Delta Amex Gold Card Annual Fee Jumps to $150—Here's Who Should Keep It
· Trovlr
The Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express card just got more expensive. The annual fee jumped from $99 to $150, effective immediately for new applicants and at renewal for existing cardholders. That's a 52% increase for a card that hasn't added any new benefits to justify the hike.
The card still offers a free checked bag on Delta flights, priority boarding, and a $100 Delta flight credit after spending $10,000 in a calendar year. But at $150, the math gets tighter. You'd need to check at least two bags round-trip (at $35 each) just to break even on the fee, assuming you fly Delta exclusively.
If you're a frequent Delta flyer who checks bags, the card still makes sense—especially if you can hit the $10,000 spend for that flight credit. But casual travelers should look elsewhere. The no-annual-fee Delta Blue card still gives you 2x miles on Delta purchases, and the $150 fee on the Gold card is now dangerously close to the $250 fee on the Delta Platinum, which offers a companion certificate that can easily be worth more than the difference.
Bottom line: if you don't check a bag on at least two Delta round-trips per year, downgrade to the Blue card or switch to a different issuer. The Gold card's new fee makes it a niche product for loyal Delta bag-checkers only.
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