rogo

The non-posting of the RDMs is actually now annoying. If you wanted to use them, they aren’t there. And if you were say — like me — in the midst of dropping both platinum AMEXes because the Reserve is now “enough” you have to wonder if that’s safe. (I already converted one to Reserve and am hoping Delta/AMEX doesn’t make this into a drawn out battle.

RealHJ

Are you sure of this? The spend over $50K on the Delta AmEx Plat now no longer transfers over to the Delta AmEx Reserve (towards the first $30K). Do you have a reference for this?

gitismatt

now that the changes are in place, im curious about the centurion access. I recall when the changes were announced, the terms stated that you had to be traveling on a same-day DL flight purchased on the reserve card. I think the terms were later updated to say that the ticket could be purchased on any us-issued amex card. just curious how this is working in actual practice

gooselee

badgerchemist was talking about what happens if you apply for a brand new Reserve card, in order to get a sign up bonus. In that case, the prior spend will not transfer over (and never has AFAIK).

RealHJ

Ah whew OK, I thought that something had changed that would change the spend >$50K on DL Plat and then upgrade to DL Reserve yearly strategy. Thanks for the clarification!

Auston

Can I give someone else my Sky Club guest passes? Just like the way I can give the drink coupons via screenshot from the app?

jamesteroh

Why not just keep it as a reserve the entire year now that we get 4 boosts if you have that kind of spend or are you going for four boosts on the platinum and then upgrading to reserve for four more boosts?

I used to have a plat on both cards and then get the $50K spend and then upgrade and get the $60K spend. Was a little bit of a pain because I would keep one card a reserve for skyclub access until I could get the spend in on the Platinum and then upgrade that and downgrade the reserve and have to upgrade it again. With the four boosts I'm just keeping both my delta cards as reserve and will get 120K MQMs this way and not have to worry about the companion ticket getting messed up.

One nice thing about the four boosts is that I can start using more RDM's since I don't have to worry about getting enough MQM's in.

gooselee

I doubt anyone has tried yet, but I'd be interested do know this as well.

If the T&Cs are strictly enforced then the answer would be no, as they pretty clearly state that the Reserve cardholder must enter the club at the same time as the guest.

jmgriffin

That works for people that can easily hit $15k MQD

RealHJ

Reserve has much smaller earnings. 50% less. Platinum you get 1.5 miles per $ (for >$5000 purchases, so naturally don't put any purchases smaller than that on the card). Reserve you get only 1 mile per $. Talking about the business cards here, not personal.

This basically makes the Reserve card one to avoid. (Even Plat with 1.5 miles per $ is really mediocre and worth far less than 3% and 2.5% cashback cards, given the low value of DL miles, and now the loss of the miles boost - bonus miles on the spend thresholds.)

The only thing that makes sense now is to put $89,999 on Platinum card. Wait for its 2 x 10K MQMs to post. Once so, upgrade to Reserve, put $1 spend, and get the 15K MQM to post. Then downgrade back and done.

JFKLAX321

Agree that would be a great feature, and advocate more transparency in general (including tracking promotional spend, like Chase does). But it pains me to think anyone would put $250k in spend on Delta AmEx cards. If you need to manufacture the MQM and spend ($250k split between Personal and Business Reserve would be 120,000 MQM and Diamond spend waiver), Diamond can't possibly be worth the cost of forgoing far better opportunities to earn more, and more valuable, points (e.g., 500,000 TY points or 325,000 UR points--both on zero annual fee cards). Just my two cents. I have the DL Reserve card and like it, but not for the spend waiver.

RealHJ

...or simply get 3% on $250K spend, i.e. $7500, that is worth more than the TY or UR points anyhow (and far more than 250K DL miles, esp with the greatly reduced earnings now*).

*DL Reserve, with MilesBoost, up to $60K, used to be 1.5 miles/$ spent, if get it exactly at the right levels. DL Platinum used to be 1.4x miles/$ spent, up to $50K, if again get it right exactly. Now the personal cards are down to 1.0 only, and only the business DL Plat is 1.5, for the first $100K yearly spend (but then lesser MQMs, so really shouldn't go past $50K/yr).

AmEx has significantly devalued the cards, while DL keeps devaluing the SlyMiles program. There's only a few edge cases where it may make sense for some specific scenarios, but really that's it. Mostly it's just if one needs something between 10K and 50K MQMs that makes sense, and then have to manage it really well to get the least-worst value. No other real value to the cards (that other far better and more versatile cards don't do better, that is).

JFKLAX321

My example assumed all spend in non-bonus categories like dining, travel, etc. I'm unaware of cards offering 3% back on everyday spend. But your point is well taken. The card is worth it to me -- even if I don't spend a cent on it -- as an upgrade tie-breaker and for the companion ticket, which I get more than $550 in value from. I suspect it may also be worth it for a mileage boost this year on the way to Diamond (unless my work travel continues at its current pace, in which case I'll be Diamond by May but will not be particularly happy about it). But some people probably don't need (or care about) the tie-breaker, and even more probably wouldn't find $550 in value from the companion certificate. Hence this thread, I suppose. At least it is easy to cancel or downgrade, and with the no fee Blue DL card still around, you don't have to close your account if you don't want to.

Adelphos

The issue is that American Airlines and United have also both devalued their programs significantly - I would argue that those two companies have been far worse in terms of devaluations the past 12-18 months than Delta (Delta devalued years ago). For those that must travel for work, Delta seems to be a strong option - and I would rather travel on Delta as a Gold or Platinum than with no status. So the cards still retain value for gaining status.

Over the last year, I have redeemed more Skymiles than any other currency (airline miles, points, transferable currency) for flash sales and mileage upgrades. It is a useful currency for me

rogo

Yes, I'm consistently finding I can average 1.4 cents per SkyMile or better.

Even manufacturing the full $250K and getting just the 250K SkyMiles, I can reasonably feel good about that having $3500 in value against the $5000 opportunity cost (2% cashback). The $1500 gap is pretty arguably covered by 120K MQMs and the rest of the gap between Diamond and Platinum (4 GUCs worth $500 ea (?), 25,000 Skymiles x 2 worth $700). If you value MQMs above $0 you're still doing OK.

I'm intrigued by the Biz Plat being thrown into the mix to better these numbers a bit. I was going to just do 2 x Reserve, but maybe it's worth thinking twice about that.