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The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card can save you a lot of money if you own a small business and fly Delta often. The elite-like perks, such as free checked bags, a 15% discount on Delta award flights, and an annual companion certificate make the Delta Platinum Business card one of the best rewards business cards for Delta loyalists to consider.
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is one of the best airline credit cards for Delta business owners, for several reasons:
This small-business credit card is strikingly similar to its personal counterpart, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card. But the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is a far better fit for entrepreneurs because this is a small-business credit card, which won't appear on your personal credit report. This is helpful for those who intend to apply for other travel credit cards in the future, especially from Chase, due to its 5/24 rule.
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card offers a welcome bonus of 70,000 bonus miles after spending $6,000 in purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership.
That's worth an average of 77000 in travel value, based on Business Insider's points and miles valuations.
This card isn't ideal for everyday business spending. It provides a few opportunities to achieve bonus miles, and they're all quite niche:
You'll earn 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases, so we recommend using other small business credit cards for spending on non-bonus categories.
If you spend a lot of money with Delta, earning 3 miles per dollar is a fair rate of return. But this card doesn't offer great returns on hotel spend, so we recommend considering one of the best hotel credit cards instead.
There are a handful of ways to redeem Delta miles, but using them toward travel is the option with the most potential value.
While Business Insider values Delta points at 1.1 cents apiece, it's possible to get substantially higher value out of your points if you learn the best ways to use Delta miles.
Delta miles can be used for much more than just Delta flights. You can use them for flights on its SkyTeam airline alliance and non-alliance partners, such as:
Delta doesn't price its award seats according to an award chart. Instead, they use "dynamic pricing," meaning they charge whatever they want, whenever they want. To find the exact award price you'll pay, you must check your specific route and date.
There are plenty of good deals for those who are flexible. But if you've got rigid travel dates and destinations, you may end up paying an exorbitant amount of miles.
As an Amex Delta cardholder, you can use miles to offset the cost of a paid ticket. You'll have access to Delta's Pay With Miles program, which lets you redeem miles at a rate of 1 cent each to offset the cost of paid airfare. You must redeem in increments of 5,000 miles. For example, if a flight costs $230, you could pay 20,000 Delta miles and $30 to reserve the ticket.
This is useful if you don't have enough miles for an award or want to stretch your miles by combining them with cash.
Delta miles don't expire, so you can collect them without worrying you may forfeit them if travel isn't on your near-term radar.
Here are other less valuable ways to redeem your rewards:
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card offers benefits that are valuable for more than just small business-centric spending and travel. Here's why it's worth paying the annual fee year after year.
You'll earn a Delta companion certificate every year when you renew your credit card. This benefit allows you to purchase an eligible paid ticket, then bring a companion for just the cost of taxes and fees. This could save you many hundreds of dollars, depending on the price of the fare. Annual companion certificates earned on the Delta Platinum Business cards are eligible on economy-class round-trip tickets throughout the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean, and Central America.
Delta Companion Certificate Details
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card cardholders get an automatic boost toward elite status qualification with this new benefit. Cardholders will receive $2,500 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQD) each Medallion Qualification Year toward their elite status qualification requirements, and earn $1 MQD for every $20 spent on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card.
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card cardholders can earn a statement credit of up to $10 a month when they use the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card to pay their bill at participating US Resy restaurants. You have to enroll your credit card with American Express in order to qualify for this benefit.
You can earn up to $200 per year in the form of a statement credit after using your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card to book prepaid hotels or vacation rentals through Delta Stays on delta.com/stays. Unlike the Resy credits mentioned above, this benefit is calculated from your total spend with Delta Stays each year.
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card cardholders and up to eight companions on the same reservation will get a free first checked bag on domestic Delta flights. Checked bags cost $35 each way, so you'll offset more than the annual fee if you and a travel buddy take a few trips each year. If you fly Delta with family or employees, this card is a no-brainer.
With the card's priority boarding benefit, you and up to eight companions on the same reservation will board the plane in the Delta Zone 5 group — even if you've purchased a Basic Economy flight. This perk is especially helpful if you value overhead bin space. You'll be one of the first on the plane, and you're almost guaranteed a convenient spot for your carry-on.
Zone 5 boards after passengers flying in premium cabins and most elite members, but before other economy class travelers or those flying in basic economy.
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card cardholders are eligible for Delta's TakeOff 15 perk. As long as the card is connected to the primary cardholder's SkyMiles account, they'll get a 15% discount on award tickets on Delta-operated flights booked through Delta.com or the Fly Delta app.
