Best cards that earn Delta SkyMiles
Every open US card in our database that pays out in Delta SkyMiles — 7 of them — ranked by what a dollar of spending is actually worth back: the printed rate times our conservative 1.15¢ value, not the raw multiplier.
There is no clear winner among Delta SkyMiles cards. Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card both land on exactly 3.5¢ back per dollar, which is inside the error bar on any point valuation — so calling either one the best would be inventing a result the data doesn't support. Decide on the annual fee, the caps and where the rest of your spending actually goes.
Reviewed: Data verified 2026-09-15 · Credit Upside editorial · Updated 2026-09-16 · How we rank
Featured cards
All 7 cards that earn Delta SkyMiles, with what each one is actually best at. Tap any card to jump to its row.
- 1 Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card — Best overall for earning Delta SkyMiles: 3x on hotels, $350 a year — 3.5¢ back per dollar
- 2 Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card — 3x on hotels, $350 a year — 3.5¢ back per dollar
- 3 Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card — Best with no annual fee: 2x on dining, no annual fee — 2.3¢ back per dollar
- 4 Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card — 2x on shipping up to $50,000/year, $150 a year — 2.3¢ back per dollar
- 5 Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card — 2x on dining, $150 a year — 2.3¢ back per dollar
- 6 Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card — 1.5x on transit, $650 a year — 1.7¢ back per dollar
- 7 Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card — 1x on everything, $650 a year — 1.1¢ back per dollar
Ranked by real value, not multiplier
| # | Card | Headline rate | Real value | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
American Express · business |
3x on hotels | 3.5¢/$ | $350 |
| 2 | Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
American Express |
3x on hotels | 3.5¢/$ | $350 |
| 3 | Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card
American Express |
2x on dining | 2.3¢/$ | None |
| 4 | Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
American Express · business |
2x on shipping | 2.3¢/$ | $150 |
| 5 | Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
American Express |
2x on dining | 2.3¢/$ | $150 |
| 6 | Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
American Express · business |
1.5x on transit 3x at Delta only — not ranked |
1.7¢/$ | $650 |
| 7 | Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
American Express |
1x base rate 3x at Delta only — not ranked |
1.1¢/$ | $650 |
Headline rate is each card's best bonus rate that pays anywhere in its category. A rate that only pays at one brand or through one portal (14x at Hilton, 8x on United fares, 5x via Chase Travel) is printed in grey and excluded from the ranking — it is a loyalty rate, not a category rate. Real value is the headline rate × 1.15¢.
Co-brand rates — only at their own brand
7 brand-locked rates across these cards. Each is real if that is where you spend — Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card really does pay 3x at Delta, worth 3.5¢ per dollar at our 1.15¢ value — and pays nothing extra anywhere else, which is why none of them set a card's headline rate above.
| Card | Rate — where it pays | Value there |
|---|---|---|
| Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card | 3x on flights at Delta only | 3.5¢/$ |
| Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card | 3x on flights at Delta only | 3.5¢/$ |
| Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card | 3x on flights at Delta only | 3.5¢/$ |
| Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card | 3x on flights at Delta only | 3.5¢/$ |
| Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card | 2x on flights at Delta only | 2.3¢/$ |
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card | 2x on flights at Delta only | 2.3¢/$ |
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card | 2x on flights at Delta only | 2.3¢/$ |
What these actually pay on a year of hotels
A rate is a promise about one dollar. This is the same ranking run over 9 real hotels charges totalling $2,891 — our sample year — scored one charge at a time by the same engine the app uses on your own statement. Caps, category rules and point values all apply; nothing is annualised or rounded up.
| Card | Earned on $2,891 | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card | $100 | 3.45% |
| Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card | $100 | 3.45% |
On this spending these cards finish within $0 of each other, which is worth knowing: the ranking above is real but the difference is not material at this level of spend. Your own charges are what matter, and the app scores those rather than a sample.
What Delta SkyMiles are worth
We value Delta SkyMiles at a conservative 1.15¢ per point — the same number the optimizer scores your charges with, and deliberately not the best-case figure a points blog would quote. Delta SkyMiles live inside one airline's programme — powerful for that airline's awards, and worth nothing anywhere else. Above a penny, so a point here beats a cash-back point — if you redeem near that value.
Which one should you carry?
On paper Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card earns the most per dollar at its headline rate, but it charges $350 a year — money you have to earn back before the higher rate is worth anything. The best no-fee option is Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card at 2.3¢ per dollar. A headline rate only pays on the category it names, so the card that earns you the most Delta SkyMiles is the one whose bonus categories match your actual spending — which is the whole reason we built the optimizer instead of a top-ten list.
How we rank
One arithmetic rule, applied by code to our maintained card database. There is no editorial pick, no hand-ordering and no sponsored slot.
- Printed earn rate. Each card's best non-portal bonus rate — its headline rate — as printed by the issuer. Where a card has no bonus category, its base rate is used instead, and the table says which.
- Conservative point value. Every rate is multiplied by our conservative 1.15¢ value for Delta SkyMiles, the same number the optimizer scores real spending with. Because every card here earns the same currency, that value cannot change the order — it sets the scale, and it is what lets you compare this page against a guide for a different currency. Every point value we use, published →
- Annual fee. Printed against every card and used to break ties. The best fee-free earner is Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card at 2.3¢ per dollar.
- Caps and limits. Where a headline rate stops after a spending cap, the cap is on the card's own page. Check it before treating a high rate as your everyday rate.
- Pool and cutoff. 221 open US cards are in our database; 7 of them pay out in Delta SkyMiles and qualify. All 7 are ranked above; there is no cutoff on this page.
- Rotating and pick-your-own categories. Kept out of the headline ranking, because they only pay in the right quarter or with the right election. Issuer-travel-portal-only rates are excluded for the same reason: they pay only if you book through the portal.
- Commission. The ranking code has no access to which cards pay us a commission — the ordering function never reads the affiliate file. Any apply link is attached after the order is already fixed, so it cannot move a card up or down. How that works.
Full methodology, including how each point value is set: how we value points and rank cards →
Common questions
Which credit cards earn Delta SkyMiles?
7 open US cards in our database earn Delta SkyMiles: Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card and more. Ranked by real value — the printed rate times our 1.15¢ per point valuation — Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card both land on exactly 3.5¢ back per dollar, so neither is clearly the best; choose on the annual fee and on which bonus categories match your spending.
How much is a Delta SkyMiles point worth?
Credit Upside values Delta SkyMiles at 1.15¢ per point, a conservative mid-range estimate and the same figure the optimizer scores real spending with.
Which Delta SkyMiles card has no annual fee?
Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card from American Express charges no annual fee and earns 2x on dining, worth 2.3¢ per dollar. It ranks #3 of the 7 cards here.
Is a big Delta SkyMiles multiplier better than plain cash back?
Often, yes — at 1.15¢ a point, Delta SkyMiles are worth more than a cash-back cent, so the same multiplier earns more here. That only holds if you redeem near that value; redeem for a gift card at half a cent and the advantage disappears.
Do these rankings depend on commissions?
No. The code that orders this page reads printed earn rates, our point values, annual fees and caps — it has no access to which cards pay us a commission. Brand-locked and portal-only rates are excluded from the headline rate, because they only pay at one brand or through one portal — they are listed separately on this page with where each one pays.
Which card should this spending actually be on? The demo re-scores a year of realistic spending against every card in a wallet — free, no signup. See it on sample data →
More guides
Every guide on this site is built by the same code from the same card database, so the numbers on one page mean exactly what they mean on another. Jump sideways:
All 70 best-card guides → · Best card for a specific store or bill →
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