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The Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card is a fantastic middle-ground option for frequent Delta flyers that want top-tier SkyMiles airline rewards and loyalty benefits but aren’t worried about the card’s $250 annual fee or its lack of luxury airport lounge access.
The Platinum Business is undoubtedly one of the best Delta SkyMiles cards, but many cardholders might want to consider other travel cards for rewards that aren’t as restrictive— even within Delta.
Its welcome bonus, Status Boost opportunity and MQD waiver can easily give you a head start toward Medallion Status.
As the middle-ground SkyMiles card, it offers an outstanding array of travel benefits and discounts for small business owners, such as a free checked bag, priority boarding and more.
It has a high reward rate, with purchases of $5,000 or more earning 1.5X miles and Delta-related purchases earning 3X miles.
It has a $250 annual fee, which could be too steep for some applicants.
Your redemption options are fairly limited, as the rewards aren’t very useful outside airfare and must be redeemed in intervals of 5,000 (mile values vary across Delta flights since there is no award chart).
The card's welcome offer no longer includes Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) that get you closer to elite status more than bonus miles. Instead the SkyMiles Platinum Business card’s new bonus is 95,000 miles when you spend $4,000 in the first three months of card membership (offer ends 3/29/2023). It's a slight step down if you prefer to accumulate MQMs, but a step-up if you prefer points to redeem for flights. However, you can still get extra MQMs with Status Boost, which earns 10,000 MQMs when you spend $25,000 in purchases on the card, up to twice a year.
Based on Bankrate’s latest mile valuations, which give Delta SkyMiles a value of 1.3 cents each on average, we estimate the new bonus is worth around $1,235 in Delta flights. The spending requirement is also easily accessible for a business credit card, considering the ticket price for one Premium Select seat on an international Delta flight.
The Delta Skymiles Business Platinum Card earns Delta SkyMiles frequent flyer miles on a tiered-rewards rate structure. These travel rewards work like normal airline credit card miles, but there are a few more reward currencies to keep track of if you want to reach elite Medallion Status.
You’ll earn 3 miles per dollar on purchases made directly with hotels and eligible Delta spending — including flights, seat upgrades, in-flight purchases and more. Like most rewards cards, you’ll earn 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases. However, your eligible large purchases over $5,000 will earn 1.5 miles per dollar, which is a solid bump for non-travel business expenses.
There are a few other ways to earn miles as well. In case Delta isn’t offering the best deal, you can also earn miles on flights with any of Delta’s airline partners. When you’re on the ground, the Delta SkyMiles Dining program is a handy way to earn frequent flyer miles on business meals. You can earn 1 mile per $2 spent — or up to 5 miles per dollar depending on your membership level.
The most valuable way to earn extra miles is to obtain Medallion Status — granting you 7 to 11 miles per dollar on Delta purchases and additional travel benefits. To qualify, you’ll need to earn a set number of Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs), Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) and/or Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) outlined by Delta.
Of course, redeeming your SkyMiles to book travel is the optimal choice. Choosing “Pay with Miles” lets you upgrade seats or book flights with Delta and partner airlines to over 1,000 destinations with no blackout dates. Miles can also book vacation packages, hotels, rental cars and more. You can also “Pay with Miles + Cash” if you’re just shy of the required points.
There are a few other redemption methods, but they aren’t as useful or versatile as general-purpose travel card rewards, such as Capital One miles. For example, you can’t transfer miles to partner airlines. However, you can use Delta miles outside travel for charitable donations or gifts, magazine subscriptions, travel experiences and merchandise.
When you use “Pay with Miles” toward flights, Delta allows you to redeem in 5,000-point intervals for $50 discounts. Delta considers SkyMiles to be worth 1 cent in this case, but they don’t use an award chart like other airlines — meaning your point value varies based on the cost of the flight.
To get a better idea of your rewards’ value before choosing a card, keep in mind that Bankrate gives Delta SkyMiles a 1.3 cent-per-mile market value when booking flights — which is on the low side when compared to some of the top airline and credit card rewards programs.
The Amex Delta Platinum Business card delivers a considerably higher number of valuable benefits than its little sibling, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, including standout travel insurance, annual companion certificate and Status Boost features.
Business cardholders aiming for Medallion status elite rewards and benefits can earn earn 10,000 MQMs after you spend $25,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year, up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion Status.
You’ll receive a companion certificate for a complimentary main cabin domestic round-trip flight each year upon renewing your card.
This can be an especially valuable perk when you use it on more expensive flights. Keep in mind that you’ll still owe taxes, baggage fees and similar exclusions on the ticket cost.
On top of “Main Cabin 1” priority boarding, the Delta Platinum Business card offers a wide array of premium travel benefits to justify its annual fee:
The biggest kicker when considering the Amex Delta Platinum Business card is its $250 annual fee. This may seem reasonable considering its valuable rewards, but some cardholders may be opposed to a business rewards card with such a high fee. You could consider the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card instead, which has a $0 annual fee for the first year and then a $99 annual fee after that. Still, you would be missing out on quite a lot of perks compared to the SkyMiles Platinum Business Card.
