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We’re giving the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card 5 out of 5 Stars. Though the card doesn’t provide much in the way of business-specific features, it’s still an excellent option for businesspeople who frequently fly Delta.
Rounding out Delta Air Lines’ family of co-branded business credit cards, the Amex Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business serves up a plateful of premium benefits, with a decent reward structure that nevertheless looks a bit more like an appetizer than a meal.
The card doles out 3X SkyMiles per dollar on eligible purchases made directly with Delta, its only specific bonus category. If you spend $150,000 in a year, every eligible purchase (aside from Delta) after you meet that threshold earns 1.5X miles, rather than 1X.
The Reserve’s benefits are about what you’d expect of a premium card. Highlights include complimentary access to Delta Sky Clubs and The Centurion Lounge, an annual companion certificate, priority boarding, and waived baggage fees (among other things).
Altogether, the SkyMiles Reserve Business is a great option for business owners who remain loyal to Delta and don’t mind the card’s relatively high price tag.
Card | Annual Fee | Rewards |
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Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card | $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99 (Rates & Fees) |
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Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card (Review) | $250 (Rates & Fees) |
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Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card (This review) | $550 |
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Too busy to worry over a credit card with a complicated reward structure, but still looking to earn rewards to put toward business travel? The SkyMiles Reserve Business is a strong contender.
The card earns 3X SkyMiles on direct Delta purchases in addition to whatever you’re earning from your SkyMiles membership status (which starts at 5X miles).
SkyMiles are generally worth about 1–1.5 cents, so you’re usually getting a cash back equivalent of at least 8% on Delta purchases if you redeem for airfare. That’ll increase with higher SkyMiles membership tiers.
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The SkyMiles Reserve Business has a run-of-the-mill airline reward structure. Keep in mind that the Delta category includes not only airfare, but class upgrades, seat selection, and more.
You start off earning 1X mile per dollar on everything else, but if you spend $150,000 on the card in a calendar year, that rate is bumped up to 1.5X per dollar. This adds a lot of value if you’re working with a bigger business.
Earning with the Reserve Business is simple. Developing a strategic redemption strategy can be a bit tougher, especially if you’re looking to get the absolute best value possible.
Reserve cardholders have a rich variety of redemption options, but we recommend ignoring most of them, and swapping your Delta miles for airfare to get the most bang for your buck.
You can redeem your points with Delta and its partner airlines right on the Delta website.
If you really want to redeem for something else, there are quite a few options, including gift cards, Delta Sky Club access (which you’ll already have), seat upgrades, and more. But, again, we suggest you stick with flights.
Delta flight redemptions typically deliver a value between 1–1.5 cents per SkyMile, but there are plenty of exceptions that fall both higher and lower. With that said, we’ll outline a few examples of what you can usually expect.
Here’s a round-trip flight in basic economy from New York (JFK) to Chicago (ORD).
For this flight, you’d get a value of about 1.15 cents per SkyMile. Pretty normal.
Now, take a look at this Main Cabin flight between Los Angeles (LAX) and Orlando (MCO).
You’re getting a better value here, but nothing outlandish — around 1.36 cents. And that’s generally how most redemptions will look.
We’ve calculated a few more examples, too, to help provide a clearer picture. They’re all round-trip flights in varying classes, and sure enough, the value per mile falls within the expected 1–1.5 cent range.
Round Trip Route | Class | Cash Price | Miles Price | Value Per Mile |
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JFK to IAD | Basic Economy | $196.20 | 16,000 + $11.20 | 1.23 cents |
DET to YYZ | Main Cabin | $406.28 | 28,000 + $51.78 | 1.45 cents |
DEN to SEA | Comfort+ | $274.20 | 21,000 + $11.20 | 1.3 cents |
BOS to IND | First | $351.20 | 32,000 + $11.20 | 1.09 cents |
Delta offers two booking options that let you book using both points and miles — Miles + Cash and Pay with Miles. Both tend to provide a worse return on spend than if you just redeem with miles normally.
Miles + Cash lets you purchase airfare with both miles and cash using a cash surcharge to lower the flight’s mile price.
Pay with Miles is slightly different; it allows you to book airfare with SkyMiles in increments of 5,000, and then cover the rest with cash.
Miles + Cash flights are categorized as award tickets, so they don’t earn you any rewards. Pay with Miles fares are considered normal tickets, so they accumulate SkyMiles on whatever portion you pay in cash.
The SkyMiles Reserve Business features most of the same benefits as its consumer counterpart. That’s a good thing — some of these benefits are very valuable.
Purchase APR | Balance Transfer APR | Cash Advance APR |
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15.74% - 24.74% Variable | None | 25.24% Variable |
Annual Fee | Foreign Transaction Fee |
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$550 | None |
Balance Transfer Fee | Cash Advance Fee |
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None | Either $5 or 3% of the amount of each cash advance, whichever is greater. |
Penalty APR | Late Fee | Returned Payment Fee |
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29.24% Variable | Up to $39 | $39 |
The Reserve’s annual fee is on par with most other premium travel cards — expensive, but not unusually so.
