Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card – Review

The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card is an airline credit card with an incredibly generous rewards program that favors frequent Delta flyers seeking to earn Medallion status and travel in luxury while doing it.

Like the American Express Delta SkyMiles Gold card (and the comparable Delta SkyMiles Gold for Business card), this card earns Delta SkyMiles on all purchases, with accelerated earnings on Delta purchases. Like American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles and Platinum Delta SkyMiles Business, it also earns loyalty currency – Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) – when you reach certain spending thresholds. This makes it ideal for travelers looking to earn Medallion status faster.

This card is a great travel rewards credit card, but it doesn’t come cheap. It has an annual fee of $550, charged from the first year onward. If you’re interested in this card, you need to make sure you use it and its perks often enough – and take to their air with Delta frequently enough – to offset its hefty cost.

What Sets the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card Apart

The Delta SkyMiles Reserve card is a really generous card for serious Delta loyalists. That alone sets it apart — it’s literally the best you can do if your priority is earning Delta status and racking up SkyMiles on every dollar you spend.

We’ll get into the considerable status and SkyMiles benefits in a moment, but this card has some other things going for it that we should note right upfront as well:

• Companion Certificate Each Year After You Renew. Each year after your cardmember anniversary, you’ll receive a companion certificate good for 1 complimentary ticket (less government-imposed taxes and fees) for a traveling companion. Some restrictions apply, but the value here should be self-evident. 
• Complimentary Airport Lounge Access. As a Delta SkyMiles Reserve cardholder, you enjoy complimentary access to Delta Sky Club and Centurion Lounge locations on same-day ticketed travel booked with your card. Enrollment is required.
• Generous Welcome Offer. The welcome offer is subject to change and may not always be available, but rest assured: it’s usually quite generous.

Key Features of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card

These are the key features of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card. They include generous Delta Medallion benefits, complimentary Delta Sky Club and Centurion Lounge access for the primary cardholder, a complimentary companion airfare certificate, and other choice perks.

Welcome Offer

Delta Medallion Program

This card’s most generous benefits revolve around the Delta Medallion status program, which has four tiers: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. Medallion perks are designed to increase comfort and convenience for frequent Delta flyers: complimentary preferred seating and class upgrades, accelerated MQM and SkyMiles earnings, priority boarding, and waived fees (baggage, standby, and others).

Unsurprisingly, benefits become more lavish as tier status increases. For instance, Diamond status comes with 2 Global Entry application vouchers, complimentary Sky Club membership, and Medallion status gifting privileges.

MQMs vs. MQSs vs. MQDs

Before we go any further, let’s review the Medallion program’s three different types of loyalty measurements:

• Medallion Qualification Miles: Also known as MQMs, these are distance miles calculated as a multiple of total flight distance, usually 200% of first class flight distance and 100% of economy flight distance.
• Medallion Qualification Segments: Also known as MQS, a Medallion Qualification Segment is any Delta flight segment between two airports, including direct and connecting flights.
• Medallion Qualification Dollars: MQDs are certain fare dollars spent with Delta, including base fares, surcharges, and some upgrades

Attaining Medallion Status Tiers

To attain higher Medallion loyalty status tiers, you must combine a set number of MQMs or MQSs and MQDs within a single calendar year. Once you reach a Medallion status threshold, you earn Medallion status for the remainder of the current year and the entire year following.

Medallion status thresholds are as follows:

• Silver Medallion status, 25,000 MQMs or 30 MQSs and $3,000 MQDs
• Gold Medallion status, 50,000 MQMs or 60 MQSs and $6,000 MQDs
• Platinum Medallion status, 75,000 MQMs or 100 MQSs and $9,000 MQDs
• Diamond Medallion status, 125,000 MQMs or 140 MQSs and $15,000 MQDs

Earning SkyMiles

This card earns 3 Delta SkyMiles for every $1 spent on Delta purchases (including airfare, lounge passes, in-flight purchases, and other incidental expenditures). All other purchases earn 1 SkyMile per $1 spent, with one exception.

Redeeming SkyMiles

You can redeem your SkyMiles for Delta and partner airline airfare at variable redemption thresholds. Delta’s redemption requirements are subject to change over time, and certain travel times, dates, and destinations (such as high-season flights to popular vacation destinations) are sure to demand additional SkyMiles. Still, this is the best way to maximize your SkyMiles’ value.

Pay With Miles

Delta’s Pay With Miles feature lets you redeem SkyMiles for part of a flight at a flat $0.01-per-point ratio, and then cover the rest of the published fare with cash. For instance, a 10,000-SkyMile Pay With Miles redemption equates to a $100 fare reduction, regardless of route or published fare price.

Other Redemption Options

You can also redeem SkyMiles at the Delta SkyMiles MarketPlace for gift cards, merchandise, and special experiences (such as concerts). However, as MarketPlace redemptions usually value miles at well under $0.01 apiece, MarketPlace redemptions rarely offer good value relative to airfare redemptions. Then again, MarketPlace redemption thresholds are lower than regular award fares or Pay With Miles thresholders – sometimes as low as 2,000 SkyMiles.

Companion Certificate Benefit

When you renew your card at your annual renewal date, you get 1 companion certificate that can be redeemed for 1 domestic first class or economy round-trip flight. The designated companion using the certificate needs to be traveling with the primary cardholder.

To earn the companion certificate, you must purchase your ticket and pay any government taxes and fees on the companion fare with your Delta SkyMiles Reserve credit card.

