The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express is a good starting option for business owners that fly Delta at least a few times per year.
The card offers nice benefits such as a free first-checked bag and priority boarding for the primary cardholder and up to eight travel companions on the same Delta reservation.
This article will cover everything you need to know about the Delta Gold Business card, so let’s dive right in.
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- 2X SkyMiles on Delta, U.S. Advertising, U.S. Shipping Purchases, and Restaurants worldwide (including takeout & delivery in the U.S.)
- Free First Checked Bag on Delta Flights
- Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding
- 20% Statement Credit for Delta In-Flight Purchases
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- $0 Intro Annual Fee for the First Year, Then $99 Per Year (Rates & Fees)
Welcome Bonus
The Delta Gold Business Amex currently offers the following welcome bonus:
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Earning SkyMiles
With the Delta Gold Business Amex, you’ll earn Delta SkyMiles on purchases charged to your card as follows:
- 2 SkyMiles per dollar on purchases made with Delta.
- 2 SkyMiles per dollar at restaurants worldwide.
- 2 SkyMiles per dollar on U.S. shipping.
- 2 SkyMiles per dollar on U.S. advertising in select media.
- 1 SkyMiles per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
Spending on Delta includes flight reservations, seat upgrades and selection, Delta Vacation packages, Delta Sky Club memberships or passes, inflight meals and beverages, and audio headsets. However, it does not include spending on in-flight WiFi.
Annual Fee
The Delta Gold Business Amex has a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99 thereafter.
This allows you to test out this card risk-free to see if you can offset the annual fee with the benefits such as free first-checked bag, priority boarding, a 15% award discount, and travel and purchase protections.
Card Benefits on Delta Air Lines
The Delta Gold Business Amex offers some nice benefits when you fly Delta:
Free First Checked Bag
This Delta card gets you a first checked bag free for you and up to eight companions traveling with you on your reservation on a Delta or Delta Connection flight.
This helps save you $30 per person one-way or $60 round-trip for a single traveler, or $240 for a family of four round-trip.
You also don’t have to pay for your flight with your Delta Amex, unlike United co-branded credit cards. All you need is your SkyMiles number your reservation.
Priority Boarding
You can enjoy Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding on Delta flights, which is Group 5 in the boarding process.
This allows you to board before most of the main cabin customers and secure a overhead bin for your carry-on bag.
This benefit also applies to up to eight travel companions on the same reservation.
20% Back on In-Flight Purchases
You can get 20% back as a statement credit for eligible prepurchased meals and inflight purchases of food, alcoholic beverages and audio headsets on Delta-operated flights. However, it does not apply to Wi-Fi purchases.
Pay With Miles
Delta SkyMiles credit cards unlock the ability to ability to “Pay with Miles” allowing cardmembers to pay for flights with SkyMiles at a rate of 1.0 cents per mile (in increments of 5,000 miles per $50).
It’s not the best deal for your SkyMiles, but it does allow you to earn elite miles for those flights.
Potential $100 Delta Flight Credit
You can earn a $100 Delta Flight credit when you spend $10,000 or more in a calendar year.
Travel and Purchase Protections
The Delta Gold Business Amex also offers the following travel and purchase protections:
Secondary Rental Car Insurance*
Secondary rental car insurance covers any damage to or theft of a rental car not covered by your primary insurance when you pay for the rental using this card.
Other credit cards offer primary rental car insurance, which pays before your insurance and saves you the hassle of filing multiple insurance claims.
You still need to maintain liability car insurance to cover damage to another person or property.
Purchase Protection*
Purchase protection could save you a lot of money if you bought an eligible item that is damaged or stolen within 90-days.
For example, if you accidentally dropped your new phone or laptop and broke the screen, you could file a claim to get it replaced if the item was purchased within the last 90 days.
Extended Warranty*
Credit card extended warranty protection adds up to an additional year of coverage for eligible purchases on manufacturer’s warranties up to 5 years.
For example, if you bought a TV with a manufacturer’s warranty of three years, this card would extend the warranty for free to the fourth year.
Baggage Insurance*
Baggage insurance covers the cost to repair or replace your luggage and the contents inside if your bag is lost or damaged during a covered trip.
You must purchase the trip with this card, and it will also cover immediate family members traveling with you.
*(Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions, and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/
Other Card Benefits
Below are the other benefits of the Delta Gold Business Amex:
No Foreign Transaction Fees
This card has no foreign transaction fees on purchases outside the U.S., which is helpful if you travel internationally to help you avoid paying a 3% fee on those international purchases.
Access to Amex Offers
This card has access to Amex Offers, which are deals that are linked to your card, allowing you to save money or earn extra points on shopping, dining, and travel.
For example, there could be an offer such as spending $200+ at Marriott Hotels and Resorts and receiving $50 cash back as a statement credit.
You can find all of your Amex Offers by signing into your American Express account. You will need to “Add to Card” each offer to be eligible for the special offer.
