I love the take off 15 with my Delta Gold Business. Another AMEX>Delta strategy is with the Business Platinum to book delta as your preferred airline through the AMEX portal, you get a 35% rebate on your points, so you end up redeeming at 1.54cpp. I booked a recent trip for 1.38cpp with SkyMiles through delta using takeoff 15. Lost about 4k points compared to with AMEX, but I think it may be worth it to avoid booking indirectly with airlines. Great video!
Wow, really interesting strategy. Hadn't heard of that one before! I could go either way, saving the points is nice by doing it through the portal but you're right, there's nothing like the simplicity of booking directly with the airlines and taking hassle and some risk out of the equation.
Great video. Very informative. I currently have the AMEX Gold and the Delta Gold, but I'm eager to super charge my credit card wallet. What are your thoughts on combining the AMEX Platinum, AMEX Gold and Delta Platinum? The AF will be through the roof, but I can work out the benefits to turn the effective AF into the positive. Would the AMEX Platinum and Delta Platinum work well together when cooking up a Travel/Stay itinerary?
For domestic flights ,you might as well just get chase sapphire reserve for 1.5 cpp, easier to manage and more user friendly. And for international business flight, International airline gets much better value.
That's a solid option for a lot of people, but that also ignores a lot of the benefits that these cards individually provide. This setup may out-earn a CSR as well.
@@MyNameJimAmex has a lot of solid offers as well. I don’t make 100k a year and I love the Amex ecosystem a lot of people sleep on their benefits and offers
@@TheRDGuarantee The Reserve baby. Once the Caribbean and Central America were added for the companion certificate, I had no choice but to level up to the Reserve because the companion cert is good for first class. Who doesn't want a 2 for 1 flying First Class to the Caribbean? :)
@@TheRDGuarantee I would disagree. $675 AF for bunch $10 monthly credits. This game is all about simplify. I'm very selective with Amex cards. Gold and Delta Plat are not one of them.
They did add a Delta Stays hotel credit to the Delta Gold card, which makes it a little easier to break-even on one trip with a checked bag and hotel stay. Otherwise I largely agree that the Delta Platinum is a better value if you fly with a player 2 once a year.
I'm having a hard time seeing how this setup is better for someone who flies with Delta ~3x per year than the Capital One Duo is. It seems like almost everyone is better off with the Capital One duo, except for the folks whose flying is so frequent and concentrated on Delta that the Delta reserve would actually be better than the Delta platinum. Maybe I'm just not getting it. You did a good job on the video!
And even then, they capped Sky Club access on the Reserve. So, if you're a true Delta loyalist flying 1-2 round trips a month, the Reserve card alone doesn't offer enough Sky Club visits. You gotta drop 75k on a poor-earning card to get unlimited or stack up multiple Amex cards.
I have the AMEX Gold and Delta Gold. I was thinking of upgrading to the Delta Plat when my first year with gold was up. I think the redemption for the points / dollar ratio goes down the higher the level of seating ( comfort plus or first) but it is still greater than 1cpp from the math I've done. Also, I think another helpful tip with these cards is general online spend through the sky miles ap when they have bonus miles for retailers an Rakutan that awards you amex points helps a lot in gaining more points and miles. I wonder if there is a way to throw one of the Hilton cards in for a trifecta?
IIRC, Amex charges some sort of tax on US based transfer partners, including Delta (so annoying 😕). How much do you have to knock off the CPP calculation to account for that, or is the amount negligible? Interesting video 👍🏽.
This is a really great callout and it is truly so annoying. I actually have some exact numbers from recent redemptions. On a 14K transfer there was an $8.40 tax, while on a 27K transfer there was a $16.20 tax. Depending on the value you're getting for those points on the other end, that equates to somewhere in the 3%-6% ballpark in taxes. Not as negligible as you'd hope.
