Delta Soars

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When it comes to travel rewards credit cards, I tend to like the general cards that allow you to earn miles on a variety of airlines. But if you travel on a specific airline most of the time, using an airline-branded credit card can work out nicely for you.

If you fly Delta frequently, the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express offers some very good rewards. For starters, you can earn 30,000 Bonus Miles after spending $1,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months and a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months.

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You get double SkyMiles for every $1 spent on Delta purchases and one SkyMile for every $1 spent on everything else. The rewards program isn’t straightforward so take the time to understand how it works so you can take advantage of it. For instance, the “pay with miles” option works a little differently depending on how much your ticket costs. You can get SkyMiles details here.

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OK, you get some pretty darn good savings and travel perks with this card. Here are a few:

You first bag is checked for free and that freebie extends to up to nine people in your reservation. On Delta, this saves you (and each person in your reservation) $50 per round-trip flight.
You get Zone 2 priority boarding on Delta flights. This offer also extends to up to nine people in the same reservation. This is a big deal if you have a carry-on bag. You get access to the overhead bins early.
You get 20% savings on in-flight food and entertainment.
Many flights offer Wi-Fi access.

The costs of the card are pretty much in line with what I’m seeing from other airline-branded cards right now. But my advice with all rewards cards is to pay your balance off every month or you’ll throw your rewards away paying interest.

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Here are the basics:

Purchase APR:
based on your creditworthiness. (The rates are the same for balance transfers plus a 3% transaction fee; if you have excellent credit, you can find a better card for a balance transfer).

Foreign transaction fee: 2.7%

Annual fee: Waived for the first year; after that, it’s $95 a year.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. At publishing time, the Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express is offered on Credit.com product pages and Credit.com is compensated if our users apply for and ultimately sign up for these cards through the American Express Affiliate Program. However, this relationship does not result in any preferential editorial treatment.

Image: xlibber, via Flickr