Cost / Benefit Analysis of my Delta Skymiles American Express Card

I already know for a fact that I get a LOT more value than the annual fee that I pay for my Delta American Express card. I have had some difficulty convincing others that it is worth it. This post will describe in detail how much I get from the card versus what I pay for having it in my wallet!

First the numbers:

Annual Fee: $150 per year

1 Delta Skymile earned for each $1 spent. 2 miles per dollar on Delta purchase. (plus various bonuses)

The Analysis:

Benefits:

• 1 Free domestic (exclude HI) companion ticket per year. Value: $200-$500.
• Free checked bag for having card. Value: $25 per flight ($50 per round trip!)
• Discounted SkyClub Acess. Value $25 (normal visit for public is $50)
• Miles earned. Value: varies but well more than $150 (up to $2000 in my case!)
• Bonus Offers. Value: varies. Lots of double miles and Elite Status offers

The free domestic companion ticket (1 person flying the exact same round trip route as you) alone is worth more than the annual fee. The waived baggage fee adds up too. You only need 3 round trips in a year on Delta to break even. The SkyClub Lounge discounted access can be well worth the $25 if you are delayed severely. Having a comfortable seat, open bar, free snacks, less crowds, nice bathrooms, free internet, and a business area can be well worth it.

In my case the miles I earn alone far exceed $150 in fees. For the past 2 years I have scored award flights to Asia and back. This would not have been possible without using this card for all of my purchases. If I had bought the tickets with cash it would have cost me a total of $3,800 for both. Using miles I only pay taxes. Even if you add in the annual fees I only paid $555 out of pocket. I got great experiences, a cheaper vacation, and saved a lot of money too!

As you can see if you take full advantage of all the travel benefits associated with an airline miles card you can get a lot for $150 per year. Having this card has also helped me to maintain my elite status with Delta which comes with it's own benefits in addition to the ones list here. I get free upgrades to first class, can book an exit row seat, and so on. Be sure to fully analyzed your reward options and get the most for your money!

Traveling For Work? Maximize your per diem!

I travel a fair bit for work and we have a per diem system to cover our meal costs on the road. In my case I get a set amount of money paid to me for each day on the road. Other employers use a system where meals are reimbursed with receipts.

In my case I simply try to spend less than I am given. Making sandwiches, bringing snacks from home, drinking more water all saves me money on the road. I normally come out ahead which is nice! I also look for groupons and half off depot coupons for eateries in the are I will be in. This is less out of my pocket and I get a better meal than a boring sandwich!

For those of you that have a set limit but have to expense there are some strategies to maximize your return. You can go to a grocery store and use your expense limit to buy stuff you can take home. I have heard of lots of travelers doing this to cut grocery costs. You can use the above mentioned online coupon method to have nicer meals than you otherwise would have if that is your desire.

I also insist on using my personal credit card for the company expenses and they reimburse me for them. My argument is that I am on the road, away from home, and on my own time as well and I deserve to reap the reward points for spending as a little "extra" compensation. In my case my company agreed to this arrangement. The points I earn add up to mostly free flights overseas for my vacation!

If you travel for work make sure you get the most out of your expense accounts! Remember you are away from home and the company should compensate you appropriately for that. The best argument: "I am away from my family for you so you can at least do X for me." This works well and is hard to argue. Happy Travels!

Meeting Credit Card Bonus Thresholds

Many rewards credit cards, such as my Delta Skymiles Platinum American Express, have spending thresholds to get some great bonuses. In my case if I spend $25,000 in a calendar year I get 10,000 bonus miles. I sometimes fall a little short.

Here is what you can do to push yourself over with little to no cost:

• Plan large purchases: You plan and time large purchase to push you over the threshold so you can earn more rewards.
  
• Purchase for friends: A lot of people hate credit cards. Make a big purchase for your friends and have them give you the cash. I do this a lot!
• US Mint: You can buy up to $250.00 per year in $1 coins with no shipping charges. If you are really close to a threshold this can be very handy. Simply deposit or use the coins!
• Work Expenses: I get to travel for work and use my personal card and get reimbursed. This can add up fast with flights, meals, car rental, etc. Take Advantage!

Most of these things can be done by anyone. Keep and eye on your thresholds and if you are close and nearing the end of the year try to use these strategies to get your bonuses. They really add up over time!

Don't forget your points!

These days their are rewards programs for just about anything you can imagine. Cash back, airline miles, hotel stays, coffee, gasoline, and the list goes on and on. The problem with having so many programs is that we get signed up and sometimes forget. They are very difficult to track!

I am writing this post to remind everyone to check on your points balances. A lot of them expire so we need to use them if we can to maximize what we get from them. A lot of programs offer great rewards such as American Express gift cards, restaurant gift cards, and even popular items such as iPods.

Make sure to check all of your balances and use them! Here is a quick list of what I got from points I had sitting around:

• $25 AMEX gift card (Chase Freedom)
  
• $25 paid toward my student loans (Citi ThankYou)
  
• $25 Home Depot gift card (Chase Freedom)
  
• A free flight home for a friend for Christmas (Delta Skymiles Amex)

As you can see this can really add up! Don't leave money on the table. Cash in your points!