@@TheRDGuarantee this is why I love the Delta Reserve and Delta Platinum combo along with the Amex Gold for food, and my catch all is the Hilton Honors Business or my Navy Fed Flagship and/or PenFed Pathfinder as my incidentals cards which track differently for travel. Plus by holding both the Reserve and Platinum I have silver status immediately. I used this on a trip to Miami successfully and now I am running the play again for a trip to Vegas. I believe I saw a video on the Reserve and Delta Platinum combination. What's beautiful is that use my Clear membership from my business Amex Platinum and to get through the airports and venues (but I can present my Reserve in person), lounge access to both The Cenurion, Delta Lounges and my priority pass lounges. I just have a ton of options.
Just to be clear here: the US government charges a tax for domestic airline transfers like MR points to Delta, and Amex is a business so they pass on that cost to consumers. This is true for Chase as well if you transfer to United, for example. Amex isn’t just choosing to charge you money purely for profit.
The way I see it. Chase for domestic flights and Amex for international. I would hate to use all my Amex points for delta when I can get 2-4cpp for international flights with all those transfer partners. Too much value wasted imo.
Totally agree that international flights are where the real value is, but I don't fly internationally more than once every few years. If that's the case, of course I'm going to use my points and miles to replace the cost of my domestic flights that I'm taking multiple times a year. Thanks for watching!
What about Amex everyday preferred. The preferred has 95$ annual fee and can be used to get 3x on groceries (assuming you mainly use it for that). $6k cap sucks but should be sufficient for one person at least. And it has a $0 annual fee downgrade option with the Amex everyday card. (Also heard rumor they might revamp those cards anyways). That would be a nice alternative versus Amex gold 4x on groceries but significantly greater annual fee.
it's interesting I only see the SUB for 75k or lower at home, and see 100k at my friend or at work, all with incognito mode. they think users in my home area are dumb enough to use the low offer 😂
I love the take off 15 with my Delta Gold Business. Another AMEX>Delta strategy is with the Business Platinum to book delta as your preferred airline through the AMEX portal, you get a 35% rebate on your points, so you end up redeeming at 1.54cpp. I booked a recent trip for 1.38cpp with SkyMiles through delta using takeoff 15. Lost about 4k points compared to with AMEX, but I think it may be worth it to avoid booking indirectly with airlines. Great video!
Wow, really interesting strategy. Hadn't heard of that one before! I could go either way, saving the points is nice by doing it through the portal but you're right, there's nothing like the simplicity of booking directly with the airlines and taking hassle and some risk out of the equation.
Great video. Very informative. I currently have the AMEX Gold and the Delta Gold, but I'm eager to super charge my credit card wallet. What are your thoughts on combining the AMEX Platinum, AMEX Gold and Delta Platinum? The AF will be through the roof, but I can work out the benefits to turn the effective AF into the positive. Would the AMEX Platinum and Delta Platinum work well together when cooking up a Travel/Stay itinerary?
For domestic flights ,you might as well just get chase sapphire reserve for 1.5 cpp, easier to manage and more user friendly. And for international business flight, International airline gets much better value.
But Amex and status symbol. Chase is for the poors lol
That's a solid option for a lot of people, but that also ignores a lot of the benefits that these cards individually provide. This setup may out-earn a CSR as well.
@@MyNameJimAmex has a lot of solid offers as well. I don’t make 100k a year and I love the Amex ecosystem a lot of people sleep on their benefits and offers
@@TheRDGuarantee The Reserve baby. Once the Caribbean and Central America were added for the companion certificate, I had no choice but to level up to the Reserve because the companion cert is good for first class. Who doesn't want a 2 for 1 flying First Class to the Caribbean? :)
@@TheRDGuarantee I would disagree. $675 AF for bunch $10 monthly credits. This game is all about simplify. I'm very selective with Amex cards. Gold and Delta Plat are not one of them.
They did add a Delta Stays hotel credit to the Delta Gold card, which makes it a little easier to break-even on one trip with a checked bag and hotel stay. Otherwise I largely agree that the Delta Platinum is a better value if you fly with a player 2 once a year.
Yep! That's a good addition. I also like the Delta Gold, but I love the Delta Platinum.
