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Is It Worth Having Multiple Delta Amex Cards?

Chris Carley by Chris Carley
March 24, 2021
in Credit Cards
4
Delta SkyMiles American Express Reserve and Platinum cards
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc. has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Eye of the Flyer and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.


The fairly substantial Delta American Express cards welcome offers have inspired some people to apply for their first Delta Amexes. Meanwhile, this is far from the first rodeo for others — who are adding yet another Delta Amex to their stables.

Is holding multiple Delta Amexes a good idea? Let’s examine five reasons to have multiple Delta Amexes — and five reasons to maybe reconsider or pursue another credit card.

Reasons to Have More Than One Delta American Express Card

Multiple Companion Certificates

Four Delta American Express products give cardholders one annual Companion Certificate starting the second year of membership.

  • Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card 
  • Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
  • Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
  • Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card

These entitle cardholders to, essentially, a buy-one-get-one-almost-free (taxes and surcharges apply) on certain Delta roundtrips. Terms apply. (Here’s our deep dive into Companion Certificates.)

If you travel with a companion rather frequently, it’s pretty easy to find a qualifying trip to which you can apply your certificate. That can offset your annual fee — and then some.

RELATED: Delta Companion Certificate: What’s the Best Amex Card to Buy the Paid Ticket?

So it’s possible to save money while holding one — or several — of the Delta Amexes that have the Companion Certificate benefit.

A Delta Air Lines 737-900ER, tail number N815DN, is seen from the Detla Sky Club at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in Seattle, Washington.

More MQM Bonuses

Those same four premium Delta Amex cards offering Companion Certificates also award bonus MQM to members who reach certain spending thresholds. (Terms apply.)

The Delta Reserve Amexes — both personal and business — allow cardholders to hit four “Status Boost” thresholds. So if you spend a lot of money on your credit cards and crave Medallion status, then it definitely may be worth your holding multiple cards.

RELATED: Comparing All Four Delta American Express Credit Cards [Personal/Consumer]

The card_name and Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card allow only two MQM bonuses per card. So, again, if you want to score a bunch of MQM through credit card spending, getting a couple of different premium Delta Amex cards could be worth your while.

Reach the MQM Waiver in a More Timely Fashion

Spending across select Delta Amexes pools toward your MQD waiver. But keep in mind that purchases on the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card and both flavors of the Delta Gold Amex do not count toward the MQM waiver unless you have one of the premium cards (Delta Platinum or Reserve). Terms apply.

But if you have, say the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card for your business purchases and a consumer Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card for your personal charges, those can work in tandem simultaneously to get you toward the $25,000 threshold (or $250,000 if you’re pursuing Diamond).

a plane flying over a beach

Different Bonus Point Categories

Like every other credit card, Delta Amexes aren’t created equal when it comes to bonus point categories.

For example, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Credit Card awards 3X total SkyMiles on purchases made directly with hotels. The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card offers just one SkyMile/point.

So if you want to earn a bunch of SkyMiles across an array of bonus categories, then it might do you well to have multiple Delta Amexes.Terms apply.

RELATED: The Three Delta Business Amex Cards: Comparing and Contrasting

a man and woman standing on a beach with a plane flying above them

Reasons to Not Hold Multiple Delta Amex Cards

Delta Reserve MQM Bonus

Back in the olden days (read: 2019 and earlier), the Delta Reserve cards (personal and business) both topped out at 30,000 bonus MQM for $60,000 spent each calendar year. But last year, those thresholds were raised to 60,000 MQM ($120,000 in spending) for both cards.

So if you held both personal and business Reserve cards because you wanted max out your MQM bonuses, you may have discovered that one of your cards was no longer needed after the 60k/$120k adjustment. So figure out your realistic MQM goals — and how much you can reasonably afford.

Delta Reserve Card from American Express
Learn how to apply for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card

Overlapping Benefits

With the exception of the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, all the Delta Amexes — consumer/personal and business — boast the same suite of Delta travel-related benefits (terms apply to all):

  • 20% on-board purchases
  • Free first checked bag
  • Main Cabin 1 boarding
  • Pay With Miles eligibility

Being the primary cardholder on multiple Delta Amexes doesn’t afford you any more of those perks.

Delta Air Lines Flight Fuel Protein Box premium snack.

Better Points-Earning Opportunities on Other Cards

When it comes to everyday spending, you’re much better off with an American Express® Membership Rewards® card such as the American Express® Gold Card or American Express® Green Card. Those points can be transferred to your SkyMiles account at a 1:1 ratio. Or you can use them to pay for travel booked through Amex Travel — and earn SkyMiles on top of that.

The American Express® Gold Card earns 4X on U.S. Supermarket purchases (up to $25,000 in spending each year) and 4X on dining at restaurants and delivery. Plus, it hauls in 3X on purchases made directly with airlines — and that’s on par with what the Delta Amexes earn.

The American Express® Green Card, meanwhile, brings in 3X on dining and travel.

Annual Fees

Again, Delta SkyMiles Blue American Express Card (See Rates and Fees) excepted, each of the Delta Amex cards carry annual fees ranging from $99 to $550.

  • Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: $550 (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: $550 (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: $250 (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card: $250 (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card: $99 (waived the first year) (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card: $99 (waived the first year) (See Rates and Fees)

Those annual fees can really add up — especially if you don’t take advantage of the card benefits.

But if you use those perks, then you’ll quite likely recoup the annual fees — and then some.

Four credit cards earns bonus Delta MQM when you reach certain spending thresholds: The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Cardfrom American Express The Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express and Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card. The Track Your Status Boost counter on Amex’s website displays how much you need to spend in order to reach a certain tier.

They Take Up Space in Your Amex Portfolio

American Express allows members to hold up to four credit cards at a time. That’s a combination of business and personal cards.

So if you have, say, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, and Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card cards, then you’ve caught your limit. You’re not eligible to get something like the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express or one of the Hilton or Marriott cards (just for example) — unless you cancel one of your Delta Amexes.

Final Approach

There are pros and cons to holding multiple Delta American Express cards. Whether or not you should pretty much comes down to welcome offers, MQM goals, and Companion Certificate usage.

If you’re a Delta fanatic, it might be worth having more than one Delta Amex. But keep in mind some other Amex cards are more effective when it comes to earning points.

Just make sure that whatever you decide works for your travel goals and your budget.

 

To see the rates and fees for the American Express cards featured above, please visit the following links:

  • Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card (See Rates and Fees)
  • Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express Card (See Rates and Fees)
  • Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express (See Rates and Fees)
  • American Express® Green Card (See Rates and Fees)
  • American Express® Gold Card (See Rates and Fees)
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc. has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Eye of the Flyer and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.


Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Related

Tags: American ExpressAmerican Express Business CardsAmerican Express Consumer CardsCRDelta Air LinesDelta SkyMiles
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Chris Carley

Chris Carley

Chris Carley is the owner, editor, and lead writer of Eye of the Flyer (formerly known as Rene's Points).

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Comments 4

  1. potcake says:
    3 years ago

    >American Express allows members to hold up to four credit cards at a time<

    As a data point, I have five (4 personal + 1 business) Amex cards.

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      3 years ago

      I do, too. I think that’s a new rule and a bunch of us were grandfathered in. Thanks for the comment and adding that!

      Reply
  2. Nina Behnia Zerman says:
    2 years ago

    I just spoke with Amex and they said they will not combine their Delta MQM promotional points into one Delta SkyMiles account. This defeats everything that I am reading in your article above.

    Reply
    • Chris Carley says:
      2 years ago

      What specific question did you ask the rep?

      Reply

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