If you’re angling for a Delta Air Lines credit card specifically, you’ll need to figure out which tier of benefits you want to have — and what kind of annual fee it requires.
The right Delta credit card can be different from one person to the next based on factors like frequency of travel and preferred benefits. Here’s a rundown of steps that can help narrow down your options.
1. Determine which benefits you're likely to use
Delta credit cards are packed with benefits, like free checked bags and companion benefits, but many also have high annual fees. You should weed through the benefits and decide which ones make the annual fee worth it for you.
For example, if you fly just a few times a year, the free checked bag benefit on the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card might be useful. If you’re a more frequent Delta flyer, you might get your money’s worth out of premium benefits such as the Delta Sky Club passes on the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card.
While the Delta cards include several statement credits that can contribute to the card’s value, you’ll need to take a close look at the offer terms to decide if you can take full advantage of them. For example, the rideshare credit (enrollment required) is doled out in up to $10 monthly increments. So it’s only worth it if you use rideshare services frequently.
2. Estimate how much those benefits are worth to you
Next, you should estimate how much the benefits are worth to you, based on your travel patterns.
As an example, let’s say you fly round-trip with Delta an average of four times per year and fly with your partner and two kids around half the time:
- The checked bag benefit on the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card could be worth up to $700 for the four flights you take within a cardmember year.
- However, you could also use the companion certificate on the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card to save money on a companion fare for your partner. You might estimate that it will save you around $400 on a domestic flight with the taxes and fees subtracted.
- You could use the lounge access benefit on the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card for five Sky Club visits. Since you get four guest passes per year, you can bring your family into the lounge for one visit. Plus, you would get four visits on your two solo trips. Since you will use one-third of your passes, you may decide that the lounge access benefit is worth a third of its value for you (~$250).
What are Delta miles worth? Our
internal valuations for airline miles show that Delta SkyMiles are worth an average of $0.011 in 2025. This makes them less valuable than miles from most other airlines, including miles from American, Southwest and United.
3. Subtract the annual fee
Using the same examples above, you should subtract the annual fee from the value of the benefits for the cards to decide which is best for you.
For the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, you would get $550 in value on free checked bags with the annual fee subtracted:
$700 in free checked bags – annual fee ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150.) = $550 per year in value
For the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, you get an even higher $750 value with the companion fee factored in:
$700 in free checked bags + $400 savings on companion fare = $1,100 – $350 annual fee = $750 per year in value
You’d get a lower $700 value for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card with its $650 annual fee subtracted:
$700 in free checked bags + $400 savings on companion fare + $250 Delta SkyClub access = $1,350 – $650 annual fee = $700 per year in value
Of course, this value doesn’t take into account the rewards you earn, including the card’s welcome offer.
4. Choose the card with the best overall value
In the end, you should go with the Delta SkyMiles card that has the perks you’re willing to pay for. This may mean going with a premium Delta credit card with all the bells and whistles, but it could also mean going with the lowest tier card that lets you get free checked bags (Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card) to score some basic savings.
For the above example, you might decide that the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card is the best choice for you. Though you only fly a few times a year, the companion certificate may justify paying the higher annual fee for the card.