Bottom Line

If you're a business owner, you'll almost certainly want this Delta card at some point. But you should wait until Amex offers a special sign-up bonus. Amex waives the annual fee your first year, and your 10,000 annual anniversary points will offset the normal annual fee of $99. If you refer friends, it might be one worth keeping for the referral bonuses alone. Remember, Amex cards are one bonus per lifetime (at least ten years).

Why You Might Want This Card

Jump When There's A Special Offer

This is a business card you'll want to jump on when there's a special sign-up offer. You'll normally earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 in the first 3 months, but special offers are usually 60,000. You'll also get a waived annual fee, $50 statement credit, priority boarding and first checked bag free for you and 2 of your companions. But some of the best value you'll receive is when you utilize the Pay With Miles option. What is Pay With Miles? You can essentially use 10,000 points like $100. Let's go back in time when you actually had to HUNT for cheap flights. Well, imagine you go to book a Delta flight with miles and stumble upon one of those old fashion accident fares. You can use your Sky Miles like money to book your flight. That will save tons of miles and money, making it a great perk attached to this card.

Check out our Delta SkyMiles page for more details on how to best use Delta Points.

Exceptions To The Rule

About Delta SkyMiles

• Delta SkyMiles are super easy to accumulate with American Express cards, whether they're specific for earning SkyMiles or American Express cards that have completely transferable and instant 1:1 ratio Amex points.

Redeeming SkyMiles isn’t difficult, but you might find that their value isn't as high as you'd think -- especially if you do a side-by-side comparison with our personal favorite, United. Delta’s redeeming quality, however, is the fact that they fly to over 325 locations. So sometimes when you want to go somewhere that United doesn't, you’ll find Delta’s got your back.

When Delta removed its online reward charts in 2015, no one was happy. Now, the more flexible you are, the more value you can squeeze out of your Miles -- especially when Delta runs one of its regular award sales that offer some deep discounts in economy and Delta One.

But the real ace up the sleeve here is booking international Business or First Class using alliances like China Eastern or one of their non-alliance partners like Virgin Atlantic. This can be done for fewer points than if you booked directly through the Delta website -- as long as the flight is operated by Delta, Delta Connections or Virgin Atlantic. Searching around for Delta’s flash sales based on region or utilizing one of their partners can get you a pretty impressive trip.

Where Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Fits In This Point Ecosystem

Personal Experience