There’s no foreign transaction fee (again, normal for a business travel card), but Amex isn’t as widely accepted as networks like Visa or Mastercard, so this may not be your best pick for international business travel.
If you’re in the market for a business-focused travel card and you spend a lot of money with Delta, the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card is about as good as it gets.
The card’s rewards program is a great match for die-hard Delta customers — especially those whose businesses spend more than $150,000 a year without a second thought. Plus, the program’s simplicity could be a boon for busy businesspeople with no time to strategize a meticulous spending plan.
Though its rewards are fine, the SkyMiles Reserve Business card’s value is best demonstrated by its benefits. Complimentary Delta Sky Club access is great, but complimentary Centurion Lounge access is a rare treasure. The card’s other benefits are great, too — the annual companion fare, free checked bags, and priority boarding offer hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars in potential yearly value, depending on how much you fly.
And that’s about all there is to it. Love flying with Delta and relaxing in airport lounges before you board? This is the card for you. Prefer redemption flexibility, or a more diverse rewards program? Consider an alternative.
Click the “Apply Now” button below, and you’ll be taken to the American Express website. There, you can fill out a secure application for the SkyMiles Reserve Business card. You’ll be required to submit a variety of personal and business information.
After you’ve submitted your application, Amex will conduct a hard check on your personal credit. You’ll likely be either approved or denied instantly. If not, the issuer might ask for more information, or simply request you wait while the decision is made.
Read more How to Apply for Business Credit Cards (Even If You Don’t Think You Qualify)The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express Card is intended for cardholders with excellent credit.
VantageScore considers scores above 750 excellent. FICO isn’t quite as clear; scores between 740–799 are labeled exceptional, while 800 and up qualifies for excellent. You’re probably safe to assume anything in that range is good enough, though that’s not a guarantee.
Bear in mind that these are guidelines. You may be declined with very high credit scores, or approved with scores that aren’t great.
For business owners committed to flying Delta, there are few better credit card offers than the SkyMiles Reserve Business. But not everyone’s loyal to a single airline, and even if you are, you may not travel enough to justify such a large annual fee. Here are a few other options.
Not every business owner spends enough to justify a premium airline card. The Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card isn’t as pricey as the Reserve, so it lacks many of its more valuable benefits.
Even so, the card features strong, business-minded rewards and enough perks to help you get your money’s worth without much hassle.
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The Gold’s reward program could actually be more lucrative than the Reserve’s for businesses with big shipping and advertising budgets. And one fewer mile per dollar on Delta purchases probably won’t make a huge difference in your SkyMiles balance at the end of the day.
The information related to Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card has been collected by Credit Card Insider and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product.
What do you care more about — rewards or benefits?
If you’re big on rewards but have no use for airport lounge access, you might prefer the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card over the Reserve.
Its reward structure is slightly more diverse, but it lacks the Reserve’s most luxurious perks. Its annual fee is much lower, though it’s still on the pricier side.
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The Platinum matches the Reserve’s reward rate on Delta purchases, and adds two additional categories to boot.
The hotel category bumps up the card’s appeal to frequent overnight travelers.
Its 1.5X category is a neat addition, but the 50,000-mile limit is a touch restrictive, given how the least you can earn for a single $5,000 purchase in that category is 7,500 SkyMiles.
The information related to Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card has been collected by Credit Card Insider and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product.
It’s no secret why the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is such a well-loved business credit card.
The card offers few high-value benefits, but its reward structure is fairly diverse. And any rewards you earn can be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to a plethora of airline and hotel loyalty programs. This point transfer feature, in particular, lends the card a lot of flexibility.
Ink Business Preferred cardholders also get a 25% point bonus when redeeming through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, which is a big plus if you’re not sure whether you’d like to transfer your points.
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The Ink Business Preferred is great because it rewards you for travel and various business essentials.
The main downside is that you can only earn in its 3X categories up to $150,000 in spending. For small businesses, that could be plenty, but bigger businesses might want to use this card alongside something less restrictive.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is expensive, and it’s easy to see why.
Its benefits are among the best in the industry, bundling the most comprehensive airport lounge access available with elite hotel statuses, various statement credits, and much more.
Its rewards are less compelling than its benefits, but they’re still solid and comparable with the Reserve’s.
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If you spend a lot on travel and don’t mind booking most (or all) of that travel through the Amex Travel portal, this could be a very lucrative card.
You get a decent bonus on points redeemed with Amex Travel, too, which ramps up the value of your rewards even further.
The information related to The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has been collected by Credit Card Insider and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, please click here.
The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business card lives up to its premium price tag with solid rewards on Delta purchases and a host of valuable benefits, including complimentary airport lounge access.
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