Airline Credit Cards Updated Comparison: mid annual-fee versions (2024 edition)

The next step up from the entry-level cards is the mid-tier cards. These cards have fees that range from $199 to $350. Amex just revamped the Delta Platinum Card and raised its fee to $350, which is noticeably higher than the competitors’ cards.

The main competitors card is United’s Quest card from Chase ($250).  American doesn’t currently have a mid-tier credit card, so I’ve included the Aviator Silver card ($199) here for comparison, but it’s not currently open to new applications.  If you have an Aviator Red card, it can be upgraded to the Aviator Silver card after being open for at least a year.

I provide the information here just to give readers a vague idea if the rewards offered by the card might make sense for them to consider the card.  All information should be confirmed with the card company before applying.

Welcome Offers

The Aviator Silver card has no welcome offer, so instead I’ll include the Aviator Red card’s welcome offer.  American’s Aviator Red card offers 50 000 bonus miles (~$650) after making your first purchase.  Delta’s Platinum card offers 50 000 bonus miles (~$550) after you spend $3 000 in the first 3 months.  United’s Quest card offers 60 000 bonus miles (~$660), as well as 500 premier qualifying points after you spend $4 000 in the first 3 months.  The annual fees are not waived on any of the cards.

The winner here is the United card because it offers the most miles but has a higher minimum spend.  This earns United’s card 5 points.  Delta earns 3 points, and American earns 1 point because the bonus isn’t actually for the Aviator Silver card.

Points earnings

For all these cards, the best multiplier is offered on direct airline purchases.  American’s Aviator Silver card offers 3x miles on American and 2x miles on hotels and car rentals.  Delta’s Platinum card offers 3x miles on Delta and at hotels and 2x on dining and groceries.  United’s Quest card offers 3x miles on United as well as 2x miles on non-airfare travel, dining, and select streaming services.  All cards offer 1 mile/$ on everything else.

The Quest card strictly has better bonus categories than the Aviator card, but American miles are somewhat more valuable than United miles.  Delta’s card offering 3x on hotels makes it the winner in that category, but it’s hard to directly compare it with United’s 2x miles on non-airfare travel.  Delta’s groceries category is better than United’s ‘select streaming services’.  I’ll give 5 points to Delta, 3 points to United, and 1 point to American. 

Elite earnings

The Aviator Silver cards has the typical earning of 1 loyalty point per $1 spent.  This means if you spent $40 000 on the card, you’d get entry-level Gold Status on American.  You can also get up to 15 000 additional Loyalty Points after qualifying spend each year.

The Delta Platinum card offers a boost of 2 500 MQD just for having the card each year as well as 1 MQD per $20 you spend on the card.  That means if you spend $50 000 on the card, you’d be granted entry-level Medallion Silver status thanks to the boost. Without the boost, you’d need to spend $100 000.

The United Quest card offers 25 PQP per $500 spent on the card (up to a maximum of 6 000 PQP). This means if you spent $100 000 on the card, you’d be granted entry-level Premier Silver status, which is actually an improvement from last time I looked into this but is still extremely weak. United improved their cards’ PQP earnings specifically to match Delta’s rate.

The American card wins (5 points), followed by the Delta card (3 points), and then the United card (1 point).

Benefits

As is often the case, with higher annual fee credit cards, the benefits on these cards are generally much stronger than the free/low annual fee cards. 

The Aviator Silver Card offers up to $25 back per day on inflight food/beverages as well as $50 on inflight Wi-Fi each year. The card also offers preferred boarding (group 5) and a first checked bag free (for you + 8 others), a Global Entry application fee credit, and a Companion Certificate (buy one, get one for $99) after spending $20k in a year.

After the recent refresh, the Delta Platinum card still offers an annual companion certificate automatically with renewal (in main cabin), a first checked bag free, a Global Entry Credit, and 20% back on in-flight purchases. Now, it also offers a $150 Delta Stays credit, which can be used on pre-paid hotels booked through Delta. It also offers two $10/month credits at Resy ($120/year total) and on Rideshares (an additional $120/year total).

The United card offers $125 in United credits each year, two 5,000 rebates when redeeming miles, free first and second checked bags, priority boarding, a Global Entry Credit, 25% back on United inflight food/beverages and on ‘premium’ (alcoholic) drinks in the United Club, and premier upgrades on award tickets.

The Delta Platinum card’s perks are definitely the strongest, but also the most annoying to use and keep track of, but it’s hard to beat an automatic companion certificate (5 points). The Aviator Silver

The Delta Platinum card’s automatic companion certificate is probably the best benefit (5 points).  The Aviator Silver has strong perks on WiFi and inflight food/beverages, as well as a spend-based companion certificate (3 points). The United Quest card gives you some solid perks on United to cover the annual fee, but there’s no way to get outsized value from them (2 points).

How to use the points

The main use for earning airlines points is to redeem them for flights on the respective airline.  In general, American has the best redemption opportunities because they still use an award chart, rather than dynamic pricing, for redemptions on partners.  United is generally the next best because of its Star Alliance partners, but United has really been devaluing its miles recently and has lost a big step.  Delta’s miles are generally worth the least, but this card does offer a 15% discount on award tickets, which helps improve the points’ value.

In terms of redeeming the miles, American comes first (5 points), United and Delta tie for second (3 points).

Which of these cards is/are right for you?

These cards are all pretty good for someone who travels on one of these airlines at least somewhat regularly.  Since the fees for these cards are somewhat high (especially the Delta Platinum), it’s harder to make these cards work than simply checking a bag a couple times, especially if you don’t fly in the main cabin.  If you hold higher than entry-level elite status with one of the airlines, the usefulness will probably be determined by how much value you can pull out of the enhanced perks compared to the low-annual fee cards. One point to note is that if you’re interested in using credit card spend to help you earn status with Delta, then you need to get at least the Delta Platinum card (but the Delta Reserve is probably the better option).

The winner this time around is the Delta Platinum card (19/25) because of its strong benefits followed by the Aviator Silver Card (15/25) and then the United Quest Card (14/25).

However, I think any of these cards can make sense if you are loyal to one of these airlines because all of them give benefits that on their respective airline that should justify the annual fee.