Delta SkyMiles Blue Credit Card 2024 Review

Delta offers several co-branded credit cards with American Express, and the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card is the basic option with no annual fee. While the lack of an annual fee is a major plus, it’s important to remember that the Blue card comes with a toned-down rewards scheme and a smaller welcome bonus as a result.

You’ll earn a modest welcome bonus of 10,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000 in purchases on the card in the first 6 months. This bonus may not even be enough for even a one-way domestic flight. You will also earn rewards of 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases, at restaurants worldwide, and takeout and delivery in the U.S. and 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

The card comes with a few basic frequent flyer perks, but they aren’t as good as the benefits you get with other Delta credit cards. Major benefits of this card include 20% off in-flight purchases (via statement credits) made with your credit card (only on Delta flights) and the ability to redeem your miles for a flight discount at a rate of 1 cent per mile in $50 increments.

This card is free of foreign transaction fees, which is a useful benefit if you travel abroad. You’ll also qualify for a few protections including extended warranties¹ on items that come with a manufacturer’s warranty, purchase protection¹ against damage or theft, secondary auto rental coverage² and access to a Global Assist hotline³.

• Welcome bonus: Earn 10,000 bonus miles after spending $1,000 in purchases on the card in the first 6 months.
• Earn 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases, at restaurants worldwide, and takeout and delivery in the U.S. and 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
• No annual fee
• No foreign transaction fees
• Pay with Miles feature lets you redeem your miles for flights at a rate of 1 cent per mile in increments of $50.

The Delta SkyMiles Blue Card is best for infrequent Delta flyers wanting a low-risk introduction to the world of airline credit cards. Although this card is light on benefits, you can accumulate miles to use on your next Delta flight while learning the ins and outs of credit cards without having to worry about a yearly cost of card ownership. But if you’re a more seasoned Delta flyer who doesn’t mind paying an annual fee in exchange for better perks, any of the other SkyMiles credit cards could give you more value.

Earning Rewards

If you are approved for the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, you get the ability to earn the following rewards:

• Earn 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases, at restaurants worldwide, and takeout and delivery in the U.S. and 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

Redeeming Rewards

When it comes to redeeming rewards, the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card offers a Pay with Miles feature that makes the process more convenient. While you can always earn the miles you need for a full award redemption, Pay with Miles lets you redeem your miles for a discount off of any flight at a rate of 1 cent per mile as long as you redeem in blocks of 5,000 points. This means that 10,000 bonus miles are worth $100 in flights with Delta or that racking up 20,000 miles would help you earn $200 off your price.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to predict how many miles you’ll need to pay for a specific Delta flight in full. Delta Air Lines doesn’t have a published award chart, so the cost of a flight in miles could change from one day to the next. The best deals are occasional award sales, but these are irregular in both duration and destination, making it harder to plan for an efficient redemption.

Delta is a member of the Sky Team Alliance, which means you can use your miles to book flights operated by several partner airlines throughout the world. Also, be aware that you have a few other ways to redeem Delta miles other than for flights. For example, you can redeem them for Delta vacations, Delta gift cards or a magazine subscription. You can even buy an individual membership to Delta Sky Clubs for 69,500 miles, or splurge for an Executive membership for 149,500 miles.

Rewards Potential

To come up with the average rewards potential for the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, we had to dive into what the average family spends in popular categories each year. To help in that respect, Forbes Advisor compiles data from government agencies to come up with a baseline income as well as spending averages in various categories.

Considering the 70th percentile of wage-earning households bring in $118,438 annually, we base spending on that number. We also estimated families in that range have $39,337 of expenses that could reasonably be charged to a credit card. This assumes all airline purchases are made on Delta Air Lines.

44,729 SkyMiles could be enough to secure one or two domestic roundtrip flights if you search for the best deals. Keep in mind that these miles are outside of any first-year welcome bonus.

• Discount on in-flight purchases. You’ll get 20% back on in-flight purchases when you fly with Delta and pay with your credit card.
• Car rental loss and damage insurance.² When you use your card to pay for a rental vehicle and decline the collision damage waiver at the rental counter, you may receive secondary auto coverage in an eligible territory. Terms apply.
• Purchase Protection.¹ Covers eligible purchases from damage, loss or theft. Terms Apply.
• Extended Warranty.¹ Get up to one additional year of warranty on an eligible manufacturer’s warranty when you pay with your card.

