Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business AmEx: Delivers for the Delta Devotee

The card's annual companion certificate can offer major value, and its rewards and other perks make flying Delta more pleasant for business travelers.
Claire Tsosie
Gregory Karp
By Gregory Karp and  Claire Tsosie 
Edited by Kenley Young

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Our Take

4.7

NerdWallet rating 
The bottom line:

If you travel often for business and fly Delta, the rewards and perks on this card could easily make up for the annual fee. But if you're not tied to Delta, this might not be a match for you.

Jump to: Full review
Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
Annual fee
$350
Regular APR
20.99%-29.99% Variable APR
Intro APR
N/A
Rec. credit score
690-850 (Good - Excellent)
Apply now

on American Express' website

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • High rewards rate

  • Free checked bag

  • Early boarding

  • Companion benefit

Cons

  • Has annual fee

  • Requires good/excellent credit

Alternate Pick: More luxury
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
NerdWallet rating 
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Lofty benefits, if you can stomach the fee

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express offers 5 points per dollar spent on certain travel purchases, and it features luxury perks like airport lounge access and valuable credits for travel costs. It offers big value, but there's also a big annual fee: $695. Terms apply.

Read our review

Compare to Other Cards

NerdWallet rating 
NerdWallet rating 
Annual fee

$350

Annual fee

$95

Regular APR

20.99%-29.99% Variable APR

Regular APR

21.24%-26.24% Variable APR

Intro APR

N/A

Intro APR

N/A

Recommended Credit Score
Recommended Credit Score
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Full Review

For small-business owners looking for a credit card with Delta Air Lines benefits, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card may glide to the top of the list.

In the family of Delta AmEx business cards, it's the middle option, offering valuable — and in some cases, hard-to-find — travel benefits for an annual fee of $350. And you don’t need to have a hardcore business with a storefront or employees to qualify. A side hustle might qualify you.

The card is not as flexible for earning and redeeming points as a general travel card. But if you’re tied to Delta for business-trip flights, the card’s companion certificate and raft of rewards and perks can defray travel costs and hassles, all while giving you signficant boosts toward elite frequent-flyer status.

Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: Basics and benefits

To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, see this page.

Card type: Small business and airline.

Annual fee: $350

Welcome bonus: Earn 65,000 Bonus Miles after spending $6,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

Rewards:

  • 3 miles per dollar spent on purchases made directly with Delta.

  • 3 miles per dollar spent on hotels.

  • 1.5 miles on transit, at U.S. shipping providers and on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more (up to $100,000 of combined eligible purchases per year).

  • 1 mile per eligible dollar spent on all other purchases.

  • Terms apply.

NerdWallet values Delta miles at 1.2 cents each. This is a baseline value, drawn from real-world data on hundreds of economy routes, not a maximized value. In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 1.2 cents or more in value from your Delta miles.

Foreign transaction fee: None.

APR: The ongoing APR is 20.99%-29.99% Variable APR.

Other benefits:

  • Companion certificate: Covers a traveling partner. Terms apply.

  • Boosts toward elite status. The card helps you achieve the flying and spending requirements for elite status. Beginning January 1, 2024, this benefit will no longer be available, and there will be a new way to earn toward Medallion Status with the card. Learn more at delta.com/skymilesprogramchanges.

  • The first checked bag free for you and up to eight others on your reservation.

  • Priority boarding, which allows you to get on the plane early.

  • Credit for the application fee for TSA Precheck or Global Entry. Card members are eligible to receive either one $100 statement credit every 4 years for the application fee for Global Entry or one $85 statement credit every 4.5 years for TSA Precheck.

  • Terms apply.

Highlights of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card

Companion certificate

The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is one of the few airline cards to feature an annual companion certificate, which covers a travel partner's airfare. This valuable feature alone can make up for the card's annual fee.

Say you were buying round-trip tickets for you and a colleague at $800 apiece, plus taxes and fees. If you redeemed this benefit, you wouldn't have to drop more than $1,600 on that getaway; aside from paying the taxes and fees on the ticket (which are capped at $75), you'd essentially get your trip for half the price.

You can redeem the companion benefit for a round-trip ticket in the main cabin departing and arriving in the 48 contiguous United States. (There are exceptions to this rule for cardholders who live in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.) You would need to book flights with your companion that have the same times and dates, and make the purchase using the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card. You'll get this benefit annually when your card is renewed. Terms apply.

Path to elite status

Not all airline cards give you a way to reach elite status faster, but the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card allows you to earn Medallion Qualifying Dollars with your credit card spending. You get elite status on Delta by spending money with the airline (called Medallion Qualifying Dollars or MQDs) and by flying. You can qualify for the lowest tier of elite status, Silver, with 25,000 MQMs.

The card gives you a head start and status boost:

  • Receive $2,500 MQDs each Medallion Qualification Year.

  • Earn $1 MQD for every $20 spent on your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card.

  • Terms apply.

Free checked bags

The checked-bag benefit is especially generous. You’ll get a first checked bag free for you and up to eight others on your reservation. Terms apply. You might rarely have that many traveling companions, but fully used, that’s a savings of up to $540 on a round-trip flight ($30 per person each way). You would break even on the annual fee with just a few traveling partners, assuming you would have otherwise paid to check bags.