Redeeming SkyMiles
Delta no longer publishes an award chart for its SkyMiles program. Award flights are instead priced dynamically based on many factors, including routes, travel dates, airline partners, and how far in advance you book the flight.
It is generally very difficult for people to get outsized value when using SkyMiles for business class, like many other points programs, but here’s a few of my recommended ways to redeem SkyMiles:
- Domestic economy flights starting as low as 4,500 SkyMiles.
- Booking one of Delta’s occasional flash sales.
- Flights to Canada on WestJet starting as low as 4,500 SkyMiles.
- Virgin Atlantic to London in Upper Class for 120,000 SkyMiles each way.
- Air France Business Class to Paris for 120,000 SkyMiles each way.
- LATAM Economy Class from the U.S. to South America starting at 25,000 SkyMiles each way.
Pros and Cons
Here’s a quick overview of this card’s advantages and disadvantages:
Pros
- First checked bag free and priority boarding for the primary cardholder and up to 8 travel companions on Delta flights.
- SkyMiles discount when redeeming for flights.
- Travel and purchase protections
Cons
- No one-time airport lounge passes like the United℠ Business Card.
- Only 2x SkyMiles on Delta flights.
Alternative Cards to the Delta Gold Business
Now that you know about the pros and cons of this card and its benefits, it’s time to review the alternatives.
Or, if you are like me, who loves to maximize my rewards, here are other cards you should add to your wallet in addition to this card:
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review) is an outstanding choice for business owners who want airport lounge access including the American Express Global Lounge Collection, Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, Escape Lounges, Priority Pass lounges, and more.
The Business Platinum card also offers several statement credits to offset the $695 annual fee:
- $200 Airline Fee: Annual airline fee credit of up to $200 on charges by the airline you select per calendar year.
- $400 Dell: Annual statement credit on all U.S. Dell purchases, up to $200 semiannually.
- $120 Wireless Phone Services: Annual statement credits for purchases made directly with any U.S. wireless telephone provider, up to $10 per month.
- $189 CLEAR® Plus Credit: Breeze through security with CLEAR® Plus at 45+ airports nationwide and get up to $189 back per year on your membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Business Platinum Card.
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck: Statement credits for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) every four years (4.5 years for PreCheck).
You can also earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and prepaid hotels on amextravel.com, and 1.5x points on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else, on up to $2 million of these purchases per calendar year
The American Express Business Platinum comes with automatic Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold so that you can enjoy perks like room upgrades, late check-out, and a points bonus.
Additionally, the points you earn can be transferred to several Amex transfer partners such as Air Canada Aeroplan, Delta SkyMiles, and Marriott Bonvoy. This potentially increases the value of your points depending on how you redeem them.
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
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- 3X SkyMiles on Direct Purchases with Delta and Hotels
- Free First Checked Bag and Priority Boarding
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck Credit
- $250 Annual Fee and No Foreign Transaction Fees (Rates & Fees)
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express (review) is a good choice for small business owners who fly Delta. It comes with travel perks such as first free checked bags, Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding, a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate, and 20% statement credit for in-flight purchases of food and drinks.
For a $250 annual fee, this business card earns 3x SkyMiles on Delta purchases and qualifying purchases made directly with hotels.
This card also earns more miles on big purchases with 1.5 miles per dollar on single eligible purchases of $5,000 or more (that’s an extra half mile per dollar), up to 50,000 additional miles per year.
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
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- 3X Points on Travel, Shipping, Advertising (Social Media and Search Engines), Internet, Cable, and Phone on the First $150,000 Each Account Year
- 25% Additional Points Value in Travel Redemption
- Primary Rental Car Insurance
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
- Cell Phone Protection
- Purchase Protection and Extended Warranty
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- $95 Annual Fee
The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (review) is an excellent choice for business owners looking for a card that offers valuable rewards and benefits.
With this card, you’ll earn:
- 3 points per $1 spent on travel, shipping purchases, internet, cable, phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines (up to $150,000 in combined purchases per account anniversary year).
- 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases, with no limit on the number of points you can earn.
Beyond the rewards, the Ink Business Preferred provides valuable benefits, including:
- Primary rental car insurance (when renting for business purposes).
- Cell phone protection (up to $600 per claim against theft or damage, with a maximum of three claims per year and a $100 deductible per claim).
- Purchase and extended warranty protection.
Is the Delta Business Gold Worth It?
The Delta Gold Business Amex is worth it if you can take advantage of the benefits like first free checked bags, priority boarding, and the award discount.
If you are looking for Delta SkyClub access, you should also consider adding The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review).
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- 2X SkyMiles on Delta, U.S. Advertising, U.S. Shipping Purchases, and Restaurants worldwide (including takeout & delivery in the U.S.)
- Free First Checked Bag on Delta Flights
- Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding
- 20% Statement Credit for Delta In-Flight Purchases
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- $0 Intro Annual Fee for the First Year, Then $99 Per Year (Rates & Fees)
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, please click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please click here.
