The Card That Earns 2 Delta Miles Per Dollar on All Spending

by Gary Leff

There’s actually a card that earns 2 Delta miles per dollar on all spending. I never knew this card even existed.

It’s the Canadian co-brand Delta card issued by Capital One.

Usually I think of our Neighbors to the North as being at a relative miles and points disadvantage. They don’t have as much competition in their loyalty programs as we do in the U.S. That’s why it didn”t surprise me that I considered Air Canada’s Aeroplan the most devalued airline frequent flyer program in North America, even before their most recent devaluations.

I suppose though if you’re focusing your marketing on Canadians, and want them to accrue Delta Skymiles, that you’re going to have to be pretty aggressive with rewards.

And the interesting thing here is that the card is offered by Capital One. In the US they don’t have co-brand frequent flyer partnerships, but they do have a business model of spending a great deal in rewarding their members (I just find that their Venture Rewards program doesn’t offer the leverage that miles and points earning does.

So with Delta as a co-brand partner in Canada, and spending quite a lot, it’s possible to offer 2 miles per (Canadian) dollar.

(HT: Dov P.)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Also way fewer opportunities to “game” this in Canada, which I’m sure Cap 1 is well aware of.

    Would be more interesting if there was no forex fee. Then at least you could bring the card over the border and MS with it here.

  2. Signed up earlier this week for this card. With a 25k signup bonus its definitely worth it.

    If you live close to a border town serviced by Delta, this card might be worth your while. Direct flights YUL or SYR –> ATL direct can be easily $1000+ round trip. I’ve seen good availability at the 25k point level. In this case, $12,500 spend on the card would get you a $1000-1500 flight (8-12% cashback equivalent).

  4. I actually have this card and there’s only a 15,000 sign up bonus. It’s not a good card because the annual fee is $120 and there’s a 3% forex fee involved as Jason listed. So you’re effectively paying $120 for the 15,000 bonus points.

    Al, you cannot get this card unless you have a Canadian social, and you have to have excellent credit. Capital One’s Canada clientele is very different from their US counterpart. Their credit under-writing dept is about on par with Chase/Amex standards although this card is churnable.

  5. Funny thing is I know about this card, I am Canadian and I still don’t think it’s worth it, particularly with the $120 annual fee. You don’t call them SkyPesos for nothing.

    And here in Ottawa, my only direct access to Delta/Skyteam is 2 daily CRJ flights to DTW.

  7. There are things that I don’t expect, that still make perfect sense once they’re there in front of me. Conclude what you will from that! 😉

  8. @Gavin, the signup bonus is 25k if you spend 1k within 90 days.

    @CP@YOW, it appears that Delta is testing out flights from YOW-ATL starting soon.

    20DEC14 – 04JAN15
    DL4932 ATL1515 – 1800YOW CR9 Daily
    DL4933 YOW0600 – 0840ATL CR9 Daily

    10JAN15 – 25APR15
    DL4879 ATL1515 – 1800YOW CR9 6 (Saturday)
    DL4881 YOW0600 – 0840ATL CR9 6 (Saturday)

    Not great, but where I fly to in Florida is mainly serviced by Delta. A one-stop through ATL would be appreciated.

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