topic Re: Amex Delta cards worth it? in Credit Cards

Amex Delta cards worth it?

red259 — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:24:33 GMT

Amex is having a higher than normal signup offer on their Delta cards. It is about to end. Did anyone jump on this? I'm trying to determine the value. 50k miles for 2k spends seems pretty good. I'm not sure how I would leverage these miles though. I live in NYC so I have access to most domestic and international airlines. I'm probably looking at trips to south america and europe at this point and i prefer to fly premium class. Any thoughts on if Delta miles would work for this? Maybe being able to use them to get a one way award? Just looking for feedback to see if it is worth it. I suppose I could also try to redeem on transcon flights enroute to asia if I ever needed a positioning flight.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

kdm31091 — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:41:32 GMT

I'm not an expert, but most travel enthusiasts seem to frown on Delta's program and you probably know they call the miles "skypesos". If you just want the bonus, that's one thing, but for a regular use card I think your other travel programs are probably better. A lot of people just get the Delta to get "in with Amex" vs because it's actually a worthwhile program. That's just my impression on it though. It may suit your needs fine, but make sure you look into the redemption and such before you apply. You sound unsure as to if the points would even be useful for you.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

red259 — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:47:34 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
I'm not an expert, but most travel enthusiasts seem to frown on Delta's program and you probably know they call the miles "skypesos". If you just want the bonus, that's one thing, but for a regular use card I think your other travel programs are probably better. A lot of people just get the Delta to get "in with Amex" vs because it's actually a worthwhile program. That's just my impression on it though. It may suit your needs fine, but make sure you look into the redemption and such before you apply. You sound unsure as to if the points would even be useful for you.

Yes, the program has a bad rep and I am not talking about moving my business to Delta. This would really only be for the signup offer due to the higher than normal signup. Clearly because of my location I can pretty much use any airline miles, but I didn't know if these are worth the effort to begin with. They don't have an award chart to look at so you need to search specific flights on specific dates to get an idea and I'm not at that point yet, so I was hoping someone with experience with them could give me an idea if 50k is worth the effort or if there is a viable airline partner where they have a good redemption rate.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 21:06:16 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
I'm not an expert, but most travel enthusiasts seem to frown on Delta's program and you probably know they call the miles "skypesos". If you just want the bonus, that's one thing, but for a regular use card I think your other travel programs are probably better. A lot of people just get the Delta to get "in with Amex" vs because it's actually a worthwhile program. That's just my impression on it though. It may suit your needs fine, but make sure you look into the redemption and such before you apply. You sound unsure as to if the points would even be useful for you.

In the last few weeks, Delta has been getting better press!

http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2016/06/17/delta-skymiles-sheds-skypeso-moniker/

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 22:15:45 GMT

I jumped on the offer, as I stated on the other thread. I got the platinum card and for me it will also be the card I use to circumvent having to spend $15,000 in tickets to get diamond status with the airline. I guess it all depends on your flying patters, but for me, the "elite" airline game gives you some great perks. Grant it, it's not as grand as it was seven or eight years ago, but it's still nice.

I only got a $2,000 loc, but it should suffice.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

red259 — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 22:48:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I jumped on the offer, as I stated on the other thread. I got the platinum card and for me it will also be the card I use to circumvent having to spend $15,000 in tickets to get diamond status with the airline. I guess it all depends on your flying patters, but for me, the "elite" airline game gives you some great perks. Grant it, it's not as grand as it was seven or eight years ago, but it's still nice.
I only got a $2,000 loc, but it should suffice.

Yes obviously these cards have much more value for people going for Delta status etc. I don't fly enough to get status usually. Then again with credit cards etc you can get most of the perks for the lower tiers anyway.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 23:13:55 GMT

I have no idea how many miles you need for premium class, as I always fly economy. But stating that, you can definitely find uses for the Delta miles. However, it sounds like you'll just be churning the card for the bonus and not using it after that?

I got the Delta card in April and my targeted offer was 60,000 miles after only 1k in spend. Can't beat that. But Delta is also the airline I fly the most, and given my limited credit history I wanted a card I could grow with. My credit limit has already gone from 1k to 3k. Living in NYC, you will definitely find a way to use the miles. But I can't really say whether or not it would be "worth it" for you, given what you said in your OP.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 23:16:33 GMT

@red259 wrote:
@kdm31091 wrote:
I'm not an expert, but most travel enthusiasts seem to frown on Delta's program and you probably know they call the miles "skypesos". If you just want the bonus, that's one thing, but for a regular use card I think your other travel programs are probably better. A lot of people just get the Delta to get "in with Amex" vs because it's actually a worthwhile program. That's just my impression on it though. It may suit your needs fine, but make sure you look into the redemption and such before you apply. You sound unsure as to if the points would even be useful for you.
Yes, the program has a bad rep and I am not talking about moving my business to Delta. This would really only be for the signup offer due to the higher than normal signup. Clearly because of my location I can pretty much use any airline miles, but I didn't know if these are worth the effort to begin with. They don't have an award chart to look at so you need to search specific flights on specific dates to get an idea and I'm not at that point yet, so I was hoping someone with experience with them could give me an idea if 50k is worth the effort or if there is a viable airline partner where they have a good redemption rate.

