Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card – Review

The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card combines the travel benefits of a travel rewards credit card with the business-friendly features and spending power of a business credit card. With a $99 annual fee (waived in the first year), this card is geared toward business owners who take enough Delta flights to offset its ongoing cost.

Delta SkyMiles Gold Business earns an unlimited 2 points per $1 spent on all eligible Delta purchases, including airfare and incidentals, plus U.S. advertising purchases in select media, U.S. shipping purchases, and restaurant purchases. All other eligible purchase earn an unlimited 1 SkyMile per $1 spent. You can redeem accumulated SkyMiles for Delta airfare purchases and merchandise listed for sale at the SkyMiles MarketPlace.

This card competes with a number of other travel-focused business credit cards, including Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard and Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card. It also competes with general-purpose business rewards cards that have travel rewards components, including Chase Ink Business Preferred, and the American Express Blue Business Cash Card.

Delta SkyMiles Gold Business is very similar to American Express’s consumer Delta SkyMiles Gold card. If you don’t own your own business, the consumer card is a better option.

Key Features

The key features of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business card include a generous rewards program and ongoing benefits for Delta frequent flyers.

Welcome Offer

Earn 50,000 bonus miles and a $50 statement credit after spending $2,000 in purchases with your new card in the first 3 months.

Earning Delta SkyMiles

Earn 2 Delta SkyMiles for every $1 spent on eligible purchases made directly with Delta and for select other purchases:

• U.S. advertising in select media
• U.S. shipping
• Dining out at restaurants

Earn 1 SkyMile for every eligible $1 spent on all other eligible purchases.

Redeeming Delta SkyMiles

You can redeem your accumulated SkyMiles for Delta airfare. Redemption thresholds start at 10,000 SkyMiles for some domestic economy one-ways, and 12,500 SkyMiles for a broader range of domestic flights with more flexible travel dates. However, Delta’s redemption tables are somewhat variable, and certain travel dates and times may require more SkyMiles (for instance, peak-season weekend flights versus off-season weekday flights to popular vacation destinations).

Point values generally fall between $0.005 to $0.02 at redemption, but can vary somewhat on either side. You can also redeem your SkyMiles for merchandise, gift cards, and special experiences (such as musical performances), at the Delta SkyMiles MarketPlace. SkyMiles are typically worth significantly less than $0.01 apiece when redeemed at the MarketPlace, but minimum redemption thresholds are lower – in the 2,000-mile range.

Delta Travel Benefits

This card has some nice Delta travel benefits. These include priority boarding in Main Cabin 1, a free checked bag, and a $100 Delta flight voucher after you spend $10,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year.

Additional Business Benefits

This card has a nice lineup of non-travel benefits. These include:

• Expense tagging and tracking with convenient categories
• Digital receipt storage
• The ability to assign a trusted employee as your designated account manager (which includes dispute resolution privileges)

Important Fees

The $99 annual fee is waived for the first year. There is never a foreign transaction fee. Cash advances cost the greater of $5 or 3%, while late and returned payments both cost up to $39.

For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, please visit this rates and fees page.

Credit Required

This card requires good to excellent credit.

Advantages

The top advantages of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business card include generous airfare redemption values and no foreign transaction fees.

1. Generous Airfare Redemption Values. While it’s important to remember that point values can vary at redemption based on factors such as time, date, season, and demand, SkyMiles tend to be worth a decent amount: at least $0.005, and sometimes as much or more than $0.02. Compared to Chase Ink Business Preferred‘s flat $0.0125 travel redemption point value, that can be a good deal.
2. Good Welcome Offer. This card’s welcome offer is very generous – a nice boost to SkyMiles earnings during the first year of cardmembership.
3. No Foreign Transaction Fee. This card doesn’t come with a foreign transaction fee. That’s a nice perk relative to other popular business cards with travel rewards.

Disadvantages

The main downsides of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business card include a high annual fee and limitations on airfare rewards and redemption options.

1. Has an Annual Fee. This card has a $99 annual fee after the first year. Many popular business rewards cards have lower annual fees or none at all.
2. Airfare Rewards and Redemption Exclusive to Delta and Partners. When it comes to travel redemptions, this card is a bit restrictive. You can’t redeem accumulated SkyMiles for non-Delta, non-partner airfare, which is a serious inconvenience if you live near an airport that’s better served by other airlines. General-purpose business travel rewards cards, such as Capital One Spark Miles and Chase Ink Business Preferred, have no restrictions of this nature.
3. SkyMiles MarketPlace Slashes SkyMile Values. When redeemed for Delta airfare, SkyMiles hold their value well against the competition. However, their worth takes a serious hit when redeemed for general merchandise and other items at the SkyMiles MarketPlace. Unless you have a surfeit of accumulated SkyMiles and no plans to travel for the foreseeable future, it’s not advisable to waste your points at the MarketPlace. And, if you find yourself in that situation, it’s likely better to stop using your SkyMiles Business card altogether. American Express’s Membership Rewards program – which counts Blue Business Plus, Business Green Rewards from American Express, and Business Gold Rewards from American Express as participants – has much more reasonable redemption values.
4. No Automatic Airline Loyalty Benefits. This card doesn’t get you any closer to preferred or frequent flyer status with Delta. This is a drawback for frequent Delta travelers and a disadvantage relative to competing business rewards cards – including the Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card.
5. Points Accumulate Slowly on Most Non-Delta Purchases. This card earns just 1 SkyMile per $1 spent on eligible non-Delta purchases other than purchases of U.S. advertising in select media, U.S. shipping, and dining out at restaurants. Assuming you value the points similarly, that’s a slower rate than Capital One Spark Miles for Business, which earns an unlimited 2 points per $1 spent on all purchases.

Final Word

Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card is a great credit card for business owners who prefer Delta, live near airports served by Delta, and who fly frequently to destinations served by Delta. This describes a fairly wide swathe of the U.S. entrepreneurial population – but not everyone.

If you routinely fly out of another airline’s hub, another airline-specific business credit card is likely to be a better fit. And, if you’re one of the millions of business owners who don’t need to fly frequently, it’s worth considering a different type of business credit card altogether – perhaps one with a broader rewards program.

Need more ideas? Check out our credit card reviews page to learn about dozens of popular credit cards from Amex and others.

For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, please visit this rates and fees page.