Luckily, there are no annual employee card fees and no foreign transaction fees. Plus, there are plenty of travel discounts to help offset the cost. Its travel companion certificate alone could be enough to offset the annual fee, depending on the flight. Otherwise, you’d need to spend over $6,300 each year on Delta travel or hotel bookings to recoup your annual fee (based on Bankrate’s 1.3-cent-per-mile estimated value).
There is also no 0 percent intro APR offer to offset the ongoing 20.49 percent to 29.49 percent variable APR, which isn’t too uncommon for airline-specific business rewards cards. That could be a drawback in comparison to other business rewards cards that offer a zero-interest period for business owners who want time to pay down new purchases. The Bank of America® Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard, for example, has no annual fee and a 0% intro APR offer on purchases for the first nine billing cycles (16.74% to 26.74% APR thereafter) along with unlimited 3X points on travel booked through Bank of America Travel Center and 1.5X points on all other purchases.
The Delta Platinum Business card’s value cements it as the middle-of-the-road SkyMiles business option. For instance, it beats the $99 annual fee ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year) SkyMiles Gold Business card, mainly thanks to its trip delay insurance, Global Entry or TSA Precheck fee credit and Medallion Status-related perks. However, if you want higher-tier Delta benefits or more flexible reward earning and redemption possibilities, you should consider another Delta Skymiles Card or a comparable Amex Card.
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If you’re more concerned about reaching Medallion Status each year, the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express card has stronger Medallion Status-earning features and excellent airport lounge access to the Delta Sky Club and Amex Centurion Lounge as well. The SkyMiles Reserve Business Card does have a higher $550 annual fee than the SkyMiles Platinum Business’s $250 annual fee, but you get access to a few more perks such as a Comfort+ or first class companion ticket, for example.
Additionally, Reserve Business cardholders can also earn 1.5X miles on anything beyond $150K per calendar year, compared to the Platinum Business' 1.5X rewards rate on purchases over $5K, up to 50K miles. which gives a faster boost but limited earnings overall for those who are big business spenders.
Although you can have airport lounge access, higher MQM earnings and better flight upgrades with the Reserve Business Card, there is no difference in travel and protection perks and you would have to miss out on the 3X rewards rate on hotels you would get with the Platinum Business Card. In general, the Platinum version is a better choice for business travelers who frequently use Delta and hotel bookings for work and would like some extra incentives to use the card for big purchases, especially if it helps them reach elite status faster.
However, if you're willing to pay a higher annual fee to get lounge access, then the Reserve version will make more sense for you. That also holds true for people who buy upgraded Delta tickets often and who continuously spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to earn the 1.5X accelerated rewards rate after spending $150,000.
For those not loyal to a Delta co-branded card, an alternate business travel card such as the Business Platinum® Card from American Express might offer better rewards value, flexibility and non-travel bonus categories based on your business’ spending. American Express Travel offers 5 Membership Rewards® points per dollar for flights and prepaid hotels, 1.5 points per dollar for purchases of $5,000 or more in select business categories and 1 point for every dollar spent on other eligible purchases. Included in these business categories are construction material, hardware, electronic goods, software and cloud system purchases (up to $2 million worth of these purchases per calendar year; 1 point thereafter). You can transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points to Delta and other airline and hotel loyalty programs, extending your flight options beyond those of the SkyMiles Platinum Business Card.
Even though the card comes with an annual fee of $695, you'll get benefits like access to Priority Pass memberships and airport lounges via the Global Lounge Collection, which includes access to Delta Sky Clubs when you fly with Delta. As an added benefit, you'll also receive a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership, as well as Gold elite status with hotel programs such as Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors.
Although the annual fee isn't cheap, the benefits and annual credits more than make up for it, making it a good option for frequent business travelers. It could prove to be a better choice than the Skymiles Platinum Business Card if you can justify the fee.
American Express business cards are likely the best partners, thanks to the partnership between the issuer and Delta Air Lines. Amex Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Delta SkyMiles at a 1:1 ratio, and you can find special deals on Delta flights through the American Express travel portal.
The American Express Business Gold Card provides great bonus category coverage for business expenses outside travel (like eligible U.S. gas stations, U.S. shipping and U.S. tech purchases), as well as airfare through the Amex travel portal if you need to fly outside the SkyTeam alliance partners.
Flat-rate business travel rewards cards or other non-American Express cards could also be a great match to earn miles on your non-travel business expenses. Since issuers like Chase and Capital One are known for their versatile rewards, Chase’s Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card or Capital One’s Spark Miles for Business Card could provide fantastic support if you need a larger pool of categories to draw from at once or want non-category based rewards on business spending.
The Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card offers the best value to dedicated Delta flyers, especially businesses that can make the most of the hotel purchase rewards and the myriad travel benefits. But if your business operations don’t lean on Delta airline benefits, other business travel cards — even other American Express cards — may provide more flexible rewards and bonus categories.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business, please click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business, please click here.
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