What keeps me thinking about the Delta Reserve card over the Amex Platinum is the companion certificate. I can use that benefit and it will more than pay for itself. On the other hand I don’t fly exclusively with Delta so I am still thinking about the platinum card. My home airport is BOS and my most common destinations are CDG, FCO, LHR, SFO, YVR, and RSW.
Great info! Thank you! We fly out of SFO, and travel for vacation, not for work. So while we love decompressing in the lounge between flights, we recently downgraded from the reserve card to the Amex blue, with no annual fee - virtually no perks, but also no annual fee.
I’m curious why you didn’t outright cancel. If you are wanting to earn sky miles on your purchases, I have some ideas that will be in a future article. I will link that when it is posted.
Great video. Delta and Jetblue are my go to airlines. I have the Delta Reserve, Delta Platinum and the Business Platinum Cards. I try to use as much credits and lounge access as possible. My flight airports are Newark, JFK and LGA
That's a tough combination, especially across airports. If I was mostly Delta out of JFK, I'd seriously consider the Sapphire Reserve and the new Chase Sapphire lounge in Terminal 5. If you're flying every week though, just paying for a Delta Sky Club membership might be your best bet.
No. Delta first class tickets do not come with Sky Club access. Only DeltaOne does. Anything else, you’re going to need some other way to access the lounge.
Great choice! Are you in a place that you can access the Chase Sapphire lounges? If you've got other cards in the Chase ecosystem, there are plenty of ways to boost the value of all of your points with that card.
Only Delta and Amex know how many Amex cardholders actually go to the club more than 15 times a year. But I think that the majority of people who are impacted by this change will find out later in 2025 when they are either denied lounge access or get multiple surprise $50 charges on their cards, well after they've sunk the cost of the annual fee. I wonder how many cardholders who use the lounge even know that this change is happening. Maybe I hit the point that there are other lounge networks a bit too hard, but really I do think that there are a lot of people paying for Delta lounge access who can get by and pay much less by going with a Venture X and Priority Pass. And the idea of someone spending $75k on a Delta card and getting one SkyMile per dollar just to get unlimited lounge access makes me sad. That's giving up so much value!
LOL. No way! C&P would rather have $1,500 more in his investment accounts earning him interest and dividends! Spending almost $2,200 between the annual fee on the card and what I'd give up on a 2% cash back card doesn't make sense for me, especially when I could buy lounge access outright for much less. For 2025, I'm switching to the Amex Business Platinum. I earned a 175k point welcome bonus, plus I get unlimited access to two other lounges at my home airport and I'll get a handful of Delta Sky Club visits for when I want to go there instead.
They certainly have taken a lot of the love out of their loyalty program. I used to be pretty loyal to Delta and Northwest because I could get great value from the miles and consistent upgrades. Nowadays, I'm often waiting at the gate to see if I can get into the coach seats with extra legroom. So, I end up flying on a lot of other airlines.
What keeps me thinking about the Delta Reserve card over the Amex Platinum is the companion certificate. I can use that benefit and it will more than pay for itself. On the other hand I don’t fly exclusively with Delta so I am still thinking about the platinum card. My home airport is BOS and my most common destinations are CDG, FCO, LHR, SFO, YVR, and RSW.
Thanks for sharing😊
Great info! Thank you! We fly out of SFO, and travel for vacation, not for work. So while we love decompressing in the lounge between flights, we recently downgraded from the reserve card to the Amex blue, with no annual fee - virtually no perks, but also no annual fee.
I’m curious why you didn’t outright cancel. If you are wanting to earn sky miles on your purchases, I have some ideas that will be in a future article. I will link that when it is posted.
Well done, clean, clear explanation.
What?
Love the comprehensive breakdown
Thank you. Solid info.
Great video. Delta and Jetblue are my go to airlines. I have the Delta Reserve, Delta Platinum and the Business Platinum Cards. I try to use as much credits and lounge access as possible. My flight airports are Newark, JFK and LGA
That's a tough combination, especially across airports. If I was mostly Delta out of JFK, I'd seriously consider the Sapphire Reserve and the new Chase Sapphire lounge in Terminal 5. If you're flying every week though, just paying for a Delta Sky Club membership might be your best bet.
@@cardsandpointshe probably has the combination to get him airline status.
Thanks and solid tips.
Does delta first class ticket 2 hours flight give access to lounge ?
No. Delta first class tickets do not come with Sky Club access. Only DeltaOne does. Anything else, you’re going to need some other way to access the lounge.
I went with the Chase Sapphire Reserve since I don't always fly delta.
Great choice! Are you in a place that you can access the Chase Sapphire lounges? If you've got other cards in the Chase ecosystem, there are plenty of ways to boost the value of all of your points with that card.
So basically the best way to go to Delta lounges is to go to other ones. lol
Joking aside, I wonder how many people does this actually affect?
Only Delta and Amex know how many Amex cardholders actually go to the club more than 15 times a year. But I think that the majority of people who are impacted by this change will find out later in 2025 when they are either denied lounge access or get multiple surprise $50 charges on their cards, well after they've sunk the cost of the annual fee. I wonder how many cardholders who use the lounge even know that this change is happening.
Maybe I hit the point that there are other lounge networks a bit too hard, but really I do think that there are a lot of people paying for Delta lounge access who can get by and pay much less by going with a Venture X and Priority Pass.
And the idea of someone spending $75k on a Delta card and getting one SkyMile per dollar just to get unlimited lounge access makes me sad. That's giving up so much value!
I think I’d rather spend the $695for the annual membership to the sky club
For most people who would visit the Sky Club more than 15 times a year, this is the best choice.
if you're a road warrior and balla like C&P, then just spend the $75k on your Plat Card and call it good.
LOL. No way! C&P would rather have $1,500 more in his investment accounts earning him interest and dividends!
Spending almost $2,200 between the annual fee on the card and what I'd give up on a 2% cash back card doesn't make sense for me, especially when I could buy lounge access outright for much less.
For 2025, I'm switching to the Amex Business Platinum. I earned a 175k point welcome bonus, plus I get unlimited access to two other lounges at my home airport and I'll get a handful of Delta Sky Club visits for when I want to go there instead.
After flying with delta for years, on the company tab, I realized it’s actually just overpriced garage.
They certainly have taken a lot of the love out of their loyalty program. I used to be pretty loyal to Delta and Northwest because I could get great value from the miles and consistent upgrades. Nowadays, I'm often waiting at the gate to see if I can get into the coach seats with extra legroom. So, I end up flying on a lot of other airlines.
💯💯for these Tips 🫡