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AMEX Gold Delta Skymiles Card vs. Platinum?
I have had the AMEX Gold Delta Skymiles card for about a year and have always turned down the option to upgrade it to the Platinum version. The annual fee goes from $95 to $195 and I’ve noted this time I can get a 15,000 mile bonus (for a $1,000 spend). What is really attracting me is the annual companion certificate that the card includes. Is anyone aware of the catch on this? For the extra $100 I’m used to spending annually this seems like it makes a lot of sense. Thanks!
hi [USER=13]@Travis[/USER] c, welcome. The better offer is usually to get the card outright. That way you get the full bonus (it was recently bumped up to 70,000 miles). You can hold both at the same time. At the end of the year you can close the plat and upgrade your gold card to keep your credit history or just close your gold card if you don’t care. Once you upgrade your gold card to plat you won’t get the sign up bonus for a fresh sign up under current AX rules.
Thanks Gaurav…..I wasn’t even thinking about it from that angle but I like that idea. Any catch in the companion certificate that you are aware of? That seems to be the biggest difference in the two cards. I’ve been fine with the $95 annual fee for what I get in return, but would need to justify the $195 and the companion ticket seems to do that if there isn’t a catch. Thanks!
No catches really. Space needs to be available in LUTXV booking classes in order to book and I think there is a 2 week advance booking requirement. The certificate is only issued at the anniversary so you won’t get it until next year and it’s valid for a year. Only the primary traveler earns miles on the trip, no upgrades even if you are elite, and if you cancel your trip you lose the cert. No other fine print that I can think of, off the top of my head!
Thanks for the input!
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