Is It Worth Having Multiple Delta Amex Cards?

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. (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.

More MQM Bonuses

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

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 Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card 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).

But if you have, say the Delta SkyMiles Business Reserve Amex for your business purchases and a consumer Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex 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).

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.

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

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.

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:

• 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.

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.

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)