Delta Gold Business Card Review 2023

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The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card offers the first checked bag free for you and up to eight companions on the same reservation. If you travel with a large family, or even a partner, this card could save you money by just taking a single trip each year. It’s also got a few other Delta-focused perks, including the new TakeOff 15 benefit with a 15% discount on Delta-operated award flights. 

Delta Gold Business Card Review: Is It the Best Credit Card for You?

If you fly Delta with any regularity, you need one of the best Delta credit cards — and if you’re a small-business owner, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card is an excellent choice with great perks for a moderate annual fee of $99 (with a $0 intro for the first year).

Even if you rarely use the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card for purchases, its ongoing benefits can save you many hundreds of dollars each year. With free checked bags (a value of at least $60 per round-trip), a 15% discount on Delta award flights, a potential $100 Delta credit after meeting a spending threshold, priority boarding, and inflight discounts, this card can prove to be one of the best airline credit cards for a Delta loyalist.

The card is offering a welcome bonus of 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of card membership. That’s not the highest bonus we’ve seen for the card in recent months, but if you’re looking to earn Delta miles quickly it’s a decent offer.

If you don’t fly Delta too often but still want to accrue Delta miles, you may instead consider opening a card that earns Amex Membership Rewards points, like The Business Platinum Card® from American Express or The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express. You can transfer these points instantly to Delta — and Amex points-earning cards often come with a better return rate for everyday spending.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card.

We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend what you can afford to pay.

Delta Gold Business Card Rewards

Delta Business Gold welcome bonus offer

The Delta Gold Business card is currently offering 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in purchases on your new card in your first three months of card membership.  That’s worth $550 in travel, on average, based on Insider’s latest points and miles valuations.

How to earn miles with the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business Card

This card isn’t a fabulous choice for most everyday spending. However, it does have a couple of helpful bonus categories. Here’s what you’ll get:

• 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases
• 2 miles per dollar at restaurants
• 2 miles per dollar on eligible U.S. purchases for shipping and advertising in select media
• 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases

Insider estimates that Delta miles are worth 1.1 cents each, on average. That means your average return rate is between 1.1% and 2.2%, on average, toward travel. Several American Express Membership Rewards cards earn higher returns for spending — and you can transfer those points to Delta at a 1:1 ratio — so if your motivation to open the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card is to earn Delta miles through spending, this card may not be your best option.

Delta miles don’t expire, so you can freely earn them without fretting as to when you’ll be able to use them.

How to use miles from the Delta Business Gold card

You can redeem Delta miles for much more than just travel, but we recommend that you don’t; the value you’ll receive from your rewards is almost always worth the most when used for flights.

Insider’s valuation of Delta miles (again, 1.1 cents each) is based on the average value you’ll get when booking award seats. You can redeem Delta miles for flights on Delta and its SkyTeam alliance and non-alliance partners (Air France, KLM, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic, etc.). In other words, you can get to just about anywhere in the world with Delta miles.

Delta prices its award seats based on demand, season, cash price, and perhaps many other factors. To see how many miles a flight costs, you’ll have to search for the exact date and time on Delta’s website.

You’ll occasionally find excellent sale prices, both domestic and international. If you’re willing to let the deals guide your vacations, you can easily get many times the value Insider places on Delta miles. Coach flights as low as 2,000 miles one-way for domestic routes and 9,000 miles one-way for international routes crop up here and there.

Another redemption option this card unlocks is the ability to use Delta Pay With Miles to effectively offset the cash price of a ticket with miles. You’ll get a value of 1 cent per mile, and you must redeem in increments of 5,000 (or $50). For example, if a flight costs $610, you could book the trip with 60,000 miles and $10.

Other ways to redeem your miles (again, often at an unreasonable redemption value) include:

• Seat selection and upgrades
• Delta Sky Club lounge memberships
• Certain Delta fees (like ticket changes and award ticket redeposit fees)
• Gift cards
• Magazines
• Tour vouchers
• Charity donations
• Delta Vacations packages
• Premium drinks in Delta Sky Club lounges
• Delta SkyMiles Experiences

Delta Gold Business Card Benefits and Features

The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card comes with benefits that are helpful for much more than just business travelers.

Free first checked bag

You and up to eight companions on your reservation receive a free first checked bag on Delta flights. Delta regularly charges $30 each way for the first checked bag, so this benefit can offset the card’s annual fee even if you and a travel buddy fly Delta once per year.