Priority boarding

If you don’t typically check bags, then it’s nice to have the priority boarding that comes with the card. It will get you on the plane earlier — in this case, Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding. Terms apply. That means you’re more likely to find overhead bin space for your roll-aboard. Some flyers like to board earlier to get settled in their seat before the cabin fills. Either way, priority boarding can be a welcome perk.

Welcome bonus

New-cardholder bonuses can change periodically, but the card typically gives you enough miles to snag a domestic award flight, assuming you can meet the required spending. The current bonus: Earn 65,000 Bonus Miles after spending $6,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

Note that if you've had this American Express credit card in the past, you’re unlikely to qualify for the bonus. And you might be rejected for the bonus because of other account history with American Express.

Other perks

  • In-flight discount. Get 20% savings in the form of a statement credit on purchases such as food, beverages and audio headsets onboard. Note that inflight wireless internet access does not qualify for a discount.

  • $120 Rideshare credit. Earn up to $10 in monthly statement credits when you use your Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card to pay for U.S. rideshare purchases with select providers.

  • No foreign transaction fees. Good travel cards generally don’t charge this fee — 3% is common — for making purchases abroad. This Delta card doesn’t, either. However, this card operates on the American Express network, which isn’t as widely accepted abroad as Visa and Mastercard.

  • Terms apply.

Business-friendly features

Like all of AmEx’s business credit cards, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card features a suite of benefits designed for business owners, including:

  • The American Express Business App. This feature allows you to add receipts and notes to your transactions on desktop or mobile.

  • Employee cards. There’s a $0 fee for adding employee cards to your account. You can set individual spending limits on these cards and set up various alerts to monitor spending.

  • Year-end summary. This report, typically available in January, will show purchases made on your account during the previous calendar year.

  • Terms apply.

These features make it easy to track your company’s spending and can come in handy at tax time.

How it compares with other Delta business credit cards

Delta and American Express offer three credit card options for business owners, each at a very different annual fee. Examining card features side by side helps when choosing.

Annual fee

$0 intro for the first year, then $150

$350

$650

Rewards on Delta purchases

2x

3x

3x

Rewards besides bonus miles on Delta purchases and 1x on everything else

2x on U.S. shipping purchases and U.S. advertising in select media (up to $50,000 per category, per year). Terms apply.

3x on hotels, 1.5x on purchases of $5,000 or more. Terms apply.

1.5x on all purchases after spending $150,000. Terms apply.

Companion certificate

No

Yes (main cabin)

Yes (main cabin, Delta Comfort+ or first class)

Sky Club airport lounge access

No

No

Yes, plus Centurion Lounge

Global Entry or TSA Precheck credit

No

Yes

Yes

Free first checked bag on Delta flights?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Early boarding?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Elite status boost?

No

Yes

Yes

» MORE: Want a consumer card instead? Read NerdWallet's comparison of consumer Delta credit cards.

Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: Drawbacks and alternatives

Annual fee

The annual fee of $350 is middling for this type of business airline card — not a fee associated with a basic card, but also not the huge $500-plus fee you see on luxury credit cards or ones with airport lounge access. Terms apply. Be sure you can extract more value from the card than you’re paying to hold it.

An example of a travel credit card with a lower annual fee is the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. It earns 3 points per dollar on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each year, and 1 point per dollar on everything else. Points are worth 1.25 cents apiece when redeemed for travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® portal. It has a jumbo welcome bonus and a more palatable fee.

Reward redemptions

Typically, the best redemption options for Delta SkyMiles are award flights and seat upgrades on Delta and its SkyTeam partners. That’s limiting compared with general travel business credit cards, which allow you to apply rewards to a wide range of travel-related expenses.

If you mix your flying with airlines other than Delta, a general travel card might be a better fit.

A good choice for small businesses is the Capital One Spark Miles for Business. It earns an unlimited 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 2 miles per dollar on all other purchases. Miles can be redeemed for statement credit against any travel purchase. Book however you want, then use miles to pay for it, with no blackout dates or restrictions.

No lounge MEMBERSHIP

As of January 1, 2024, this card includes no lounge benefit (it previously offered discounted access). To get access to Delta Sky Clubs and Centurion lounges, you'll need to upgrade to the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, which has an annual fee of $650. (Day passes to the lounge are no longer openly available to all Delta flyers but used to cost $59.)

You can also get into Delta Sky Clubs with a great general travel card for business, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, with an annual fee of $695. Terms apply (see rates and fees).

Is the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card right for you?

The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card offers a lot of value for avid Delta flyers, especially if you're chasing elite status on the airline. But you have to extract enough value from the card to make up for the annual fee. If you fly several airlines, consider a general travel card for business.

To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, see this page. To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, see this page. To view rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, see this page. To view rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, see this page.

on American Express' website

Methodology

NerdWallet reviews credit cards with an eye toward both the quantitative and qualitative features of a card. Quantitative features are those that boil down to dollars and cents, such as fees, interest rates, rewards (including earning rates and redemption values) and the cash value of benefits and perks. Qualitative factors are those that affect how easy or difficult it is for a typical cardholder to get good value from the card. They include such things as the ease of application, simplicity of the rewards structure, the likelihood of using certain features, and whether a card is well-suited to everyday use or is best reserved for specific purchases. Our star ratings serve as a general gauge of how each card compares with others in its class, but star ratings are intended to be just one consideration when a consumer is choosing a credit card. Learn how NerdWallet rates credit cards.