American Express
On $1,000 a month of spending, split evenly across restaurants, travel, groceries and everything else: yes.
18,000 points a year at 1.37¢ = $247, $440 of credits you'd actually use, minus the $650 annual fee = $37 a year. The 100,000-point welcome bonus adds $1,370 in year one.
That is a worked example, not a figure about you — we have no idea what you spend. Put your own numbers in and the same arithmetic runs on those.
| On | Rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and takeaway | 1× Delta SkyMiles | none |
| Flights, hotels and transport | 3× Delta SkyMiles | none |
| Groceries | 1× Delta SkyMiles | none |
| Everything else | 1× Delta SkyMiles | none |
3x on Delta purchases. Everything else earns 1x.
Delta SkyMiles points are worth about 1.37 cents each on our published table, our own. What Delta SkyMiles points are worth →
100,000 Delta SkyMiles — about $1,370 — after $6,000 of spending in 6 months. The example spending above clears that.
Credits count for $440 in the sum above — what a typical holder actually redeems, not the sticker value of every credit on the page. $240 a year of Resy dining credit in monthly pieces plus $200 of Delta Stays credit. The companion certificate is worth far more than this to some people and nothing to others, so it is not counted.
Apply for Delta SkyMiles Reserve ↗
We may earn a commission if you apply through us, and it does not change the arithmetic above — a card that pays us nothing is scored identically. How we make money. Card terms as of 2026-09-18; check the issuer's page before applying.