Compare the Features and Benefits of Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card and
The Platinum Card® from American Express

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 Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X) and the American Express® Green Card (3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent). 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

💳 This card earns American Express Membership Rewards points. American Express often runs transfer bonuses where you can get even more points when you transfer to airline or hotel partners at designated times. Transfer bonuses are awesome. Get 20%, 30%, 40% or more bonus miles when you transfer points at the right times. But they are easy to miss!

You can see all past Transfer Bonuses from American Express Membership Rewards here.

Even better? Get notified when a new transfer bonus comes out and again before it ends (either or both, your choice). Sign up for free alerts right here. 🔔

In many ways, the American Express Platinum card is the crème de la crème of premium travel rewards credit cards. A 2025 refresh of this card added a slew of additional benefits and statement credits as the annual fee rose to $895 (Rates and Fees). On balance, the additional perks well exceeded the annual fee increase.

We see at least $1,700 in “very easy to use” statement credits on top of the benefits like Centurion airport lounge access, Priority Pass Lounge access, Delta lounge access when flying Delta up to 10 times a year), hotel status in three programs, car rental status in multiple programs, access to Fine Hotels and Resorts perks, access to Resy perks (including Resy Nights – exclusive access for Platinum cardholders on top of the statement credits of up to $100 per quarter).

The “very easy to use” statement credits we used to come up with that $1,700 is as follows:

• For the target Platinum cardholder, the $600 a year in FHR / Hotel Collection is easy to use. That’s just one reservation twice a year to get your $300 X 2 back.
• For those that live in major cities, you probably already eat at a Resy restaurant once every 3 months. That is another $400 in statement credits.
• We don’t think we know anyone that doesn’t use $25 a month in streaming services given the exhaustive list of providers (Disney+, a Disney+ bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Paramount+, Peacock, The Wall Street Journal, YouTube Premium, and YouTube TV). That’s $300 more back in statement credits
• If you agree you are likely to use most or all the above, you probably already ride Uber or order Uber Eats at least once or twice a month? That’s $200 more in statement credits.
• Most travelers should be using the $200 incidental airline credit easily and that’s the last $200 in credits we consider “very easy to use.”

In this scenario, you have paid an annual fee of $895, received $1,700 in value from just some of the available credits, and we haven’t even assigned any value to the airport lounge access, hotel status (Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, and Leader’s Club Sterling), car rental program status, Resy perks, or the statement credits that many will use even if we didn’t include them in our “base case” such as the monthly Uber One membership credit, lululemon, Equinox, Oura Ring, and the Walmart+ credit.

That’s more than $1,000 in additional potential statement credit value.

Please keep in mind that enrollment is required for most benefits above, and Terms Apply; refer to the “Unique Card Benefits” section, the “Statement Credits” section, the “Grants Hotel Status” section, and the “Grants Car Rental Status” sections above for all details.

Beyond the access to Fine Hotels and Resorts and the Hotel Collection, and beyond the airport lounge access and hotel / car rental statuses, the card still earns 5X on airfare purchased directly with the airlines or through the Amex Travel portal (on up to $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar year) as well as 5X on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel.

Since the card earns 1X on all other purchases, we recommend pairing this card with the American Express® Gold Card, which earns 4X American Express Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 a year; 1X thereafter) and 4X Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on U.S. Supermarkets* (up to $25,000 a year; 1X thereafter).

When paired, you’ve got a tremendously powerful card combo for both spend and lifestyle / travel perks.

A few notes you need to know:

Amex now has language restricting you from getting the bonus on this Card if you have or have had this card OR have had this Card, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.

Additional Platinum cards are $195 each.

If you want an Authorized User card with none of the benefits, that is still available as the “Companion Platinum Card.” They will simply be able to make charges that post to your account.

Bottom Line:

Rates and Fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express