Which Delta Airlines Credit Card for the Gold Elite Members
I am a Million Miler with Delta with Gold status and I wanted to get the absolute best Amex Delta card that would give me complimentary access to the Delta Crown Rooms and other lounges as well. Is there a higher priced Delta card that can do that? We also charge $500,000 a year on the card. Will that get us an added bonus as well?
Thanks,
Dan
Thanks for the question Dan. The card you are looking for is the American Express Delta Reserve card. It is the only Delta card that comes with access to the Delta Crown Rooms, which have been renamed SkyClubs. As far as you are concerned, the SkyClub membership might be the least of your benefits with this card. You will earn 10,000 Medallion qualifying miles (MQMs) after your first purchase, and 30,000 MQM’s when you quickly sail through your first $60,000 in spending (15,000 MQMs for each of your first two $30,000 of expenditures). With all of these MQMs, you should easily be vaulted to the Platinum Medallion level, and perhaps even Diamond Medallion. In fact, the fact that you are a Gold Member now means you earn 50,000 MQMs a year. With the extra 30,000 MQMs you will earn with this card, you will achieve Platinum Status).
While reaching higher levels of Medallion status will, by itself, help your upgrade and standby chances, Delta also grants their Reserve Card holders priority upgrade status within Medallion and fare classes. If you are vying for the last seat with another Medallion member of the same rank, the person with the Delta Reserve card will get the seat. That is an incalculable benefit to travelers when there is a series of weather cancellations and there are precious few seats available for days on end.
While you specifically mentioned the best Amex Delta card, you might also consider the Platinum or even the super secret Centurion card. The Platinum card from American Express (there is also no foreign transaction fee now for this card) offers the lounge access at Delta and other airlines as well as Membership rewards miles, which are easily converted to Delta miles. The Platinum Card offers no MQMs or upgrade priority.
As for the Centurion card, it is hard to say what it offers, as Amex is very secretive about this offering. According to the Wikipedia page, the card has a one time joining fee of $5,000 plus $2,5o0. While that is steep, it is said to offer unlimited international companion tickets for full fare flights, presumably in premium cabins. A jet-setting couple could easily gain more in tickets than their card fees after just one business class international trip. If you can show Amex that you are spending a half million dollars a year, I think they might invite you into the program.
As someone who has a high annual spending total, you are the dream customer of both Delta and Amex and the target of several of their products. Choose the best card or cards for your needs and they will pamper you wherever your travels take you.
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