Approval Rules Delta Family
One Sentence Summary
When applying for Delta cards, start with the lowest tiered card in the family to be eligible for the signup bonus on each remaining card
Deep Dive into the Delta Family Rule
You have to obtain co-branded Delta Airlines cards in a specific order to be eligible for signup bonuses on all cards within that family. Because of Amex’s 1/10 rule, stating you will only be eligible for a signup bonus on a card once per lifetime (usually 7-10 years in practice), you could miss out on a good number of points if you apply for the wrong card first.
Below are the Delta cards this rule applies to:
- Delta SkyMiles Blue Personal
- Delta SkyMiles Gold Personal
- Delta SkyMiles Platinum Personal
- Delta SkyMiles Reserve Personal
Important to know:
If you want to get the signup bonus on each of the above cards, then you must get them in order. Start with Blue, then Gold, Platinum, and Reserve in order to earn the welcome offers for each.
The following language is from the Delta SkyMiles Blue American Express card:
"You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Options Credit Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards. "
If you previously held the Gold, Platinum, or Reserve cards, then you may not be eligible for the signup bonus on this card. You’ll also notice the Delta SkyMiles Options card mentioned, which is an older version of a Delta co-branded card that is no longer available to new applicants. Previously owning that (or any other previous version of one of these co-branded Delta cards) also excludes you from receiving the welcome offer on this card.
Related Rules
How Does This Affect Your Credit Card Strategy?
Awareness of this rule is the most important part of your strategy for applying for any Delta co-branded card. Once you know this rule exists, you simply need to choose the lowest tiered card you want to start with and apply for that first. Even if you don’t foresee yourself wanting three or four Delta cards in the future, you never know, so we recommend leaving your options open.
Important to know:
It may make sense to skip the Delta SkyMiles Blue card because of its low, 10,000 mile welcome offer and lack of benefits. But the Delta SkyMiles Gold card is the next step up, and it has an 80,000 mile signup bonus and other worthwhile benefits that you may regret missing out on if you apply for the Platinum or Reserve first. It’s important to have a plan in place in regards to these family cards because of American Express’ 1/10 rule that states you are only eligible for a signup bonus on each card once every ten years.
Importance of this Rule
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Because of the amount of points you could lose out on by applying for the affected cards in the wrong order, this is an important rule to know. But since it only applies to co-branded airline cards, it’s less important than other rules. Some people will never get a Delta card because they don’t live in a Delta hub city or simply don’t fly on the airline often, so a Delta card won’t be valuable to them. But if you do consider a Delta card at some point, then it’s crucial to know this rule and have a plan in place for which card you will begin with.
Cards Subject to This Rule
FAQs
Are there exceptions to this rule?
Yes, Delta has several business cards as well - the SkyMiles Gold Business , SkyMiles Platinum Business, and Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business. You can apply for any of these cards in any order and still be eligible for the signup bonus on each. And because all of the above are all business cards, they also don’t count against your 5/24.
How do I check my status?
We recommend loading all your cards into the Points Navigator. If you do this, we’ll let you know when you’ve tripped a rule and which cards are impacted. The longer you are in this hobby, the more cards you’ll collect and the more banks you’ll have relationships with. Keeping track of each banks’ rules becomes overwhelming, so you might as well let us organize it all for you!
Do business cards count for this rule?
No, there are three Delta Business cards offered by the airline, and they do not have these same restrictions. You can apply for any of them in any order and still be eligible for the welcome offers on each provided you abide by American Express’ other rules.
Do product changes on existing cards count for this rule?
When you downgrade a card to stop paying or lessen an annual fee, you aren’t generally eligible for a signup bonus. One of American Express’ other rules, the 1/10 rule, says that you can’t get a signup bonus on an American Express card more than once every ten years. So we don’t recommend trying to downgrade or getting a product change since you can’t generally get a signup bonus in that scenario.
About Approval Rules
Collecting credit card points is largely driven by understanding and abiding by bank rules regarding approval (or disapproval) of cards. So here's what you need to know:
- Approval rules are rarely fully publicized by the banks
- We use our own research and data points from other users in creating the rules listing
- Our goal in sharing/using the rule listings is to provide you guidance to avoid getting declined
- There can sometimes be exceptions to the rules, but we try to take a more cautious approach in advising you.