While Delta does not have award charts any longer, they are more or less using the award charts. So you could Google the old award chart to get an idea.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 23:21:48 GMT

Did you apply for the increase, or did they increase it on their own?

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

red259 — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 02:27:03 GMT

I think I am going to pass. While I probably could use the miles to redeem for a transcon flight in J or something of that nature I don't like the way Delta does busines and I'm worried I wouldn't be able to redeem the trip when I need or they will jack up the mileage requirement. With other airlines it feels easier to gauge what the miles will be required. Since I won't be earning additional Delta miles the way I do with United or AA I'm just not feeling its worth the effort. A big part of my concern is that if a high offer on the plat or PRG business cards opens up I want to be able to move on that. I already have the business spg card and I don't know that I will be closing it anytime soon, so I don't really want delta cards cluttering up my amex accounts and maybe causing me an issue on approvals for the business charge cards down the line when I really need them. It just doesn't feel like the right move at the moment and usually when I feel that way it is for a reason.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

RonM21 — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 09:54:16 GMT

@red259 wrote:
I think I am going to pass. While I probably could use the miles to redeem for a transcon flight in J or something of that nature I don't like the way Delta does busines and I'm worried I wouldn't be able to redeem the trip when I need or they will jack up the mileage requirement. With other airlines it feels easier to gauge what the miles will be required. Since I won't be earning additional Delta miles the way I do with United or AA I'm just not feeling its worth the effort. A big part of my concern is that if a high offer on the plat or PRG business cards opens up I want to be able to move on that. I already have the business spg card and I don't know that I will be closing it anytime soon, so I don't really want delta cards cluttering up my amex accounts and maybe causing me an issue on approvals for the business charge cards down the line when I really need them. It just doesn't feel like the right move at the moment and usually when I feel that way it is for a reason.

It's good that you are going by how it suits your needs though. Sometimes that is hard to do. Smart way of thinking imho.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 10:29:37 GMT

Delta is awesome, they've always been great in my experience. The 60k offer is good for a roundtrip ticket to Europe. Slam Dunk.

You can search values on their website by checking the "miles" tab instead of USD.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 11:51:22 GMT

I am not a delta flyer and actualy had to really consider since I am nto near a delta hub and all flights would have a stop,. However I did reasearch award ticket to europe and its 60k roundtrip in econony/coach whatever the back is lol And for me taht was worth it. I'll have 52k once I am done with card and I'll figure out how to get the remaining 8. I am thinking of applying for the platinum later on whenver the signup goes high again, so tahts one plan. IN either case, I probably will not use the card after initial bonus spend but still wanted to get the miles. They seem to have other travel partners so I can always look at those in the future.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 16:12:49 GMT

Delta makes it very difficult to utilize miles for trips. Years ago, my husband's family let him use some of their miles for us to go on a trip. It took me several weeks and calls back and forth to Delta to find a flight they would allow us to use miles on - and this was many months in advance of travel. We actually ended up having to go during a month and time that was not convenient for us at all in order to be able to use miles. This was a domestic trip to Hawai'i.

I also recall that the mileage redemption suddenly increased when I called to book, and was higher than the mileage redemption shown online just 10 minutes prior.

Fast forward to an international trip we have planned for next year. My husband has Delta miles saved up for the outgoing part of the trip.

He does not have an Amex Delta card, just has a lot of miles with Delta.

I went back and forth with Delta in June, having 6 conversations with them during the month, and doing lots of figuring on my own in between calls, in order to be able to find any route they would allow us to use miles on. This is for an international trip.

There were all kinds of restrictions: can't use miles at all to connect through Charles De Gaulle airport (ridiculous), can't use miles on this route or on this day. The restrictions seemed endless. And this is for a trip that will not take place until next year. Finally after I planned out some different possible scenarios (Delta was zero help with this, and none of the scenarios were convenient for us), we ended up having to take a flight on a specific day and arrive TWO days later. This was with a twelve hour layover in a place and during a month that will be cold. Had to take it because they would not offer any other possibility on miles, despite there being many other routes that Delta offers to our destination.

We then received an email about two weeks later that part of that route was being changed and now we would be arriving at midnight into a different country, and have a shorter layover ( so now we can't even enjoy the country we originally had 12 hours in, and decided to see a few things). Now, thanks to Delta, we have to check into a hotel at probably 1am, not exactly a good value for a hotel stay. We will still be traveling on the flights for TWO full days and will be exhausted when we arrive. There is no reason anyone should have to take a flight and arrive two days later. That's also a very big waste of our vacation days and time off.

Contrast that with American, with whom we are using miles on our return flights. They were stellar, helped me look at different possibilities for our situation, and had many more possible options for us. In talking with each airline 6 times for this trip, there is no comparison - American came out far ahead of Delta. I have known other travelers in our family as well who have tried to use Delta miles, both domestically and internationally, and run into numerous problems with restrictions.

