I haven't seen this one talked about at all, but I've created my own little trifecta of Amex Cards. I've had the Amex gold for a while now, and have been doing a lot of domestic travel, so I've been transferring my MR to Delta for economy seats. I've gotten as high as 1.6 cpp before, but that's rare, so for the calculations let's just say between 1 and 1.5 cpp to be conservative.
When redeemed for delta skymiles, the gold is earning you between 4x and 6x back on Groceries and restaurants. The credits are debatable on the gold, you could theoretically get $424 worth of value from them for a $325 AF, but let's again be conservative and just imagine that you break even and the card is effectively feeless.
Now you can add a BBP as a catch-all card and get 2 MR back which would be worth between 2x and 3x when redeemed for skymiles.
But here's the last peice of the puzzle – the delta gold business. It has a $150 AF, but also a $150 delta stays credit so again $0 EAF. When you have the card and book flights with skymiles, you get a 15% points boost, meaning you need 15% LESS skymiles to get the flight. So now, the BBP is earning between 2.3x and 3.45x and the gold is earning 4.6x to 6.9x back, all for $0 EAF.
Obviously this setup isn't for everyone, you gotta be traveling enough and actually make use of the credits for it to work. You could also add any MR earning card to the rotation
Anyone else have the Amex Delta Trifecta?
byu/No_Ant_5064 inCreditCards
Posted by No_Ant_5064
1 Comment
I would lean more towards the Delta Platinum since it gets you 3x on all hotels. All Delta cards save 15% on award fares, Platinum included. Plus the AF is easy to cover with the $150 Stays credit, rideshare and Resy credits, and companion fare (if you travel with a +1 regularly). Throw in the Delta Reserve for another companion fare, automatic silver medallion status if you have both, and lounge access – if those are important to you.
If you don’t value the companion pass though, the Delta Gold Business looks like a good option.