[Expired] Ending Monday! Delta Amex Increased 50,000 Mile Bonus

Note: This offer is now expired. 

The past few weeks, American Express has been running an increased 50,000 mile sign-up bonus on three of its Delta SkyMiles credit cards. This is currently scheduled to end on Monday, September 8. At that point, the bonus is likely to decrease back to its usual level of 30,000-35,000 miles that we tend to see year-round. So if you’re looking to pick up some Delta SkyMiles, it may be worth it to think about this offer.

Although Delta SkyMiles are not as useful as some other miles may be, 50,000 miles for a spending requirement of $1000 is a pretty decent deal. Moreover, with the ability to use the Pay With Miles option (explained below) on Delta flights makes the bonus worth at least $550 by simply using that option to redeem the miles for 1 cent each. Of course, there’s definitely opportunity to use it for better deals for now by redeeming on partners or for tickets to Hawaii.

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Current Sign Up Bonuses

Each of the following credit cards is offering a 50,000 mile sign-up bonus after spending $1000 within your first 3 months. In addition, each card also offers a statement credit after your first Delta purchase of $50 or $100 depending on the card. The cards also offer priority boarding and first checked bag free. The simplest card to get just to pick up some miles would probably be the Gold card as it does waive the annual fee and provides the benefits. You cannot sign up for the card and get the bonus again if you’ve had it previously, but it is possible to sign up for both the personal and business versions at the same time.

Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express 

Offers a 50,000 mile sign-up bonus after spending $1000 within your first 3 months and a $50 statement credit after your first Delta purchase. The $95 annual fee is waived the first year.

Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card from American Express

Offers a 50,000 mile sign-up bonus after spending $1000 within your first 3 months and a $50 statement credit after your first Delta purchase. The $95 annual fee is waived the first year.

Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card from American Express

15,000 MQM and 50,000 miles sign-up bonus after spending $1000 within your first 3 months and a $100 statement credit after your first Delta purchase. The $195 annual fee is not waived the first year.

Redeeming Delta SkyMiles

50,000 miles plus a $50 statement credit for just $1000 minimum spending is a decent deal for those who can use the miles. And offering free checked bags and Priority boarding brings in some added benefits for Delta flyers.

Although Delta miles are a bit harder to find availability with, they do have a few distinct advantages over some miles programs. In particular, there is no close-in booking fee for award booked within 21 days of departure (other airlines will charge $75) so those last-minute awards can be a good option. So if you happen to find some awards that open up close to departure with Delta SkyMiles, then Delta can be very good miles to use.

Delta SkyMiles can be redeemed on SkyTeam partners for international travel as well as domestic partner Alaska Airlines. All awards are priced as round-trip. That is, you can book a one-way award, but you will be charged the round-trip price. They will begin allowing booking of one-way awards in January. Delta is one of the few miles programs to allow a free stopover on domestic round-trip awards as well as international, making their routing rules more flexible than many programs.

Travelers on the West Coast actually have a distinct advantage using Delta miles as they can combine Alaska Airlines award seats with award seats on other partners. As an example, my friend Tatyana flew to Cancun for 35,000 Delta miles round-trip by finding award space on Alaska Airlines to Mexico City and then connecting to Cancun via Aeromexico. Given Aeromexico frequently has excellent award space, this can be a viable option for flying to lots of destinations within South America.

When award availability is difficult to find (which can happen frequently), there is a flexible Pay with Miles option essentially allowing you to redeem Delta miles at one cent each. This means that the sign-up bonus of 50,000 miles can be used for a $500 ticket in the worst case scenario. Adding a $50 statement credit means the sign-up bonus is worth at least $550.

You can find a full set of Delta SkyMiles award travel charts here.