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Until November 17, 2015, the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card is offering 50,000 bonus SkyMiles after spending $2,000 in the first three months, and a $50 statement credit after your first Delta purchase during the same period.

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The normal bonus is 30,000 miles and no statement credit.

Contents of this article:

  • Offer details
  • My valuation of the offer
  • Are you eligible for the bonus?
  • Best uses of SkyMiles

Offer Details

The Gold card is the “standard” airline credit card.

  • 50,000 bonus SkyMiles after spending $2,000 in the first three months
  • 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases, 1 mile per dollar on other purchases
  • Free checked bag on Delta flights for you plus eight companions on the same reservation
  • $50 statement credit when you make a Delta purchase in the first three months
  • Priority Boarding on Delta
  • 20% off Delta onboard purchases
  • $95 annual fee, waived for the first 12 months

Offer Valuation

Delta miles are the least valuable major miles because of an expensive award chart, surcharges on several foreign partners, no stopovers allowed, and limited availability on Delta flights. I value them at about 1.3 cents each.

That makes the Gold offer worth $700 to me, $650 for the 50k miles and $50 for the statement credit.

Are You Eligible for the Bonus?

You can only get American Express personal card bonuses once per lifetime, so if you’ve ever had the personal Gold, you cannot get that card again with a new bonus.

Having had a Gold Business card or a Platinum Delta card or Delta Reserve card does NOT affect your eligibility to get a Gold personal card.

Check out Issuing Bank Rules for Approvals and New Bonuses for more information.

Best Uses of SkyMiles

SkyMiles are routinely trashed, mostly by people who don’t book many awards and just heard someone else say SkyMiles aren’t very valuable. I’ve booked a lot of awards with SkyMiles through my Award Booking Service, so I can say that they are fantastic to several places.

Now that you can book Delta awards one way, 50,000 miles are even more valuable because that’s enough or almost enough for:

Bottom Line

Delta’s limited time offers on its Gold card is worth checking out even if SkyMiles are the least valuable major miles. Fifty thousand bonus miles are nothing to sneeze at.

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!


Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.

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