This benefit could translate to big savings for those who frequently redeem miles for Delta award flights. Unfortunately, partner award flights don't qualify, and authorized users/employee cards can't get the discount.
Global Entry and TSA PreCheck® are trusted traveler programs that can expedite your airport security experience.
By using your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card to pay your application fee, you'll be reimbursed up to $120 for Global Entry every 4 years or up to $85 for TSA PreCheck® every 4.5 years.
Use your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card to pay for inflight purchases like food and drinks, or audio headsets on Delta flights, you'll receive 20% back in the form of a statement credit.
If you've paid for eligible round-trip travel with your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card and your trip is delayed 12+ hours, the card's trip delay insurance could reimburse you for up to $300 in reasonable expenses, such as:
You're eligible for reimbursement up to two times per rolling 12-month period.
Paying for an eligible item with your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card gets you automatic purchase protection for loss or damage up to 90 days from the date of purchase. You'll receive up to a maximum of $1,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per year.
Use your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card to pay for eligible items and you'll also receive extended warranty protection, up to one additional year added to eligible U.S. manufacturer's warranties of five years or less.
If you use your card for a covered trip, you can be covered for loss or damage to your bags, up to $500 per person for checked bags, and $1,250 per person for carry-on bags. Be sure to check exclusions of high-risk items. Also, note that some states have different limits.
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card offers access to Amex's Global Assist Hotline, which can help you rectify things like a lost passport during travel, medical referrals, and translation services. It's a free service, though you'll have to pay for any third-party costs.
All American Express cards come with targeted statement credits, discounts, or bonus points for specific purchases. These are called Amex Offers**, and they're one of the best card perks for saving money you'd spend anyway.
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card comes with a $350 annual fee. However, the card waives foreign transaction fees, so it's a great companion when traveling abroad.
There's a 19.99% - 28.99% Variable APR, but you won't have to worry about that if you pay your balance in full each month.
Fees apply to other situations, including:
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is the perfect middle-of-the-road option for business owners who want a Delta co-branded business credit card. But if you want a little bit more — or a little bit less — these are some other card options available to you.
The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card is Delta's top-tier business credit card, and offers airport lounge access to both Delta Sky Club lounges as well as the American Express Centurion Lounge network on qualifying flights.
The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card also offers an annual companion certificate. Unlike the Platinum card certificate, the Reserve certificate can also be used toward first-class and Comfort+ flights, which can be worth a lot more for the right traveler.
Cardholders can also earn hundreds of dollars in restaurant, rideshare, and travel credits on qualifying purchases. However, this card offers poor value for actual rewards on business spend, since the earning rate ranges from 1x to 1.5x on non-Delta purchases.
This heavyweight comes with a hefty annual fee of $650, but can be offset with a welcome bonus of 80,000 bonus miles after spending $10,000 in purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership worth 88000 based on our valuations.
Read our full Amex Business Delta Reserve card review.
The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card is a great business credit card for Delta-flying business owners who are willing to pay a moderate annual fee for Delta travel benefits.
The Delta Gold Business card has an annual fee of $0 intro for the first year, then $150, and comes with the same benefits of priority boarding, free checked bag, and 20% off inflight purchases as the Delta Platinum Business and the Delta Reserve Business cards.
Right now, the Delta Gold Business card also comes with a welcome bonus 60,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases on your new card in your first six months of card membership, worth 66000 by Business Insider valuations.
Read our full American Express Delta Gold Business card review.
If you're not married to Delta, it may be a better idea to open a card that earns Amex Membership Rewards points instead of Delta miles, such as The Business Platinum Card® from American Express and The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. These cards often earn rewards at higher rates, which gets you more bang for your buck.
Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Delta at a 1:1 rate, or used a number of different ways toward travel expenses through Amex Travel or other American Express airline and hotel partners for additional travel flexibility.
Learn more about the best American Express business cards.
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card has a $350 annual fee.
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is a mid-tier business credit card that earns Delta SkyMiles.
You'll typically need good to excellent credit, defined as a FICO score of at least 670, to apply for the Delta Platinum Business card.
The best Delta business card will depend on your business and personal needs. The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card can be a great fit if you can maximize the benefits; otherwise, the lower-fee Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card is a better bet.
We evaluated the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card by comparing it to other Amex Delta Business cards, and to airline business credit cards from other major U.S. carriers. Our assessment was based on several factors, including:
You can read about how we rate credit cards at Business Insider for a closer look at our methodology.
