Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card review: Enough perks to justify the annual fee

Though it poses a $350 annual fee, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card  might be a better option if you often travel with Delta since it bumps the airline purchase rewards to 3X miles and provides a much richer suite of Delta-specific perks. 

For instance, the SkyMiles Platinum offers a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application, annual Main Cabin round-trip companion ticket (within the U.S. and to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Central America) stacked on top of the SkyMiles Gold card’s benefits. The SkyMiles Platinum also provides a faster means of achieving elite Medallion status with Delta through its MQD Headstart by recieving $2,500 Medallion® Qualification Dollars each Medallion Qualification Year, and offers incredible benefits like fee waivers, premium customer service and exclusive airport and airline privileges. .

This card's perks could help offset the higher annual fee, so the SkyMiles Platinum card might better suit your needs if you prefer to take advantage of more benefits. 

For anyone who doesn’t have brand loyalty to Delta airlines, but still doesn’t travel enough to warrant a high-priced premium travel card, the Capital One Venture Rewards may check many boxes.

You earn a flat 2X miles for all purchases, so you can stack up plenty of miles with everyday spending. You can also earn 5X miles on hotel, vacation rentals and rental car purchases through the Capital One Travel portal.

The annual fee for the Capital One Venture card is slightly cheaper, but you won’t get the fee waived in the first year like you do with Delta Skymiles Gold. Neither card has trip cancellation and interruption insurance, but both cards have worthwhile perks depending on your preferences. The Capital One Venture offers a credit of up to $120 for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, while the Delta SkyMiles Gold has a Delta travel credit and waives the cost of your first checked bag each way on all round-trip flights.

Capital One miles are also worth more according to Bankrate's latest valuations, at around 1.7 cents per mile. Plus, the Venture card has more redemption options, like being able to transfer your miles to one of its partner airline loyalty programs. If you're loyal to Delta, the Delta Skymiles Gold is a good pick with a reasonable annual fee and decent benefits. If you prefer luxury perks and flexibility, then you might consider the Capital One Venture card.

The American Express® Green Card may be a great option for pairing with the Delta Gold since most reward rates overlap or outclass the Delta Gold card’s. You can earn 3X on restaurants and transit, for instance, plus enjoy lounge access through a statement credit for LoungeBuddy. However, be sure you can offset the $150 annual fee with the card's rewards or perks.  

A flat-rate card that earns rewards you can redeem for travel outside Delta may also be helpful, like the Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card . While the rewards rate might be lower than a tiered card, you are not tied to a single airline so you can weigh your options to find the best value for your miles or points. You also don't have to worry about offsetting an annual fee as there's no cost to carrying this card.

The higher-tier Delta Platinum card provides MQD Headstart, an annual companion certificate and extra travel protection features. You can make the most of the Platinum card’s benefits and use the Delta Gold card to earn more rewards on purchases outside the airline. Just ensure your total spending justifies the additional $350 annual fee.

If you fly Delta regularly but not enough to justify a higher tier card, this card might be right for you. Although the Delta SkyMiles Gold lacks a status boost, it’s an affordable card for Delta customers who take a handful of trips each year. 

Using an airline credit card to book flights can help you save on the extra costs associated with flying with that airline — like checking a bag. If you fly frequently, you could save hundreds of dollars with the first checked bag free perk. Additionally, benefits like priority boarding can be an attractive feature if you travel a lot.

The primary criteria for a rewards or cash back card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average person’s spending habits, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Based on this data, we determine a “chargeable” spend (which purchases are likely to be put on a credit card and earn rewards). This includes the following spending by category:

• Groceries: $5,200
• Dining out: $3,000
• Entertainment: $2,500
• Gas: $2,100
• Apparel and services: $1,700

Using this data, we assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. For example, a card’s grocery rewards rate receives a 23 percent weighting based on how much of the average person’s budget is spent on groceries. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your purchases, as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other rewards cards.

We also rate cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each rewards or cash back card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other rewards or cash back cards. 

We also score each card based on how its annual fee influences its overall value. 

We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value, but if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score even if it carries a high annual fee. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against other cards in the category when you subtract its annual fee.

We rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards and factor this rating into a card’s overall score. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you redeem for some options versus others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to airline and hotel partners. 

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. 

We break down these tiers as follows:

• Tier 1 has less than standard card features (an ultra-streamlined card that offers basic utility and next to nothing in the way of ancillary benefits. 
• Tier 2 includes the benefits you’d expect on standard Visa or Mastercard credit cards, such as free access to your credit score, car rental insurance and $0 liability for fraudulent charges. 
• Tier 3 includes “prime card” or better-than-average card features like cellphone insurance, lost luggage insurance, concierge services and purchase protection. 
• Tier 4 includes luxury features such as airport lounge access, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs. 
• Tier 5 includes the sort of exemplary benefits you’ll find on top-tier luxury cards, such as high-value travel credits, cardholder memberships and other unique and valuable perks.

You’ll have the best approval odds if you apply for the Delta SkyMiles Gold card with a good to excellent credit score (a FICO score of 670 or higher, or a VantageScore of 661 or higher).

Delta SkyMiles are technically worth 1 cent apiece through Delta since you can get a $50 discount on airfare for 5,000 miles, but your mileage may vary since the airline uses a dynamic pricing model. Instead of a set redemption value, your miles’ value depends on factors like your destination, airfare class, travel dates (peak season or off-season) and more. Bankrate has estimated that Delta SkyMiles are worth about 1.2 cents per mile — which ranks it third among domestic airline travel rewards cards.

First and foremost, using your Delta SkyMiles Gold for all of your Delta, restaurant (including U.S. delivery and takeout) and U.S. supermarket purchases is key to squeezing the most value from your card. Enrolling in the Delta SkyMiles Dining and using the Amex Offers and Delta shopping portal will also stack more rewards on top of your spending.

Qualifying for medallion status works a bit differently than simply earning bonus miles. You can qualify for Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond Medallion Status as you fly with Delta and earn these three currencies:

• Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs): Earned from your yearly Delta and partner flight spending
• Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs): Earned from the distance of your flights and your airfare class
• Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs): Earned from how many flights you take

If you’re just relying on the SkyMiles Gold, here are the requirements you’ll have to meet for each Medallion Status tier:

• Silver Medallion Status: $3,000 MQDs + 25,000 MQMs, or 30MQSs
• Gold Medallion Status: $8,000 MQDs + 50,000 MQMs, or 60MQSs
• Platinum Medallion Status: $12,000 MQDs + 75,000 MQMs, or 100 MQSs
• Diamond Medallion Status: $20,000 MQDs + 125,000 MQMs, or 140 MQSs