that are now calling for a DL AmEx card.