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For about a month, the Delta Gold and Platinum cards have had 50,000 to 60,000 point sign up bonuses. Those offers end today (Wednesday, July 6, 2016.)

The Delta Gold personal and business cards are offering 50,000 bonus Delta miles and a $50 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in your first three months.

The Delta Platinum is offering 60,000 bonus miles, 10,000 status miles (MQMs), and a $100 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in your first three months.

Quick Facts

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  • Sign Up Bonus:
    Platinum: 60k miles, 10k MQMs, and $100 statement credit after spending $2,000 in first three months
    Gold personal & business: 50k miles and $50 statement credit after spending $2,000 in the first three months
  • Category Bonuses: 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases
  • Value of Delta Miles: Worth 1.3 cents each to me
  • Free Checked Bag for you plus up to three others on same Delta reservation
  • No Foreign Transaction Fee
  • Annual Fee:
    Platinum: $195, not waived (so a net of -$95 after statement credit)
    Gold: $95, waived for first year (so a net of +$50 after statement credit)
  • You can only get the bonus once per lifetime on Amex cards. Example: if in the past, you have had only the Gold personal, you are ineligible to get the bonus on the Gold personal, but you can get the bonus on the Platinum personal or Gold business.

So, Gold or Platinum?

I compared them fully in this post. The upshot is that the offers are about equal if you don’t care about Delta status, and the Delta Platinum is much better if you do.

One strategy I didn’t mention that I think is really strong is applying for both the Delta Gold personal and business cards on the same day. Both offer 50,000 bonus miles after $2,000 in spending in the first three months, and both waive the annual fee for the first year.

They also each offer a $50 statement credit for making a Delta purchase in the first three months, which can be activated by buying a $50 gift card.

In total, that would be 104,000 Delta miles for spending $4,000 in the first three months and $100 in free Delta gift cards for future flights.

I value Delta Miles at 1.3 cents each, so I value 104,000 SkyMiles at $1,352. Add in the $100 in free Delta flights, and $1,452 worth of miles and flights is an amazing haul for two credit card applications.

What to Do with 104,000 SkyMiles?

I recently posted the Top Five Uses of Delta SkyMiles and separately about the great award space in Business Class to Southeast Asia on partners.

SkyMiles used to lag way behind American and United miles in value, but that just isn’t the case any more as all are in the 1.3 to 1.6 cent range for me.

SkyMiles really shine in Business Class to Asia on partners China Airlines, China Eastern, and Korean.

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They can also be really good in economy or Business Class to Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia.

And I should mention that you don’t need to search for award space with Delta miles if you don’t want to. You can instead redeem them for 1 cent each toward purchasing any Delta ticket. I don’t recommend this because you should easily get more than 1 cent of value per mile by redeeming them for partner flights, but even this would guarantee $1,040 of value from 104,000 miles.

Bottom Line

Today (July 6) is the last day to get the Delta Gold and Platinum cards with 50,000 and 60,000 mile sign up bonuses.

The Delta Gold personal and business cards are offering 50,000 bonus Delta miles and a $50 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in your first three months.

And the Delta Platinum is offering 60,000 bonus miles, 10,000 status miles (MQMs), and a $100 statement credit after you spend $2,000 in your first three months.

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


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