Delta Gold and Delta Platinum cards now have enhanced 50K, 60K, and 70K offers through 10/28. Offers like these are fairly common so I wouldn’t drop everything to apply now, but if you were looking to pick up a Delta card, now is a good time.
Current offers
Here are the current offers for both the consumer and business versions of each of the Gold and Platinum Delta cards from American Express:
Should you apply?
While the offers are 50K and higher, this is a decent time to apply. Note that sometimes Amex includes a statement credit for Delta spend with their welcome bonuses (usually $50 for the Gold cards and $100 for Platinum cards). If you’re not in a rush to get Delta miles, you might want to wait to see if an offer like that returns.
Which should you get?
The business cards have an advantage in that they don’t add to your 5/24 count. So if you were hoping to sign up for Chase cards in the near future, the business Amex cards won’t hurt that objective. For details about 5/24, see this post.
If you’re looking long term, you may prefer a Platinum card over a Gold card. If you’re a regular Delta flyer and you value the Delta Platinum card’s annual companion ticket and/or the ability to earn MQMs through spend, then the Platinum card probably makes sense to you. See: Delta Platinum complete guide. If you only fly Delta occasionally, a Gold card may make sense for its free checked bag benefit and lower annual fee.
Are you eligible?
In most cases with Amex, if you’ve had the same card before, you can’t get a welcome bonus when signing up. Consider, though, that each variation of Delta card is considered a different product. Over time, it’s possible for you to earn the welcome bonus on all of the following cards since each one is a separate product:
Here are additional Amex application tips:
Amex Application Tips
- Safe to Apply: Amex is the safest bank for trying your luck at a new welcome bonus. They don’t usually issue a hard pull when denying your application. Plus, they’ll now warn you during the application process if you’re not eligible for the bonus.
- Lifetime Rule: If you’ve ever had the same card before, you are most likely prohibited from getting a welcome bonus for the card if you apply now. Fortunately you’ll be warned during the application process if this is the case. Amex is known to “forget” that you’ve had a card after about 7 years.
- 5/90 Rule: In general, you can get at most one credit card within 5 days and 2 within 90 days. The 5 day limit is not enforced when your applications are automatically approved. Neither rule is enforced for charge cards.
- 5 credit card max:Amex usually won’t approve applications for new credit cards if you already have 4 or more Amex credit cards or 10 or more charge cards.
- Better Offers: You may be able to get a better offer than the best available public offer. Details here.
- Hard inquiries combine into 1 when approved same day
Check application status here.
If denied, call reconsideration: 877-399-3083 (new accountholders); 866-314-0237 (current accountholders)
How to meet minimum spend requirements
In order to meet minimum spend requirements, people often look for options to increase spend in ways that result in getting their money back. These techniques are referred to as “manufacturing spend”. American Express has terms in their welcome offers that exclude some manufactured spend techniques from counting towards the minimum spend requirements for the welcome bonus. For example, most new cardmember bonuses have terms like this:
Eligible purchases to meet the Threshold Amount of this offer do NOT include fees or interest charges, balance transfers, cash advances, purchase of travelers checks, purchase or reloading of prepaid cards, purchases of gift cards, person-to-person payments, or other cash equivalents.
That said, many techniques for meeting minimum spend are perfectly fine. Here are some techniques that are safe for meeting Amex minimum spend requirements (click each link for more information):
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