Delta Amex Cards Get a Major Overhaul With Increased Annual Fees, New Statement Credits

Delta Air Lines loyalists have faced several challenges in the past few months, including changes in status requirements and limitations on lounge access. Now, there’s more mixed news: A complete revamp of Delta’s lineup of Amex credit cards.

First, the bad news: Annual fees are going up on all flavors of Delta’s cobranded cards. At the same time, Amex’s ongoing trend of merchant-specific statement credits to help offset annual fees continues.

New credits include those encompassing Resy, ride-share (Uber and Lyft), and “Delta Stays,” essentially any hotel or vacation rental bookings made via Delta.com. The coupon book style of credits has been around for a while — for better or worse — and it’s not a surprise to see this make its way to Delta. On the plus side, Delta’s Companion Certificate gets more useful (more on this below). Features like complimentary checked bags and a 15 percent discount on SkyMiles redemptions are not changing.

“With the new statements credits, more places to go on your companion certificate, and the Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) Headstart, these new cards make being a SkyMiles member even better,” says Anthony Cirri, executive vice president, U.S. consumer product management and lending at American Express.

Delta Credit Card Changes at a Glance

Here’s what cardholders can expect from this refresh, from increased annual fees across the board to new statement credits galore (enrollment required).

Delta Gold Card and Delta Gold Business Card: What’s New

For the Delta Gold Card, the annual fee goes up from $99 to $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150. As for the Delta Gold Business Card, the annual fee goes up from $99 to $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150.

Delta Gold cardholders now receive a $100 Delta Stays credit (on prepaid hotel or vacation rentals booked via Delta.com), and Delta Gold Business cardholders will receive a $150 Delta Stays credit. If cardholders can maximize this at or near face value, this does take away from some of the sting of the annual fee increase.

In addition, the $200 Delta flight credit after spending $10,000 in a calendar year is a bump from a $100 Delta flight credit.

Delta Platinum Card and Delta Platinum Business Card: What’s New

The Delta Platinum Card’s new annual fee of $350 is an increase from $250. Similarly, the Delta Business Platinum’s annual fee rose to $350 from $250 as well.

Cardholders receive a new up to $120 annual Resy credit (up to $10 per month at U.S. Resy restaurants). Enrollment required. A cumulative $120 annual credit would be far more beneficial, so we expect this to have lots of breakage (aka the inability to use this credit every month).

Cardholders will also receive up to $120 annual ride-share credit (up to $10 per month on U.S. Uber and Lyft purchases). Enrollment is required. Note that this functions differently from the Uber Cash credit that those with The Platinum Card^® from American Express or American Express^® Gold Card receive.

Delta Platinum cardholders will now receive a new $150 Delta Stays credit (on prepaid hotel or vacation rentals booked via Delta.com) and Delta Platinum Business cardholders will receive a $200 Delta Stays credit.

There are a few more benefits to note. First, the annual Companion Certificate also becomes slightly more useful, with destinations now including Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean — in addition to the U.S. lower 48.

As announced last fall, the personal and business cards now include a $2,500 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD) Boost and earn an additional $1 MQD for every $20 in eligible purchases.

Unique to the business variant of this card, cardholders can earn 1.5x miles on transit, U.S. shipping, and purchases of $5,000 or more (up to $100,000 per year).

Delta Reserve Card and Delta Reserve Business Card: What’s New

Last but not least, the Delta Reserve Card saw an increase from $550 to $650, with the Delta Reserve Business Card seeing a similar increase from $550 to $650.

Cardholders receive a new up to $240 annual Resy credit (up to $10 per month at U.S. Resy restaurants). Enrollment is required.

Cardholders will also receive up to $120 annual ride-share credit (up to $10 per month on U.S. Uber and Lyft purchases). Enrollment is required.

Delta Reserve cardholders receive a new $150 Delta Stays credit (on prepaid hotel or vacation rentals booked via Delta.com) while Delta Reserve Business cardholders will receive a $200 Delta Stays credit.

The cards include a $2,500 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD) Boost and earn an additional $1 MQD for every $10 in eligible purchases.

Cardholders are also limited to 15 Delta Sky Club visits (a “visit” is unlimited access within a 24-hour period) starting February 1, 2025.

What About Sky Club Access?

Changes to Sky Club access for Delta cardholders were announced in the fall. To recap, beginning February 1, 2025, there will be a limit on visits measured by 24 hours. Cardholders of the Delta Reserve card and Delta Reserve Business card will be allotted 15 days annually.

Delta will allow cardholders to purchase Sky Club access for $50 per entry if their allotment is used up. And those who have more than 1 card can “stack” their days.

Also, Delta plans to make annual memberships available for purchase once again for any Medallion member. This will cost $695 for an individual membership or $1,495 for an executive membership.

Finally, cardholders can spend $75,000 annually on the Delta Reserve card (personal or business) to earn unlimited Sky Club access for the year in which the spending threshold is met, plus the following Medallion year. Delta began tracking spending on these cards on January 1, 2024, for the 2025 Medallion year.

Final Thoughts

While the annual fee increases across the board are disappointing, it is still possible to recoup some of the fees back via statement credits. Unfortunately, that’s more work for the consumer.

Amex continues to go the way of coupon-book-style statement credits for its lineup of cards, and frankly, we’re not sure if cardholders want to deal with their complexities. With unlimited visits to Sky Clubs also ending in early 2025, it’s harder to justify the sky-high annual fees on the Delta Reserve and Delta Reserve Business cards.