What Delta Amex Card Retention Offers Are Out There?

SkyMiles co-branded American Express cards no doubt provide a lot of value and perks for frequent Delta flyers. However, with the recent hike in annual fees, you may be tempted to cancel your SkyMiles Card. But wait: Before you cancel, you should weigh all your options, including downgrading to a lower (or no) annual fee card instead.

Still convinced that canceling is the best move for you? There’s one more thing you should do: Ask for a retention offer.

Retention offers are a great way to earn bonus SkyMiles just for keeping your card open. Any time a bank makes customer-unfriendly moves like raising a card’s annual fee or removing benefits it’s a good time to ask for a little something extra. Just what the bank will offer you (if anything at all) will vary. So far we’ve seen reports of up to a whopping 90,000 SkyMiles for keeping your Delta card open and spending a few thousand dollars on it. That’s like getting a new card welcome offer all over again!

Critically, you have to ask for a retention offer: Don’t expect the bank to come to you offering a bonus. Remember … the worst they can say is no.

These are the retention offers we’re seeing on Delta credit cards, and how to determine whether a detention offer is worth holding your Delta card for another year.

Read more: Retention Offers & How to Get More Out of Renewing Your Credit Cards

Delta Card Retention Offers We’re Seeing

Welcome to the lucrative world of retention offers: Bonus miles, statement credits, or discounted annual fees credit card companies will offer you if re-up your credit card again when you’re ready to cancel. You can ask for a retention offer anytime, but when any bank raises annual fees or cuts benefits is typically when we see bigger and better retention offers.

With new welcome offer restrictions added to the SkyMiles family of cards making it harder for cardholders to earn a big pool of points, these retention offer bonuses are more vital than ever.

In the past, we’ve rarely seen any worthwhile retention offers – or anything at all – on Delta’s co-branded credit cards. But that’s not the case right now. After Amex announced new benefits and higher annual fees on the suite of SkyMiles credit cards earlier this month, it’s clear they put a plan in place to keep existing cardholders on the hook for another year … or more.

Keep in mind that not every cardholder will be targeted for a retention offer. If you are, the offer that you get may not reflect what’s listed here or what other cardholders are getting. Knowing what offers are out there can help you determine whether what Amex will give you is worth keeping your card…or whether you’re better off moving forward with a product change or canceling altogether.

Delta SkyMiles Gold Card

For the *delta skymiles gold card*, it’s been reported that Amex is offering cardholders a retention bonus of 10,000 SkyMiles after spending $1,000 within three months. For a card with an annual fee of now $150 (see rates & fees), that’s about as good as one can expect.

Still, some longtime cardholders who spend heavily might be offered something better – or nothing at all. Such is the way these retention offers go.

Learn more about the *delta skymiles gold card*.

Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card

With a new $350 annual fee (see rates & fees), the mid-tier *delta skymiles platinum card* has crept into a price range once reserved for ultra-premium cards. Along with the higher annual fee, Amex added several statement credits for things like Delta Stays hotel reservations, rideshares, and Resy dining. Still, that new fee is a tough pill to swallow and likely has many rethinking the card.

Last week, our co-founder Nick got a decent retention offer on his SkyMiles Platinum Card: 25,000 bonus SkyMiles for keeping the card open and spending $2,000 within three months.

He’s not alone: Thrifty Traveler Premium members have also reported receiving the same offer while others are getting offers as high as 30,000 SkyMiles for the same spending requirements … or 18,000 SkyMiles for spending $1,000 within three months.

This is far more lucrative than the historical 7,500 SkyMiles retention offer Premium members were seeing on this card before the changes.

We haven’t had any readers report receiving the 40,000 SkyMiles retention offer, but it certainly exists – and sometimes you’ll get an option for a $225 statement credit. Several people have even a 70,000 SkyMiles offer! Not too shabby.

Learn more about the *delta skymiles platinum card*

Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card

Retention offers have been even better for travelers with the top-tier *delta reserve card*. One of our readers reported receiving an offer of 90,000 SkyMiles after spending $4,000 in three months. That’s better than most welcome offers for opening a brand-new credit card! Another person posted the same offer on Reddit but only had to spend $3,000 over three months to get those bonus miles.

We’ve also seen reports of someone getting a slightly lower retention offer of 60,000 SkyMiles for spending at least $3,000 within three months.

Amex is also allegedly offering some cardholders a $1,200 statement credit for keeping their card open for another year. If you’re one of these people, do let us know!

It’s safe to say the offers are all over the board but the more expensive your Delta Card, the more likely Amex wants to keep you as a customer.

Learn more about the *delta reserve card*.

How to Ask for a Retention Offer

How do you go about asking for one? It goes like this:

• Log into your Amex account and start a chat, saying you’re considering canceling your Delta card – or call Amex’s designated retention department at 1-800-528-4800
• Explain to the agent you’re unhappy with the annual fee increase and no longer feel it’s worth paying for unless there’s a retention offer that will incentivize you to keep it for another year
• Prepare for a long-winded explanation of all your card’s new benefits, then tell them you don’t value those benefits and would like to cancel unless there’s a retention offer that will incentivize you to keep it for another year
• Cross your fingers and wait for something good.

While it’s not necessary, many people will wait until their annual fee hits (or is about to) for additional leverage when asking for a retention offer. That makes good sense in theory, but these offers are typically set in stone: You’re either targeted for a retention offer…or you’re not. It varies by what card you have and how long you’ve had it, how much you spend on it per year, and other factors. If you’ve accepted a retention offer on a card in recent years, you may not get another one for a while.

But why not try to see what you might get from Amex before making a final decision?

Bottom Line

Whether you’re on the fence about closing your card (or even if you’re not), it’s worth trying for a retention offer before paying another year’s annual fee. Don’t leave valuable SkyMiles on the table by racing out to close the card or downgrade to a no-fee version.