Compare the Features and Benefits of Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card and
Capital One VentureOne 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 no-annual-fee VentureOne Rewards Card is almost identical to the $95 per year Capital One Venture card with two major differences: It earns 1.25x miles per dollar on most purchases (while the Venture earns 2x), and it has less of a generous sign up bonus.

With the ability to transfer miles to travel partners or use miles to cover the cost of whatever travel charges you wish — along with a simple rewards structure — the VentureOne card is a decent no-annual-fee option. On the earnings front, Capital One miles are pretty much as easy as it gets. You’ll earn rewards at a rate of 1.25X miles per dollar spent on pretty much everything, with 5X miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. That’s a bit lower than many other cards on the market, but on the flip side, many of those cards don’t offer the ability to outright transfer rewards to airlines and hotels, either.

Capital One’s redemption process is similar to other programs, such as Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards, with transferable points often providing a higher value for your travel rewards. Some high-value ways to use Capital One miles include redeeming with Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Miles & Smiles, and Virgin Red (redeem miles for Virgin Voyages and Virgin Atlantic). For simplicity’s sake, you can also book travel however you want, then redeem miles for a statement credit for some or all of the cost. Miles are worth a flat 1 cent apiece when redeemed this way — and there’s no minimum redemption amount.

On top of all of that, there’s a respectable array of travel and purchase protections (similar to the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card but not nearly as robust as the $395-per-year Capital One Venture X Rewards credit card).

This card is really best suited for those that are adamant about not paying an annual fee, want the flexibility to redeem their rewards for cash back, airline miles, or hotel points, and have no desire to be charged pesky foreign transaction fees when they travel abroad.

One “trick” worth knowing is that Capital One allows you to combine from a cash back card to another cash back card or from a cash back card to a miles card. So you could, for example, have both this card and a SavorOne card (with multipliers for dining and entertainment) and then combine your cash from the SavorOne to your VentureOne miles. They would convert at one point per cent.

Lastly, how might you decide between the Venture and the VentureOne when the Venture has an annual fee of $95, but earns 2X miles per dollar vs. 1.25 miles per dollar on the VentureOne?

The calculation is that at roughly $12,500 in annual spend, you would be better off, even with the $95 annual fee, with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card as the additional rewards earned become more than the annual fee.