And if you travel as a family, you can get a huge value — four people with a checked bag each on a round-trip itinerary would normally incur fees of $240 for their luggage.

Priority boarding

Cardholders and up to eight companions on the same reservation receive Delta Main Cabin 1 priority boarding — even when flying Basic Economy — which means you’ll have more time to get settled into your seat and find room in the overhead bins for your carry-on bag.

The Main Cabin 1 group boards after passengers flying in premium cabins and most elite members, but before other economy class travelers or those flying in basic economy.  

TakeOff 15 discount

The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card offers a new perk called TakeOff 15. When your card is connected to your SkyMiles account, you can receive a 15% discount on award tickets booked on Delta-operated flights as long as you book through Delta.com or the Fly Delta app. 

This perk could save cardholders a lot of miles if they redeem for Delta award flights frequently. Keep in mind that partner award flights aren’t eligible, and only primary cardholders (not authorized users) can get the discount.

$100 Delta flight credit

If you spend $10,000 or more on eligible purchases in a calendar year on your Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, you’ll receive a $100 Delta flight credit. This credit is valid toward Delta flight purchases or the flight portion of a Delta Vacations package, but you can’t use it for ancillary fees like checked bags or change fees.

20% back on inflight purchases

When you use your card to pay for inflight purchases like drinks, food, or audio headsets on Delta flights, you’ll receive 20% back in the form of a statement credit.

Car rental insurance

This card offers secondary car rental insurance when you use the card to pay for your rental in full and decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver. Coverage is for theft or damage only (not liability) and some rentals, vehicle types, and countries are excluded, so be sure to read the terms.

Purchase protection

When you pay for an eligible item with your card, you can be covered with purchase protection for loss or damage up to 90 days from the date of purchase, up to a maximum of $1,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per year.

Extended warranty

Cardholders can also get an extended warranty on eligible items when they use their card to pay — up to one additional year added to eligible US manufacturers’ warranties of five years or less.

Baggage insurance

If you pay for a covered trip with your card, you can be covered for baggage loss or damage, up to $500 per person for checked bags, and $1,250 per person for carry-on luggage. As with similar credit cards with travel insurance, there are exclusions for high-risk items and some states have different limits, so check the terms and conditions for specific details.

Global Assist Hotline

This card also comes with a little-known perk that can be a lifesaver if you have an emergency while you’re away from home. Cardholders get access to Amex’s Global Assist Hotline, which can help arrange things like passport replacement, medical referrals, and translation services. The service itself is complimentary, but you’re responsible for any third-party costs.

Amex Offers

Similar to other American Express cards, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card includes targeted discounts and bonus rewards at participating merchants through Amex Offers**. This can be a great way to save money on everyday purchases you’d probably make anyway.

Delta Gold Business Card Annual Fee and Other Costs

The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card annual fee is $99 (with a $0 intro for the first year). That’s typical of mid-tier airline credit cards, and it’s easy to get a value that far exceeds that if you take advantage of the card’s benefits. The card also waives foreign transaction fees, so it’s a good card to use when traveling abroad.

Keep in mind you’ll pay interest (currently a 20.49% – 29.49% Variable APR) if you don’t pay your card in full every month, so try to avoid carrying a balance on this card.

There are also fees for certain situations to be aware of:

• Cash advance fee: Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater
• Late payment fee: Up to $39
• Returned payment fee: Up to $39
• Overlimit fee: None

How the Delta Gold Business Card Compares

Gold Delta SkyMiles Business credit card vs other Delta business cards

Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express card vs other airline business credit cards

*When you use your card to pay for your ticket, or the taxes and fees on an award ticket

Delta Gold Business Card Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Methodology: How we reviewed the Delta Gold Business Card

Insider’s experts compared the Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card to other business cards from Delta and competing airlines. We looked at several factors, including:

• Simplicity — Is the card’s earning and redeeming structure easy to navigate? Are there lots of ways to redeem rewards?
• Earning potential — Are the card’s bonus categories useful to small-business owners, especially with respect to travel? Are there spending caps on any bonus categories?
• Annual fee — Is the annual fee reasonable and is it worth it when you consider the card’s benefits and rewards?
• Benefits — Does the card offer perks, including day-of-travel/airline benefits, that are useful to a broad range of travelers?

You can find out more about Insider’s methodology by reading our article on how we rate credit cards.