I'm having a hard time seeing how this setup is better for someone who flies with Delta ~3x per year than the Capital One Duo is. It seems like almost everyone is better off with the Capital One duo, except for the folks whose flying is so frequent and concentrated on Delta that the Delta reserve would actually be better than the Delta platinum.
Maybe I'm just not getting it.
You did a good job on the video!
And even then, they capped Sky Club access on the Reserve. So, if you're a true Delta loyalist flying 1-2 round trips a month, the Reserve card alone doesn't offer enough Sky Club visits. You gotta drop 75k on a poor-earning card to get unlimited or stack up multiple Amex cards.
How would you rate the Amex gold, Amex reserve and Amex Bonvoy brilliant combo? Is that too much? Thinking of switching from chase to Amex gold
I have the AMEX Gold and Delta Gold. I was thinking of upgrading to the Delta Plat when my first year with gold was up. I think the redemption for the points / dollar ratio goes down the higher the level of seating ( comfort plus or first) but it is still greater than 1cpp from the math I've done. Also, I think another helpful tip with these cards is general online spend through the sky miles ap when they have bonus miles for retailers an Rakutan that awards you amex points helps a lot in gaining more points and miles. I wonder if there is a way to throw one of the Hilton cards in for a trifecta?
IIRC, Amex charges some sort of tax on US based transfer partners, including Delta (so annoying 😕). How much do you have to knock off the CPP calculation to account for that, or is the amount negligible?
Interesting video 👍🏽.
This is a really great callout and it is truly so annoying. I actually have some exact numbers from recent redemptions. On a 14K transfer there was an $8.40 tax, while on a 27K transfer there was a $16.20 tax. Depending on the value you're getting for those points on the other end, that equates to somewhere in the 3%-6% ballpark in taxes. Not as negligible as you'd hope.
@@TheRDGuarantee this is why I love the Delta Reserve and Delta Platinum combo along with the Amex Gold for food, and my catch all is the Hilton Honors Business or my Navy Fed Flagship and/or PenFed Pathfinder as my incidentals cards which track differently for travel. Plus by holding both the Reserve and Platinum I have silver status immediately. I used this on a trip to Miami successfully and now I am running the play again for a trip to Vegas. I believe I saw a video on the Reserve and Delta Platinum combination. What's beautiful is that use my Clear membership from my business Amex Platinum and to get through the airports and venues (but I can present my Reserve in person), lounge access to both The Cenurion, Delta Lounges and my priority pass lounges. I just have a ton of options.
Just to be clear here: the US government charges a tax for domestic airline transfers like MR points to Delta, and Amex is a business so they pass on that cost to consumers. This is true for Chase as well if you transfer to United, for example. Amex isn’t just choosing to charge you money purely for profit.
The way I see it. Chase for domestic flights and Amex for international. I would hate to use all my Amex points for delta when I can get 2-4cpp for international flights with all those transfer partners. Too much value wasted imo.
Totally agree that international flights are where the real value is, but I don't fly internationally more than once every few years. If that's the case, of course I'm going to use my points and miles to replace the cost of my domestic flights that I'm taking multiple times a year. Thanks for watching!
Could you technically used the Amex blue cash everyday or blue cash preferred instead of the Amex business plus to convert the points?
No unfortunately the BCE and BCP only earn cash back and can't be converted to membership rewards points.
What about Amex everyday preferred. The preferred has 95$ annual fee and can be used to get 3x on groceries (assuming you mainly use it for that). $6k cap sucks but should be sufficient for one person at least. And it has a $0 annual fee downgrade option with the Amex everyday card. (Also heard rumor they might revamp those cards anyways).
That would be a nice alternative versus Amex gold 4x on groceries but significantly greater annual fee.
KC reppin! The Delta Plat is a fantastic card 💯
It sure is!
At least we got one lounge at the new MCI…better than nothing.
@@Collingnate Fellow MCI flyer 👊🏼
it's interesting I only see the SUB for 75k or lower at home, and see 100k at my friend or at work, all with incognito mode. they think users in my home area are dumb enough to use the low offer 😂
AmEx is definitely doing some intense geo-targeting! We've done similar testing on our end too with really mixed results.