I’m looking for a new Travel card and am near a Delta hub. For those of you who use the card, have you gotten value out of it?

How often do you fly and rent cars?

Some of the perks are great, like being automatically upgraded through certain entities. Some are so so, and I found you REALLY have to make some effort and go out of your way to take advantage and save a few bucks (shopping for goods).

Look into where you will be flying in and out of and make sure there are decent airport lounges that are Priority Pass or AMEX Centurion.

Be aware that the first week you have the card you will need to do the legwork to take advantage of all of the memberships as they are not usually automatic (Priority Pass, Hilton, Marriott, etc).

Their customer service is exceptional, but to take advantage of that and a lot of other perks, you have to book your travel through them.

Again, if you travel a lot, it can make sense cost wise.

^^^^
About 4 times a year.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
^^^^
About 4 times a year.

Likely not. I used to fly three weeks out of four. Hate Amex.


I think you’d be better off paying the daily fee for the club use, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
^^^^
About 4 times a year.

Likely not.

Agreed.

4x/year isn't much. Are you planning on traveling a lot more? Is Delta the ONLY airline you plan to use?

While the Platinum has a lot of perks, it's got a very a high annual and the points accumulation structure is only around hotel and airline purchases. Similar cards from Chase and Citi offer the same purchasing perks that also tie other travel purchases (parking, rental, tolls) food (dining out) and entertainment (shows, movies) to their point accumulation. You may consider some of the other Delta/Amex cards, which have a lower annual, and have the perks you may be interested in.

I'm probably going to cancel mine. I just don't travel enough anymore to make it worthwhile. I think I'll get it to cover my Global Entry renewal this year and then I'm done. There are some good Facebook groups for Bus. Plat. card users that show how to maximize the benefits. But I still can't really squeeze $600-$700 worth of perks out of it per year. I think next year they will no longer allow a free guest admittance to Centurion lounges. When I travel with Mrs. Lee, that's a nice perk that's going away. Having to cough up another $50 per visit is really going to make this a false economy.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

While the Platinum has a lot of perks, it's got a very a high annual and the points accumulation structure is only around hotel and airline purchases. <snip>

That is good information I was not aware of, thank you for that. I’ve never had an issue with American Express, and I’ve always had good luck with their service.

I think I’ll take a look at their gold card and see if that might be better suited.

It is for me. I travel a bunch, I use the credits they offer for global entry, Clear, $200 per airline, not to mention my time in the Centurion lounge. Every other year if you give them a hard time about the fee, they'll duke you something by way of a credit.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

While the Platinum has a lot of perks, it's got a very a high annual and the points accumulation structure is only around hotel and airline purchases. <snip>

That is good information I was not aware of, thank you for that. I’ve never had an issue with American Express, and I’ve always had good luck with their service.

I think I’ll take a look at their gold card and see if that might be better suited.

Not to nitpick what corsair said, but just to clarify, you will accrue points based on every purchase, but the multipliers are generally stronger for travel type purposes and usually need to be booked within the AMEX site to get the 3x,4x,6x...etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
That is good information I was not aware of, thank you for that. I’ve never had an issue with American Express, and I’ve always had good luck with their service.

I think I’ll take a look at their gold card and see if that might be better suited.

Amex is still the heavy hitter of travel creditors however, you just need to balance the fees with your usage rate. Fortunately, there's a variety to choose from.

There was a time starting around 6-7 years ago to 2019 where travel cards really rolled-out the red carpet with perks and offers; some people regard it as the Golden Age of travel perks, I took 6-trips to Europe, and giant amount of domestic trips. Every major creditor offered crazy reward bonus', endless perks and loyalty program ties, and somewhat reasonable annual fees given the benefits. Wasn't unusual to hear stories of travelers using the benefits of 2-3 cards to pay for their entire vacation; lots of strategy discussions on reddit and other forums that users could reference how-to. Around 2019, the other shoe had to drop and companies started raising their rates and reducing their benefits, lots of people downgraded their Chase Sapphire Reserve to the Preferred card. Then the pandemic hit....

I use the Delta co-branded platinum card. My wife and I take at least 3-4 air trips a year. Because of where we live, Delta is usually our best choice. The free companion ticket easily covers the $250 annual fee.

Check out the Chase Sapphire Reserve (happy to send you a referral code, hit me up by email).

The annual fee is a little less, with similar or equivalent perks. Priority pass, global entry, rental and travel insurance, 3x points on travel and restaurants (including gas purchases), and a $300 statement credit for travel purchases (including gas).

The points you accumulate can cash out to statement credits, or redeemed at 1.5x for for hotel s and flights. The last couple of years because travel was limited, you were able to use points to reimburse for groceries and restaurants at 1.5x statement credit.

Also, it's a Visa card, so it's accepted at Costco.

Note: the perks have changed as of late, but I'mm just working off of memory so apologies if they aren't 100% accurate.

I was just looking online at the Saphire…thanks, I’ll dig deeper.

Send me an email with your referral code and I’ll use it to give you the credit if I apply.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Check out the Chase Sapphire Reserve (happy to send you a referral code, hit me up by email).

While CSR has lots of benefits (I'm a user), they're tied to Star Alliance carriers and Southwest whereas, Delta is apart of SkyTeam and the only way to transfer points/miles would be via their Amex cards. Doesn't negate usage with them just, you're not maximizing the benefits.
I think much of OP's decision is gonna revolve around travel frequency, those particulars and overall purchasing habits.

^^^ 100%

And if you fly frequently, you’ve probably already got yourself set up.

Thank God I don’t have to fly commercial anymore. I wouldn’t make it through this bullshit.

Living in MN, I think I’d probably be best served with a card that offers a Delta tie-in.

TN226 mentioned that above and he might be on the right track.

I appreciate you guys going back/forth with me on this.

Ah right, Delta. Hadn't even considered, as I'm usually on Southwest for local flights out of Orange County or whatever international airline is cheapest out of LAX.

I've had the Delta Platinum for about 5 years. As posted above, the free companion voucher pretty much covers the annual fee. I fly to the UK every year or so (Kung Flu permitting) and I normally have enough miles built up to get some upgrades. I also use it to book flights for my family when they're coming over to visit - and get them to reimburse me - so I get the triple miles that way too.

- Update -

Guys I went with the Amex Delta Skymiles Platinum. I like the companion ticket; we fly to Chicago every year for GF’s b’day and that’s just an hour flight.

I “think” I saw that you also get priority boarding on Delta flights with this card…that alone is almost worth the price of admission to me.

Again, thanks for all of the discussion! I am glad I did not pick the one with the huge fees that I really would not have gotten any value out of.