Interest Rates

• Regular APR: 20.99%-29.99% Variable
• Purchase intro APR: N/A
• Balance transfer intro APR: N/A
  

Fees

• Annual fee: $0
• Balance transfer fee: N/A
• Foreign purchase transaction fee: None

Terms apply. See rates & fees.

Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card vs. the Amex EveryDay® Credit Card*

The Amex EveryDay® Credit Card* isn’t a Delta credit card, but it does let you earn American Express Membership Rewards points that can be transferred to your Delta account. This card also comes with no annual fee, and you get the chance to earn a welcome bonus: Earn 10,000 points after spending $2,000 in qualifying purchases in the first 6 months of account opening.

You also earn 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar at US supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases (then 1X), 2 points per dollar when using the card to book trips through American Express Travel and 1 point for every eligible dollar on everything else. Plus, use the card 20 or more times on purchases in a billing period and earn 20% extra points on those purchases.

This card also makes it easy to save on interest in the first year. If approved, you’ll get a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, followed by a regular APR of 18.24% - 29.24% variable. A balance transfer fee of $5 or 3%, whichever is greater, applies.

Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card vs. Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card

If you want a Delta credit card but prefer more perks, check out the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card. The card offers a $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150 (Terms apply. See rates & fees). In return, you’ll get added benefits like a $200 flight credit when you spend $10,000 or more on your credit card within a year, a first checked bag free on Delta flights and priority boarding on Delta flights. In addition, cardholders receive up to $100 per year in the form of a statement credit on eligible purchases through Delta Stays. Any time you book award travel on a Delta flight with your SkyMiles Gold Card, you can take 15% off, helping your miles go further.

The rewards potential for this card is also higher. The welcome bonus offers new cardholders the opportunity to earn 40,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 in purchases in the first 6 months of card membership. Cardholders will also earn 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchases, at U.S. supermarkets and at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. and 1 mile per dollar on other eligible purchases.

Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card vs. Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card

True Delta fans who want the most benefits possible can consider the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (Terms apply, see rates & fees). This card comes with a much higher $650 annual fee but offers rich benefits, including access to Delta Sky Club when flying same day with Delta and four one-time guest passes each year (effective 2/1/25, cardholders will receive 15 visits to the Sky Club per year. Receive unlimited visits by spending $75,000 on your card each calendar year), a fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck membership, a companion certificate each year you renew your card, good for an eligible First Class, Delta Comfort+®, or Main Cabin round-trip flight within the U.S, Caribbean and Central America, when you pay taxes and fees. This is on top of traditional frequent flyer benefits like a free checked bag and priority boarding when flying Delta. You can also enter Centurion Lounges when you purchase your Delta flight with your Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and fly same-day with Delta.

If you’re pursuing elite status, you will be happy to know this card offers a Medallion Qualification Dollar (MQD) Headstart and Boost. MQD headstart gives cardholders $2,500 MQD’s each year. With MQD boost, you will earn $1 MQD for every $10 you spend on your card each calendar year. On top of all these benefits, you can help offset the high annual fee with various statement credits, like up to $240 annually at Resy restaurants, up to $120 in rideshare credits and up to $200 when booking through Delta Stays. Plus, receive Hertz President’s Circle status and upgrade priority. Enrollment is required to redeem select benefits.

In terms of earning rates, this card lets you earn a welcome bonus of 60,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in purchases in the first 6 months of card membership. Elevated rewards include 3 miles per dollar on Delta purchases and 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases.

The Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card is best for the casual Delta Air Lines travelers and/or as a first airline rewards credit card. The American Express benefits are nice to have as is the bonus category for dining. The Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card can be a good option if you want a basic Delta credit card and you never want to pay an annual fee. However, you should consider alternatives if you want to earn more rewards on your spending or prefer more frequent flyer perks.

Forbes Advisor considers a variety of criteria when assigning credit cards a rating. Cards are graded based on numerous factors, including:

• Annual fees
• Welcome bonus offers
• Ongoing earning rates
• Value of individual points or miles
• Included travel or merchant credits
• Additional cardholder benefits

Card features we expect cardholders to use the most often are weighted more heavily in our ratings. Altogether, the factors come together to provide a star rating for each individual card.

Read more: How Forbes Advisor rates credit cards.

To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, please visit this page.
¹Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
²Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
³Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.