Personal Finance Insider writes about products, strategies, and tips to help you make smart decisions with your money. Business Insider may receive a commission from The Points Guy Affiliate Network, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.There's a limited-time offer available for the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express.This is the highest public welcome bonus we have seen for the card!The Platinum Delta AmEx is a great option for regular Delta flyers and includes a first free checked bag, bonus points on Delta purchases, and the ability to earn Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs).Read more: Delta has announced limited-time offers for all three of its personal AmEx credit cardsthe welcome bonuses are double what they're normally worthIf you've been thinking about getting a new credit card, now might be the time to consider the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express. Currently, the card has a limited-time offer available to the public with an all-time-high welcome bonus.Let's go through all the benefits of the $195-a-year Platinum Delta AmEx to see who will find the card to be worth it.Welcome bonusThrough April 3, 2019, the Platinum Delta AmEx is offering an increased welcome bonus of 75,000 Delta SkyMiles plus 5,000 Medallion Qualifying Dollars after you spend $3,000 in purchases with your new card within your first three months as a cardholder. Earning pointsThe card earns 2 Delta miles per dollar spent on purchases made directly with Delta. This includes flight purchases on Delta.com as well as Delta Sky Club membership and one-day passes, Delta Vacation Packages, seat upgrades, and in-flight purchases. All other purchases will earn 1 Delta mile per dollar spent.Bonus SkyMiles and Medallion Qualifying MilesIf qualifying for Delta Medallion status is a goal of yours, but you are falling short of the status level you want, you'll be happy to know that you can earn additional Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) with your Platinum Delta AmEx. When you sign up for the card and complete the minimum spending requirement, you'll earn 5,000 MQMs, but you also have the opportunity to earn more. If you make at least $25,000 in purchases on your card within a calendar year, you'll earn 10,000 bonus SkyMiles and 10,000 bonus MQMs. Better yet, you can actually do this twice! If you spend $25,000 more (or $50,000 total) within a calendar year, you'll earn another bonus of 10,000 SkyMiles and 10,000 MQMs in addition to all of the miles you normally earn for your spending.Read more: 9 lucrative credit-card deals new cardholders can get this monthincluding up to 75,000 Delta SkyMilesCompanion ticketOne of the most valuable benefits of the Platinum Delta AmEx is the annual companion ticket you'll earn each year you renew your card. Unfortunately, you won't get this benefit when you first get your Platinum Delta AmEx; you'll have to wait a full year for it. That said, the wait is worth it according to senior reporter David Slotnick who recently used his companion ticket to pick up his new puppy and bring him home! Your companion ticket is valid on a domestic Main Cabin (better known as economy class) round-trip ticket and allows a companion to fly with you for only the cost of taxes and fees ($5.60 each way for most flights). This pretty much works out to a buy-one-get-one ticket that you'll be given every single year you renew your card. This perk alone can easily make paying the card's $195 annual fee worth it, since any flight over $200 including taxes is going to be better than breakeven. And if we're thinking critically here, it's pretty common to see flights over that price point within the US.If you want to read more about the companion ticket, check out this article.Read more: Gold, Platinum, or Reserve: We break down which Delta AmEx credit card gets flyers the most valueOther card benefitsIn addition to the main credit card benefits highlighted above, the Platinum Delta AmEx has a few others that are worth a mention:No foreign transaction feesFirst checked bag freeMain Cabin 1 priority boardingDiscounted $29-per-visit access to Delta Sky Clubs20% in-flight savings on food, drinks, and audio headsetsBaggage insuranceRead more: Having a Delta credit card gets you a free checked bag every time you fly the airlinehere's how to use the perkWhat can I use the welcome bonus for'A 75,000-mile bonus is better than we usually see on the Platinum Delta AmEx, and it is higher than most other credit card bonuses that are currently available. Let's take a quick look at a couple of examples of where this bonus can take you. Delta offers one-way awards within the US for as low as 5,000 SkyMiles. This price point is typically for pretty short flights like Seattle to San Francisco, but nonetheless, you could book 15 of these flights with the sign-up bonus from this one credit card.Flights on Virgin Australia Airlines from the US to the South Pacific start at just 55,000 miles each way in economy. You won't have enough miles for the round-trip flight from the welcome bonus alone, but with a little bit of flying Delta and using your new credit card, you should be able to save up the extra 35,000 miles in no time.If you're looking for a bit of luxury, you can book Air France business class from the US to Europe for 75,000 miles each way. In general, if you want to fly in business class with Air France, your best bet is going to be to book quite a bit in advance. Generally, Delta has access to Air France's award space starting 331 days before the flight.Read more: 7 travel-rewards credit cards that'll reimburse your Global Entry fee every 4 yearsShould I apply'Just like with any credit card or other financial decision, you should think about whether or not a specific decision is right for you. I can't answer that question for you, but I can help give you some direction.The first thing you should consider is whether or not you can make use of the annual companion ticket you'll earn by keeping your Platinum Delta AmEx open after the first year. If you think you'll fly Delta with a companion at least once a year, there's a good chance that the card will be breakeven or better for you. Even if you occasionally have to redeem your companion ticket for a slightly less expensive flight, you'll probably do pretty well in the long run. Just don't forget about it and let it expire! If you're not sure about the companion ticket that doesn't mean that you shouldn't get the cardjust that it's a little bit harder of a call. If you like to (or need to) fly on Delta but don't have status, the free checked bag benefit can easily cover the card's annual fee. If you check a bag on a round-trip, domestic flight, you'll pay $60 just for that one trip. That means that even if you don't value any of the other benefits of the Platinum Delta AmEx, you will still break even after seven one-way flights.Finally, there's, of course, the welcome bonus to consider. While it might not make the most sense to get this card for the welcome bonus alone, you can definitely take a year to think about and test out the other benefits of the card. The value you'll get from any of the award flight bookings we mentioned above will easily cover the card's $195 annual fee, and Delta SkyMiles never expire so you'll have plenty of time to use them.Click here to learn more about the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express from Insider Picks' partner, The Points GuyJoin the conversation about this story
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