This is just one reason that I will be closing my Amex Delta card in December when it hits 13 months of age and folding its limit into the BCP. Delta does not appear to be geared to meet the customer's needs, even when you plan travel out a year in advance.

Delta offers many routes from our location, they just don't seem to want to offer them using miles. And we had flexible dates as well!

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 13:25:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Delta makes it very difficult to utilize miles for trips. Years ago, my husband's father let him use some of his miles for us to go on a trip. It took me several weeks and calls back and forth to Delta to find a flight they would allow us to use miles on - and this was many, many months in advance of travel. We actually ended up having to go during a month and time that was not convenient for us at all in order to be able to use miles. This was a domestic trip.

Fast forward to an international trip we have planned for next year. My husband has Delta miles saved up for the outgoing part of the trip. I went back and forth with Delta in June, again probably having about 6 conversations with them during the entire month, and doing lots of figuring on my own in between calls, in order to be able to find any route they would allow us to use miles on. This is for an international trip.

There were all kinds of restrictions: can't use miles at all to connect through Charles De Gaulle airport (ridiculous), can't use miles on this route or on this day. The restrictions seemed endless. And this is for a trip that will not take place until next year. Finally after I planned out some different possible scenarios (Delta was zero help with this, and none of the scenarios were convenient for us), we ended up having to take a flight on a specific day and arrive TWO days later. This was with a twelve hour layover in a place and during a month that will be cold. Had to take it because they would not offer any other possibility on miles, despite there being many other routes that Delta offers to our destination.

We then received an email about two weeks later that part of that route was being changed and now we would be arriving at midnight into a different country, and have a shorter layover ( so now we can't even enjoy the country we originally had 12 hours in, and decided to see a few things). Now, thanks to Delta, we have to check into a hotel at probably 1am, not exactly a good value for a hotel stay. We will stil be traveling on the flights for TWO full days and will be exhausted when we arrive. There is no reason anyone should have to take a flight and arrive two days later. That's also a very big waste of our vacation days and time off.

Contrast that with American, with whom we are using miles on our return flights. They were stellar, helped me look at different possibilities for our situation, and had many more possible options for us. In talking with each airline 6 times for this trip, there is no comparison - American came out far ahead of Delta. I have known other travelers in our family as well who have tried to use Delta miles, both domestically and internationally, and run into a lot of problems with restrictions.

This is just one reason that I will be closing my Amex Delta card in December when it hits 13 months of age and folding its limit into the BCP. Delta does not appear to be geared to meet the customer's needs, even when you plan travel out a year in advance. And we had flexible dates as well!

Wow I am afraid now, I only got the card for an international trip and when I was looking at bookings it seemed most days werea available and it didnt say anything about restrictiosn. I guess I will wait and see when that time comes, its too late now as I already got the card so I will have to take my poitns lol

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 13:45:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wow I am afraid now, I only got the card for an international trip and when I was looking at bookings it seemed most days werea available and it didnt say anything about restrictiosn. I guess I will wait and see when that time comes, its too late now as I already got the card so I will have to take my poitns lol

No need to be afraid, but be aware that I have personally experienced situations where I can see availability via miles by looking online and I then call and they tell me that I can't do it using miles.

Delta just seems to have many more restrictions than American or other airlines that I have experienced. Here are some tips: try to figure out alternate dates and at least 4 or 5 alternate routes on your own before calling them, and be as flexible as possible. I'd also recommend booking as far in advance as possible.

Also, I hit a wall when I was on the phone with them because they were just not coming up with any flights that would work (i.e., they had us flying for two days with long layovers). I finally suggested an alternate arrival destination, which was a place we were planning to go to anyway during the course of our trip. So flexibility in your arrival destination may help you, if you plan to visit multiple places while traveling.

That made booking possible, but we will still be flying for two days.

Delta seemed to have fewer options than American as well in my opinion. I'm sure you will be able to work something out when the time comes with advance planning and some level of flexibility, Enjoy your trip!

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 13:39:42 GMT

Thanks, I will have to cross that road when the time comes. Worst case scenario I keep it and use it for domestic travel. At this point I amin lol so i will HAVE to figure something out lol

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

injustifiiable — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 13:51:40 GMT

I'd jump on it but I passed this time. Sometimes they do 50K miles on $1K spend instead of $2K, and if the offer comes up on say the PRG or something, you can always do that then transfer to Delta 1:1.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 14:01:22 GMT

The single biggest reason that the Delta card seems so popular here is because far too many people apply for it because it's the 'easiest' Amex card to get supposedly and pay little attention to whether Delta flies from their home airport or how poor the redemption value is for the points. For some people it can be a good card but as Humu points out they can be difficult to redeem reward seats for international flights. I personally think there are a lot better airline cards out there than the Delta one.

Re: Amex Delta cards worth it?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 14:17:40 GMT

Its way easier if you do the research yourself online and then call if you need to - for whatever reason. June is the summer and even on aa it is very hard to find cheap mile tickets. I'm executive platinum on aa so I'd know.