Delta Family

Understanding 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.

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.