Complimentary Sky Club and Centurion Lounge Access

As a Delta SkyMiles Reserve cardholder, you enjoy complimentary access to Delta Sky Club and Centurion Lounge airport lounges with same-day ticketed travel booked with your Reserve card. Enrollment is required.

StatusBoost Bonuses

When you spend at least $30,000 on your card (in total purchases) in a calendar year, you receive 15,000 bonus Medallion Qualification Miles. You can earn this benefit up to 4 times each year, for a total of 60,000 bonus MQMs per calendar year.

MQD Waiver With Sufficient Spending

When you spend at least $25,000 in a calendar year with your Reserve card, you no longer have to worry about earning enough MQDs to qualify for a given Medallion status level. Instead, MQMs or MQSs are sufficient. For instance, if you accumulate the 75,000 MQMs necessary for Platinum status, you don’t need the $9,000 MQDs that are normally also required.

Global Entry Application Fee Waiver

Enjoy a waiver of your Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee (payable as a statement credit) with this card.

Delta Travel Benefits

In addition to generous perks such as the annual companion certificate and complimentary Sky Club and Centurion Lounge access, Delta SkyMiles Reserve has some useful fringe benefits for Delta travelers:

• 20% off all in-flight purchases
• Priority boarding
• 1 free checked bag for the cardholder

Important Fees

There is a $550 annual fee, starting in the first year. There is no foreign transaction fee. Balance transfers and cash advances both cost the greater of $5 or 3%.

Credit Required

This card requires excellent credit.

Advantages of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card

This card’s advantages include generous MQM bonuses and MQD waivers, complimentary airport lounge access, and a free companion certificate each year.

• MQM Bonuses Mean Rapid Progress Toward Higher Medallion Statuses. This card’s crowning benefits are the StatusBoost MQM bonuses – up to 60,000 bonus MQMs each year with qualifying spending – and the MQD waiver at $25,000 in annual spending. 30,000 MQMs is more than enough to earn Silver Medallion status, or upgrades from Silver to Gold or from Gold to Platinum.
• So Does the MQD Waiver. Meanwhile, the MQD waiver simplifies the Medallion qualification process by eliminating spending worries. Basically, if you’re a heavy spender and use Reserve as your primary credit card, you’re guaranteed to earn Medallion status (and probably upper-echelon status, if you fly Delta a lot) as long as your account remains open and active.
• Complimentary Sky Club and Centurion Lounge Access for Primary Cardholder. As long as your Reserve card account remains open and in good standing, you enjoy complimentary Delta Sky Club lounge and Centurion Lounge access as the primary cardholder with same-day ticketed travel booked on your Reserve card.
• Companion Certificate Every Year With First-Class Privileges. The Reserve card’s companion certificate can be redeemed for round-trip domestic economy or domestic first class airfare. Depending on the route on which it’s redeemed, this benefit’s value can approach (and may exceed) $1,000, more than covering Reserve’s annual fee. Fellow Amex Delta cards offer 1 free economy companion certificate, but draw the line at first class.
• Solid Welcome Offer. This card’s limited-time welcome offer is among the best in the travel rewards category.
• No Foreign Transaction Fee. Delta SkyMiles Reserve never charges foreign transaction fees. That’s great news for travelers who regularly fly overseas for business or pleasure.

Disadvantages of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card

This card’s drawbacks include its high annual fee and authorized user fee, mediocre rewards on most non-Delta spending, and limitations on SkyMiles redemption.

• Hefty Annual Fee and Authorized User Fee. This card’s $550 annual fee is among the highest in the travel credit card realm. If you’re in a position to meet its annual MQM bonuses and take advantage of its most generous benefits, you’ll more than earn your money’s worth. If not, stay away from this card.
• SkyMiles Accumulate Slowly on Most Non-Delta Spending. This card earns a paltry 1 SkyMile per $1 spent on most non-Delta purchases. This mediocre rate is exceeded by several general purpose cards. That includes the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which costs less than $100 per year. SkyMiles can be worth more than points earned with those two cards, but they’re nowhere near valuable enough to make up the difference after accounting for Reserve’s annual fee.
• Airfare Rewards and Redemption Limited to Delta. SkyMiles earned with this card aren’t super versatile. If you want to redeem them for airfare, you need to do so on routes served by Delta. If you don’t live near a Delta-served airport, or want the flexibility to redeem on another airline (or for hotels, rental cars, and other travel expenses, for that matter), consider a more versatile card such as Chase Sapphire Preferred or Citi ThankYou Premier.
• MarketPlace Redemptions Undervalue SkyMiles. SkyMiles’ earn their keep when redeemed for airfare – they can be worth as much as $0.02 per point, and occasionally even more. By contrast, non-airfare redemptions at the SkyMiles MarketPlace usually value points well under $0.01 apiece. The only reason to redeem for merchandise, gift cards, or experiences at the SkyMiles MarketPlace is to use SkyMiles that you don’t ever plan to redeem for airfare – and if you find yourself earning SkyMiles faster than you can redeem them, it’s probably time to switch cards.

Final Word: Should You Consider the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card?

Delta is a huge airline that serves virtually every major U.S. city and (either directly or through affiliates) dozens of international destinations. It’s likely that you live within easy driving distance of a Delta airport, even if you don’t consider your hometown a Delta hub. If you do, you’re part of Delta SkyMiles Reserve’s target audience – at least in theory.

In practice, however, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card is only appropriate for a small sliver of U.S. consumers: Frequent travelers who can (and wish to) remain loyal to Delta, and who have the ample means and stellar credit to handle this beast of a credit card. If you do not fit the bill, don’t fret – many travel credit cards are less lavish and less expensive, but still plenty generous.

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