Category: Credit Cards

Been reading up on several sites and watching some YouTube videos on different schemes with Credit Cards to earn Miles, Points or even Cash back.

• Ask Sebby (Web Site, YouTube)
• The Points Guy (Web Site, YouTube)
• The Credit Shifu (Web Site, YouTube)
• Will Shrop (YouTube )
• Dave Hanson (Web Site, YouTube)
• Jake Broe (YouTube)
• Graham Stephan (Web Site, YouTube)

Looking at my Credit Cards

Many credit cards offer some type of signup offer, either for Miles, Points of cash back depending on a specific spend in the first few months.

Delta Reserve American Express Card

This card has a $550 annual fee, which is justifiable to me if you use the travel benefits.

Travel Benefits:

• MQD Waiver (Spend 25k to get Delta Platinum if you have MQM/MQS)
• Complimentary Delta Sky Club® Access (Costs $545 or 54,500 Sky Miles)
• NEW Complimentary Centurion Lounge® Access (Must be Flying on
• Delta and the Reserve Card or have the Amex Platinum Card)
• Upgrade Priority for Medallion Members (No Value as TYS has way too many Diamonds)
• Companion Pass (Value up to $400+)

I personally have the Delta Reserve card, picked it up in 2015 when I started traveling regularly for work. I use Delta from my regional airport because they were the better carrier flying from their. I usually fly through ATL and use the Sky Club during my layovers usually, but they are generally packed and not a great place to visit during the day mot times.

We have limited flights to larger hubs out of the Knoxville Airport:

Delta	AA	United	Allegiant	Frontier
ATL	CLT	ORD	DIA	DIA
DTW	DFW	IAH	SFB	MCO
MSP	ORD	DIA	PIE
LGA	DCA	IAD	FLL
	PHL	EWR	PBI
	MIA		LAS
			EWR

I used the American Express Centurion lounge in CLT just after it opened, and it was a lavish place with excellent food options. CLT is not a major hub for Delta so they do not have a Sky Club lounge so the Centurion Lounge is nice to have.

Centurion Lounges (as of 3/5/2020)

Current Locations:	Comming Soon:
CLT	DEN
DFW	JFK
HKG	LAX
LAS	LHR
LGA
MIA
PHL
PHX
SEA
SFO

So the addition of the Centurion Lounge access to my Delta Reserve Card got me to looking at the American Express Platinum card. They both have the $550 annual fee, and have similar features.

American Express Platinum Card

Travel Benefits:
Lounge Access: (Worth $550 to me as Sky Club is $545 and the others are worth $5+ for sure)

• Centurion Lounges
• American Express International Lounges
• Delta Sky Club lounges (when flying Delta)
• Priority Pass Select membership (not including restaurants)
• Escape Lounges
• Airspace Lounge (SFO)

Up to $200 in Uber credits each year (Might use some of this so $100 value)
Up to $200 airline fee credit (Might be worth $200 value)
Up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credit each year (Not sure I would ever use it)
Marriott Gold and Hilton Gold status (No Value to me currently)

Comparing Amex Platinum vs Delta Reserve (the Points Guy)

	The Platinum Card from American Express	Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card
Welcome bonus	60,000 points after you spend $5,000 in purchases in your first three months. Terms apply.	80,000 miles and 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $5,000 in purchases in your first three months An additional 20,000 bonus miles after your first card membership anniversary. Terms apply.
Earning rates	5x on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel 5x on prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com 1x on everything else	3x on eligible purchases with Delta 1x on everything else
TPG’s valuation of points/miles	2 cents each	1.2 cents each
Annual fee	$550	$550
Foreign transaction fees	None	None
Lounge access	Access to many lounges through the American Express Global Lounge Collection including: Centurion Lounges American Express International Lounges Delta Sky Club lounges (when flying Delta) Priority Pass Select membership (not including restaurants) Escape Lounges Airspace Lounge (SFO)	Access to Delta Sky Club lounges (when flying Delta) Two, one-time guest passes for the Delta Sky Club (when flying Delta) Access to Centurion Lounges (when flying Delta)
Other standout benefits	Up to $200 in Uber credits each year Up to $200 airline fee credit Up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credit each year Marriott Gold and Hilton Gold status Access to Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit every 4-4.5 years	Domestic First Class, Delta Comfort+ or Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your card Status Boost, which allows you to earn MQMs through spending on your card First checked bag free, priority boarding, inflight savings and access to complimentary upgrades on Delta Medallion qualification dollar waiver

So looking over the two cards, with the Delta Reserve I am locked into flying with Delta to get the most benefit from the card, but If I switched to the Amex Platinum I could use any airline to get benefits and can transfer my points to any airline I want to use. Amex Platinum could give more lounge access privileges depending on who I fly with and where I am traveling to. As I only get access to lounges at layovers and day of departure locations with either card. I do have Priority Pass Lounge access (10 passes a year) from my Hilton Surpass card.

I guess the biggest drawback from the Amex Platinum is that it will make it harder to gain status on any one airline, being I have been Delta Diamond the past 2 years, and Platinum for about 2 years before that. I think I made United Silver once and that was with Marriott Platinum status before the merger.

I also would not use the Amex Platinum to book hotels as I already have the Hilton Surpass card and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card (Referral Link). They both get me better points options when booking at the hotels directly. Plus the Marriott gives me 15 night credit towards my status. I am currently lifetime Silver with Marriott and just need about 100 nights to make lifetime Gold. About 2 more years and 300 nights to make Lifetime Platinum as well, Hilton I have about 5 years as they did not credit me some previous years as Diamond status for some reason. I have about 5 years and 500 nights accumulated so in another 5 years and 500 nights I will make Lifetime Diamond with Hilton.

I am torn on switching to the Amex Platinum and downgrading my Delta Reserve to another Delta card, or looking at another card to complement my Delta Reserve. Will do some more research and do a follow up post.