In an interview with Ric Elias (CEO of Red Ventures) that was posted on TPG, Delta’s President Glen Hauenstein shared that the American Express Delta cards would be refreshed:
For those of you who do have a Delta card — we’ll be relaunching [it], and not diminishing the value, but increasing the value. So, if you don’t have one… maybe you should think about it!
This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as American Express is in the process of refreshing the whole card line up. For example it’s expected that the American Express Green card will be refreshed in June/July and we’ve already seen the Gold Card and Platinum cards get refreshed as well. Earlier in the week it was announced that American Express & Delta had renewed their co-branded partnership until 2029.
Delta wants to double the revenue they make from this partnership from $3.4 billion in 2018 to $7 billion in 2023, given that aggressive growth target I’m hoping we see real improvements in the Delta card portfolio American Express offers. That being said when loyalty programs say something definitely isn’t a devaluation and value is being increase I’m always incredibly skeptical. Last year they also sent out a survey and some of the things being considered were:
- Lyft credits, $10/month or $200/year
- Price protection on flights, if the price changes within 10 days of booking you automatically get refunded
- Extended free cancellation up to 1 week after booking
- 0% APR periods for Delta purchases
- 2x earning on gas, groceries, or restaurants
- 2-5x earning on all travel
- 3-5x earning on Delta
- Waived guest fees on SkyClub access with Reserve
- Upgrade priority with Reserve regardless of Medallion status
