American Express today has launched awesome temporary perks for most of their airline and hotel co-branded cards. In this post I’ll highlight the perks available to Delta cardholders. In separate posts I’ve covered perks for Marriott and Hilton cardholders:
- Hilton cards: Enhancements for 2021 (dining, wireless, and spend bonuses)
- Marriott Amex cards: Enhancements for 2021 (dining, wireless, and spend bonuses)
Most of the perks listed below should be found when you log into your Amex account, select your Delta card and scroll down to view “Amex Offers & Benefits” (or, on mobile, click the tab labelled “Offers”).
Note that, except for the status boost offers, the following offers are only for those who’s accounts were active as of January 1, 2021.
The Amex Press Release regarding these offers can be found here.
Restaurant Rebates
Each Delta consumer card is offering a monthly rebate for spend at U.S. Restaurants, as follows:
- Delta Reserve: $20 per month
- Delta Platinum: $15 per month
- Delta Gold: $10 per month
Simply use your card for restaurant spend each month in the U.S. and you should receive the rebate automatically. These offers will work for dine-in, take out, or delivery.
Eligibility for this offer is limited. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.
Cell Phone Service Rebates
Each Delta business card is offering a monthly rebate for U.S. wireless telephone services (e.g. cell phone service):
- Delta Reserve Business: $20 per month
- Delta Platinum Business: $15 per month
- Delta Gold Business: $10 per month
Use your card to pay towards your cell phone service each month in order to earn $10, $15, or $20 back.
Eligibility for this offer is limited. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.
Delta Spend 5X
Eligible Consumer and Business Delta SkyMiles® Gold, Platinum and Reserve cardholders can earn 5X miles on eligible Delta purchases through December 31, 2021. Since Delta cards natively earn either 2X or 3X on Delta spend, this offer shows up as either “Earn 2 additional miles per dollar spent on Delta purchases” or “Earn 3 additional miles per dollar spent on Delta purchases.” Either way, you end up with a total of 5 miles per dollar on Delta spend.
Eligibility for this offer is limited. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.
Status Boosts
Delta Platinum and Delta Reserve cards are offering 25% more MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Miles) towards elite status this year with big spend. Unlike the other offers in this post, you do not need to enroll in this one. Also, this offer is valid for new cardholders, not just those who have had their card since January 1st.
- Delta Platinum and Delta Platinum Business. For each $25K of calendar year spend (up to $50K), earn 12,500 MQMs in 2021 (usual: 10K MQMs).
- Delta Reserve and Delta Reserve Business. For each $30K of calendar year spend (up to $120K), earn 18,750 MQMs in 2021 (usual: 15K MQMs)
More details can be found here: Delta boosts elite status boosts for 2021
My Take
The restaurant and wireless rebates are like free money for most of us. Yes, it requires a tiny bit of work to make sure to use them each month but still… it’s easy money. One exception is for Verizon customers who get a $10 monthly discount by auto-paying via debit card or bank account.
The 5X offer for Delta spend is nice, but hardly newsworthy for most of us. How much Delta spend does anyone expect to do this year? Plus, some ultra-premium cards offer 5X transferable points for airfare. I’d much rather earn transferable points than Delta miles.
The Status Boost offer is also a nice addition for those spending their way to Delta elite status. I would have liked to see more than a 25% boost on these boosts, but it’s still much better than nothing.
