Like most entry-level branded cards, the Delta SkyMiles Blue has little to offer general cardholders, and brand loyalists will probably be better off with a more aggressive branded card. Although you won’t pay an annual fee with the SkyMiles Blue card, you’ll have to settle for a low welcome offer and won’t benefit from an intro APR period.
Welcome offer: Low ceiling for your first year’s earnings
You’ll need to spend $1,000 on purchases in your first six months to earn a 10,000-mile bonus on the Delta SkyMiles Blue card. According to Bankrate’s latest points and miles valuations, the value of this bonus comes out to roughly $130. Many cardholders can hit this spending requirement without drastically changing their usual monthly spending, but this might leave a lot of extra value on the table when you compare it to other cards.
Welcome offers can bring a large sum of value to a new card, especially premium travel cards. The Delta SkyMiles Blue has strikingly low first-year value with its meager welcome offer valued at $130 — and that’s a generous valuation. Most no-annual-fee cash back cards have welcome offers worth up to $200, so it might even be worth applying for one of those and then offsetting travel costs with statement credits.
Unless you’re spending a substantial amount on Delta travel, you’ll find more value with general travel or cash back cards.
Delta value: Loyal customers should consider higher-tier cards
If you are spending a lot on Delta travel, then you’ll probably be better off with a higher-tier Delta card. To decide between the low-tier and high-tier branded card options, consider the spending requirements outlined by the issuer. These requirements present a solid baseline for cardholders to gauge card offerings and match them to their needs.
For instance, a $10,000 spending requirement to earn a $200 flight credit indicates that the closer to $10,000 you’re spending on a credit card annually, the more likely you are to benefit more from the SkyMiles Gold card than you are from the SkyMiles Blue card. When you also consider the SkyMiles Gold card has a $2,000 spending requirement on its 40,000-mile welcome offer in the first six-month period, it starts to paint a better picture of the spending volume that matches each card. The SkyMiles Gold has a much higher ceiling on its first-year value because it offers many more miles on its welcome offer.
Fees: No intro APR
The Delta SkyMiles Blue credit card offers no annual fee with decent rewards potential. You’ll also benefit from no foreign transaction fees, which is standard for a good travel card. These are great callouts on this entry-level travel card, but it’s not without its drawbacks. The ongoing variable APR is 20.99 percent to 29.99 percent, which can be quite high and it doesn’t have any intro APR offers.
You’ll seldom find intro APR offers on no-annual-fee travel cards, but they’re not unheard of. The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card offers an intro APR on purchases and balance transfers (See Rates & Fees). Offers like these can add a substantial amount of convenience to your first year with a new card because you’ll potentially be able to carry a balance worry-free for several months.
If you have travel plans on the horizon but are worried about paying upfront for them, you can finance a trip with a credit card’s intro APR on new purchases interest-free for however long your card’s offer is. Since the Delta SkyMiles Blue card lacks this option, there are more enticing cards available. Regardless, if paying upfront isn’t an issue or you won’t use an intro APR offer then this shouldn’t be a factor in your decision.