JohnHace

For several years, I have been DM mostly from credit card spend (about $250,000/yr). I have both Delta Reserves (Business and Personal) and a Delta Platinum Amex. I also have a nonDelta Platinum Business Amex. I am DM now and have over 400,000 rollover MQM so I plan to extend DM for four additional years. Since I don't need spend for status, it looks like it is better to spend on nonDelta Amex as the points can be converted to Delta or other airlines. I'm in Atlanta so I always fly Delta. I plan to drop the Delta Platinum Amex and the Delta Reserve Business. I will put my business spend on the Amex Platinum Business and get a new Amex Gold for personal spend Does this sound like a good strategy to get the most benefit from credit card spend?

sydneyracquelle

Very similar to you. I extended my DM and I have already put $150k on my DL Corp Reserve over the past 2 months so I get unlimited 2025 SC plus 4 RUCs as my PM CBs. Very few people realize that over $150k on DL Corp Reserve you get 1.5 SM/$ so it’s a great deal. Or you can do a cash back card.

troyintn

I am curious what your total MQD is for the year and how they do 360 this year. AA can be done almost entirely on CC spend.

sydneyracquelle

Since DL now gives zero incentive to go beyond $28k MQD any additional credit card or flight spend only provides RDMs going forward.

troyintn

right but at 100K MQD will they give away 360 or will they break out fare class, market etc, like they currently do.

sydneyracquelle

I’ve never heard of anyone getting 360 solely on credit card spend. And 360 has no formal objective criteria. So any MQD above $28k is a waste other than the RDMs earned on credit card spend.

findark

Other than spending for Delta status, it's often quite poor to put spend on American Express cards in general.

If you need to be in Amex for other reasons (like the amount won't fit the CL of another bank), that's one thing, but earning 1x MR on a vanilla card is a very low yield.

ffI

1
Any spend on.a Delta card has negative value - The only reason we did it was to boost status e.g., last year's MQM runs.
A DL mile is max 1.3c value = cash back cards give much more value
Many better options
A
spend 50k on the Amex Business Plus = 2 DL miles for each $ spend instead of 1
B
Get BofA Premium or unlimited rewards cards (personal or business) and get platinum honors = 2.625% cash back
C
Get Capital One Venture X for all spend besides airfare (a simple Amex Platinum)
or Citi Double Cash etc etc

2
Keep a single DL Gold card for 15% off awards. (Business card)
Do not cancel any Delta Amex - downgrade all personal ones to the fee free blue cards
3
As a DM you get 700$ off every year - get yours for 2024 now - takes a week. Then downgrade all cards
4
In July 2025 upgrade the DL Gold to Platinum so you can cash out 700$ then and again in Jan 2026
Downgrade to Gold in 2026 June
5
In end 2027 upgrade again if needed and cash out next 2 yrs of CB
6
When your status runs out then uppgrade to 2 Plat cards and a Reserve

ffI

Airfare always on an Amex Platinum for 5x
Rest find a good 2x or 3x card combo - or even 1.5x with unlimited cards
I have found BofA to be best for cash back

Scudsone

Who has time for all this ....:

JohnHace

Great info. Thanks for all of this.

vtgambler

The only value I see for me in these credit cards anymore is the 15% discount on award booking. I'm thinking about dumping the Platinum card and applying for the Gold. Lower annual fee and hopefully a 70K SUB. However, I see no mention of the 15% mileage discount on the terms/benefits page. Can someone confirm this is a benefit of the Gold card as well?

findark

Yes. It is called "TakeOff 15" and is a benefit of the Gold card as well.

If you don't derive value from the companion certificate, I agree the higher-tier cards are not very useful.

vtgambler

I've had the Platinum and/or Reserve card for 5-6 years. I've never been able to successfully use a companion ticket. I did find the Reserve card worth it when I was transiting through DTW a lot and could use the clubs. The ability to earn MQMs and get the MQD waiver also came in handy at times. Not so much with all the program changes.

Dracarys

Maybe with the new extended destinations, the companion ticket would be useful? In my case I was successful using it while booking for 2 passengers even though we were traveling as a family of 4.