Compare the Features and Benefits of Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card and
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

While at first it may be tempting to want a Delta American Express card with no annual fee, there’s little reason to get this card over all of the other six Delta SkyMiles credit cards from American Express considering that it is the most basic Delta credit card.

While there is no annual fee, of the 7 cards linked above, this is the only one that does not have:

• Priority Boarding
• Free Checked Bag
• A waiver on the MQD requirement to earn Delta Medallion Elite status when you spend $25,000 in a calendar year.
• The TakeOff15 benefit, which offers a 15% discount on SkyMiles award travel on Delta marketed and operated flights

Those are some HUGE benefits to give up. You’ll get TakeOff15, priority boarding and a free checked bag with the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card. The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card allows you to earn MQDs for spend (and comes with an annual companion certificate that allows you to fly a friend or family member for the cost of government-imposed taxes (roughly under $80) for round trip domestic flights.

And while 2X miles on restaurants worldwide sounds good on the Delta Blue SkyMiles card, consider that there are two Amex cards that earn Membership Rewards that earn more on dining: The American Express® Gold Card (4X) and the American Express® Green Card (3X). And American Express Membership Rewards points can transfer to Delta – but they can also transfer to a huge range of other airlines and hotels. Isn’t flexibility better? Why be tied to one mileage program, Delta, when you mind find a better mileage deal elsewhere? Remember, you can fly Delta exclusively and collect lots of SkyMiles that way, but it doesn’t mean that should be all you earn on your credit cards….

In my opinion, the best reason for having a Delta Blue is when you have one of the annual fee Delta cards is your oldest credit card and want to downgrade to a no annual fee card to keep your credit score intact.

But other than that, 99% of people would come out ahead paying the annual fee on one of the other six Delta SkyMiles credit cards from American Express and taking advantage of the benefits that come with them.

Rates and Fees for the Blue Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is similar to the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card with a few main exceptions.

• The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards credit card requires a credit score of only around 600, while the The Capital One Quicksilver Cash is looking for a FICO around 700.
• The Capital One QuicksilverOne does not offer any car rental CDW / LDW coverage.
• The Capital One QuicksilverOne charges a $39 annual fee whereas the Quicksilver has no annual fee.
• The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards credit card does not have any introductory 0% APR offers or 0% intro balance transfers while the Quicksilver offers both.
• The Quicksilver offers a higher credit line.
• You can expect to be automatically considered for a credit limit increase for your Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards credit card after 6 months if you are making on-time payments.

With QuicksilverOne, you will never pay any foreign transaction fees, and you’ll earn 1.5% cash back on all eligible purchases. If you book travel via the Capital One Travel portal, you’ll earn 5% on hotels and rental cars (1.5% if booked outside of Capital One Travel).

PRO TIP:

If you have another credit card which earns Capital One Miles, like the Venture X, Venture, VentureOne, or Spark Miles for Business, you can transfer your cash from your QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards credit card to those cards, where they become Capital One Miles – transferable to airline and hotel partners. $10 = 1,000 Miles.

Here’s a list of Capital One Miles airline and hotel transfer partners