Credit Card Review: Delta Skymiles Platinum American Express

I have been carrying this card for a long time and I love to travel. Getting 1 mile for each dollar spent allows me to use miles for my vacation airfare and save tons. I use miles for all of my vacation flights and still add to my balance. I take advantage of all of the bonus offers that come my way, too.

I decided to post this review as AMEX's site makes it fairly difficult to get all of the details on the benefits you get from the card. I have dug through it and highlighted the major benefits here. I am normally not a fan of annual fees but this card is the exception for me. It carries a fee of $150 per year which sounds steep until you add up the benefits you get.

The major benefits are:

• Earning Delta Skymiles - This is the most obvious but their are some details behind it. Any Delta purchase gets 2 miles per dollar spent. All others get 1 mile per dollar spent. There are bonus thresholds of $25k and $50k in spending where you get 10,000 bonus miles and elite qualifying miles for each milestone.
  
• Pay With Miles Option - Delta allows you to use your banked miles to pay for all or part of your purchase. This is handy because for each 10,000 miles you apply it is $100 off the ticket price. The minimum you can use is 10,000 and increments of 5,000 ($50) after that. This is only available to Delta AMEX Gold or higher cardholders.
• No Partner Airline Award Ticket Fee - Delta charges a $20 fee if you book an award ticket (using miles) if it is on another airline aside from Delta (for example Air France). As a cardholder this is waved! $20 per airline can add up!
• Fee-Free Amex Gift Cards - The usually carry a fee but are free to all AMEX cardholders most of the time.
• Fee-Free Traveler's Checks - I don't use these much but it can be handy if you are going somewhere that has little or no ATM access.
• Bonus Offers - Delta AMEX cardholders get constant bonus miles offers from Delta. Right now, for instance, you get double all miles flown through the end of the year.
• Fraud Protection - AMEX is one of the best companies when it comes to reversing charges with little hassle.
• Free overnight delivery if card is lost or stolen - I have used this a couple of times. They will overnight you a new card at no charge if needed (inside the USA).

This card has other smaller benefits that I don't utilize as much. The ones above I have found to be most important and well worth the $150 annual fee as an avid international traveler. I also travel for work so I earn even more miles and extras from Delta as well. Being based in Atlanta Delta is the best overall choice for me.

I am no longer immediately turned off by annual fee cards. I do my own analysis and see if I get more than the cost of the annual fee back in things that are actually useful to me. With so many different rewards cards out there you have endless options. Find a card that fits what you enjoy most and go for it. Just be sure to pay the balance every month!

Problem: You are battling credit card debt but must have one for work

I have been working as a traveling project manager for over 2 years now. One of my conditions of employment is that I must have a credit card that I use for business expenses and get reimbursed. This is great because I get to earn rewards from the card but also tough as I am paying off credit card balances as well from the past.

A lot of get out of credit card debt guides say you should cut up all of your cards and use cash. I am writing this article for those of us who do not have that luxury. Some of us simply must have at least 1 credit card due to work requirements.

Solution:

My approach to this issue is to have one card that is $0 balance and stays free of any personal debt or purchases. Once you start mixing business transactions with personal debt balances you can get into a messy high interest situation. If you are carrying a balance on the card then you will also pay interest on the business transactions too. This can skyrocket fast!

Personally I have 1 American Express card that I use for business expenses only. This makes it really easy to see how much the company owes me at any one time. Once I get my check for reimbursement it also makes it easy to find a discrepancy, if any. If what I get doesn't match the card balance then something is definitely off. Mistakes do happen and you could end up paying for a business expense. Be sure to watch it closely!

It is great to be able to earn reward points for business purchases which can be used later on for gift cards, travel, cash back, or just about anything you like. With a wide variety of rewards cards out there you have endless options available to you. Using this strategy of a dedicated card for business will make paying of debt easier to track and less headache in the long run.

Use ThankYou Points for student loan payments

This nice little gem I stumbled upon when I got a new credit card from Citibank. I have the Citi PremierPass Mastercard that gives 1 ThankYou point per dollar spent. 2500 points gets me a $25 check that I can forward onto my student loan lender for payment. This is great because I can pay down my loans for money that I spend already. It is like getting free money!

This is a little known fact about the ThankYou program so I highly recommend it for anyone who has student loan debt. So far I have gotten $125 toward my student loans that I otherwise would not have gotten--not to bad for doing nothing but spending normally! Only catch is that you have to call their customer service to get the check mailed to you which you then forward to your lender. It is made out directly to your lender so all you have to do is put your account number in it and mail it out.

Details on the ThankYou program are found here. You need an eligible Citi account to participate. The only exception is signing up through Expedia and booking travel to earn points (and no other way to earn unless you have the aforementioned account). You can use the points for lots of other things such as electronics and gift cards too. It is a great program and most of the credit cards that carry it have no annual fee. Check it out!