Verdict: The Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card is one of the best ways to earn Delta SkyMiles for business or personal flights on Delta Air Lines or any of their airline partners.
Overview
The Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card is a unique and beneficial combination of a great credit card and an excellent frequent flyer program that awards miles with every single dollar spent on purchases. Also, upon the card renewal, a yearly free coach ticket is given to the cardholder for traveling with a special companion or business partner.
How This Card Works
When the Platinum Delta SkyMiles card is used for purchases and even booking flights with Delta, the amount of SkyMiles that are earned will be equivalent to the dollar amount that is spent.
Redeeming the Delta SkyMiles is expediently done by booking your flight online with American Express Travel or going to the Delta.com website and using your SkyMiles identification number. This number is conveniently printed right on the front of the card for easy access.
Travel and Shopping Benefits
The Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express has an excellent SkyMiles rewards program for those cardholders that travel frequently. You can earn up to 20,000 SkyMiles as a bonus right after making your first purchase and it includes 5,000 of the Medallion Qualification Miles. For every dollar that is spent on eligible purchases, the cardholder will earn one mile and these miles will never expire.
You can redeem SkyMiles with as little as 10,000 miles and it will give you $100.00 off of your Delta flight. Using the pay with miles option will allow for part or all of the flight to be paid with miles and the rest to be charged onto your Platinum Delta SkyMilesÆ Credit Card.
Fees
If the account is ever found to be in default, your interest rate will change according to the following guidelines. A variable APR will be assessed at the rate of 14.50%, not including any cash advances. If the account is in a serious default state, the annual percentage rate can be raised to 27.24% plus Prime Rate and will stay that way for up to 12 billing cycles.
The Prime Rate can be found on a customary day of publication of the Wall Street Journal. They will use the Prime Rate that is two days before the end of the billing period or the very first day in the billing period, whichever one is higher.
Your Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card account will be considered to be in default, after a monthly review, for any of these reasons; if the minimum payment has not been paid in a timely manner, if the account balance goes over the limit more than two times or if the bank ever returns your check for nonsufficient funds.
This American Express credit card gives the cardholder an option of paying the amount in full or to pay the balance over time. However, only if the balance that is shown previously on every billing statement is paid by the due date, there will be a 20 day grace period allowed. If the cardholder has been deemed as not having paid the amount on time, there will be a late fee incurred that is subject to all applicable laws. Balances over $250 will be charged a late fee of $39 and any balance under that will be charged $19.
Pros
- New card members will receive 20,000 bonus SkyMiles with the first purchase.
- Earn one mile per dollar spent on any and all eligible purchases.
- No fee for balance transfers; unless disclosed in the future.†††
- Pay with Miles advantage of using partial miles to pay for flights and the rest will go on the credit card.
- No limit on the amount of SkyMiles that you can earn and they have no expiration date.
- Additional Cards carry no fee and earn the card member 2,500 bonus miles.
Cons
- Annual fee of $150.00.
- Credit RequiredGood Credit
- Rewards ProgramReceive double miles on Delta purchases and 1 mile for all other eligible dollars spent. Redeem miles with blackout dates or seat restrictions. Check your first bag free on every delta flight.
- Signup Bonus30,000 Bonus Mileswhen you spend $500 on the Card in the first three months.
Kevin Fleming founded CreditShout in 2008 to help people manage their credit and finances. Kevin wants to make it easy for anyone, regardless of their level of financial knowledge to understand credit cards and what may seem like the complex world of personal finance. | 
October 15th, 2011 at 6:59 pm
I was Skymiles Silver (October 2011). Opened offer for Amex Platinum Delta Skymiles that read ‘exclusive offer for medallion members’. Applied online for card and approved in less than five minutes. Received card a week later on October 4.
Offer: first purchase 15k miles of which 5k are MQM’s, then purchase $1500 by end of calendar year and get 25k miles of which 10k are MQM’s, plus use card on Delta purchase (any amount) and get $100 statement credit.
Went to grocery store (Dillons/Krogers) and bought three $500 gift cards (I buy gas and groceries there anyway…should be used up in a month or so with my family.
Miles just posted (40k miles and 15k MQM’s) on October 12 as five transactions on same day. Unbelievable.
I bought a snack on a flight yesterday with the card and just cut it up. I am canceling card after paying off my $1500 gift card purchase next month. There is a $150 annual fee and with my soon to post $100 statement credit will be $50.
Well worth it. I am a Dave Ramsey follower and ‘bent the rules’ here, but was worth it in my opinion. I have no credit cards now (as before) and got my email from Delta already that I am Gold Medallion and I have 40k miles for 30 minutes of effort.
Very cool.
October 17th, 2011 at 10:07 am
Great to hear that! We actually just launched a new deal tracker for those of you looking to beat the credit card companies at their own game – http://creditshout.com/deals/