Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Card from American Express Review (2021.3 Update: 80k Miles+20k MQM Offer)

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2021.3 Update: The new offer is 80k Miles+20k MQM. Offer ends on 2021.04.28.

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Benefits

1. 80k Miles + 20k MQM offer: earn 80,000 Delta miles and 20,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQM) (Note that MQMs are not the kind of miles to redeem for flights, they are only helpful to get elite status) after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. The recent best offer is 100k (holding through 2nd year required).
2. We value Delta Miles at 1.3 cents/mile (Airline Miles Value). So the 100k welcome offer is worth about $1,300! See A Beginner’s Guide to Delta Miles to check for details about Delta Miles.
3. With the Delta Reserve Credit Card, you’ll receive a Companion Certificate good for either domestic coach/first class each year just for renewing your Card. With this Certificate, you can invite someone special to fly with you on an eligible round-trip domestic flight. If you use it properly, it is worth more than $1000 and it is easy to cover the annual fee.
4. Earn 3 miles per $1 spent on Delta purchases; 1 mile per $1 on other purchases.
5. Complimentary access to Delta Sky Club. Keeping this card is equivalent to have a become a Delta Sky Club Member (annual fee $450), and $29 for each companion. Complimentary access to The Centurion Lounge when you book your Delta flight with your Reserve Card.
6. Get 2 Delta Sky Club One-Time Guest Passes each year.
7. First checked bag free on Delta flights.
8. Priority boarding on Delta flights.
9. 20% savings on in–flight foods and entertainment.
10. Status boost: earn 15,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $30,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, up to four times per year getting you closer to Medallion Status.
11. Upgrade priority: receive upgrade priority over other Medallion members within the same Medallion level and fare class grouping.
12. Global Entry or TSA Pre✔ Fee Credit.
13. With this credit card, you can get access to Amex Offer, which usually offers very good discounts at some stores, such as: spend $15 or more and get $5 back at Walmart; spend $75 or more and get $25 back on Amazon.com.
14. No foreign transaction fee.
15. Authorized users also have access to the airport lounge mentioned in 4.

DL Companion Certificate Rules

• You can only use the companion certificate on Delta flight only (including Delta connection, Delta shuttles)
• You’ll need to buy your tickets at least 14 days in advance with a minimum 3 night stay
• You must book seats in fare class L, U, or T (discount coach class) only or discount first class
• You and your companion must fly the exact same itinerary
• Taxes and Fees apply to the companion ticket
• Companion certificates can be transferred，but are not eligible for upgrades
• If you cancel a companion itinerary, you won’t get the certificate back
• You’ll earn miles on the paid ticket, but not the companion ticket
• You must use your Delta Reserve card to pay for the tickets

Disadvantages

1. $550 annual fee, NOT waived for the first year. Note that annual fee does not count towards the minimum spending requirement (and this is true for all credit cards)!
2. Annual fee for each additional Delta Reserve Credit Card is $175.

Recommended Application Time

1. You can only get the welcome bonus once in a lifetime, so be sure to apply when the historical highest offer appears.
2. AmEx doesn’t care about the number of hard pulls.
3. You can try to apply for it when you have a credit history of 6 months.
4. Only 2 AmEx credit cards can be approved within 90 days, but this rule does not apply to charge cards. Multiple cards approved in the same day will only have one Hard Pull.
5. You can keep at most 5 AmEx credit cards, but this rule does not apply to charge cards.

Summary

The welcome offer on this card has become better and better, so it has become worth applying. The highlight of this credit card is to get MQM quickly and the Delta Sky Club membership as well as the companion certificates for domestic first class travel . The Delta Sky Club seems nice, but personally I don’t think itself worth its high annual fee. You will have to use the companion certificate wisely in order to cover this fee. So in total, considering the high annual fee, only people who fly Delta a lot and want its elite status and airport lounge perks should consider keeping it.

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Recommended Downgrade Options

• You can not downgrade this card to any card with no annual fee, so I suggest you close it when you don’t want to keep it any longer.

After Applying

• Click here to check AmEx application status.
• AmEx reconsideration backdoor number: 877-399-3083. The “real” backdoor number of Amex is well protected. Different from Chase, the representatives from this AmEx reconsideration backdoor number only have the right to help you submit requests.

Historical Offers Chart

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