How the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card elevated my trip to Paris

Working in social media at The Points Guy means that my “saved” tab on Instagram is full to the brim with travel inspiration, including recommendations for destinations, restaurants and experiences around the globe. But one destination has seemed to appear more and more frequently in the last couple of years: Paris.

Of course, Paris isn’t exactly a hidden gem in the world of travel. In fact, over 47 million tourists visited the City of Light in 2023 alone. And as the host of the 2024 Olympics, it’s perhaps getting more attention from travelers this year than ever before. This high interest and its status as one of the world’s most popular cities means it can be expensive — very expensive.

But this is where travel rewards come in to play a big role. They can make all the difference in unlocking savings and elevating the experiences of both getting to and enjoying particularly aspirational destinations.

This time, the card up my sleeve to make some of my Paris dreams a reality was the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card.

The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card earns 3 miles per dollar spent on eligible Delta Air Lines purchases and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases. It’s currently offering 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $6,000 on purchases on the card in the first six months of card membership (offer ends Oct. 23, 2024). It’s the ideal card for frequent Delta travelers who are looking for lots of benefits when flying with the airline.

Related: Delta SkyMiles: Your complete guide to earning, redeeming and elite status

Here are all the ways that this credit card made my transcontinental travel experience a breeze and scored me big-time savings along the way.

Getting tactical with planning and booking

When it comes to maximizing value, there are two schools of thought when traveling from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG):

• Option 1: Fly during the day in economy to stretch the value of a mileage redemption and avoid jet lag.
• Option 2: Fly overnight in Delta One® business class to maximize time in Paris and potentially beat jet lag.

The good news? The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card is uniquely equipped to elevate either approach, and with either strategy you employ, the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card offers access to Delta Sky Clubs. Starting in February 2025, that will change to 15 complimentary visits per year, with unlimited visits if you spend $75,000 on eligible purchases on the card in a calendar year. You also get access to the American Express Centurion Lounges when you purchase a Delta flight with your card. Terms apply. You’ll also enjoy Zone 5 priority boarding as a cardmember. You can even use your card to get 20% off select Delta inflight purchases (in the form of a statement credit).

If you’re redeeming Delta miles to fly on a Delta-operated flight, having the card also gets you a 15% discount on the award price of the ticket, which can be huge. This discount is not applicable to partner-operated flights or taxes and fees.

I’m chasing Delta Medallion® status this year, so given that and my limited days for this trip, I actually earned a bunch of miles by purchasing a Delta One ticket this time. Thanks to Delta’s simplified structure for earning status, my Delta One ticket banked enough Medallion Qualification Dollars to ensure I would earn status this year.

Plus, with the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card’s MQD boost, cardmembers earn 1 MQD for every $10 of purchases made on the card in addition to receiving a one-time deposit of 2,500 MQDs through the card’s MQD Headstart — bringing you closer to that coveted status.

From the Big Apple to the Eiffel Tower

Getting to JFK is a journey in and of itself if I use public transportation, especially from my neighborhood in Brooklyn — it requires multiple transfers and can take over an hour. This means I often arrive at the airport via a rideshare service and have frequently spent upwards of $80 in the process.

But this is another benefit of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card. After enrollment, cardmembers receive an up-to-$10 statement credit each month for U.S. rideshare purchases with select providers made on the card, up to $120 annually. For my late-evening journey to JFK, this took my rideshare charge down from $75 to $65.

Once through security, it was time for a pit stop at the modern and stylish Delta Sky Club in JFK’s Terminal 4.

This location opened in the summer of 2023 and features a 360-degree bar, an outdoor sky deck and a buffet with all kinds of delicious options. Note that this will be capped at 15 visits per year starting Feb. 1, 2025, though you can unlock unlimited visits each year by spending at least $75,000 on the card between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024. Delta SkyMiles Reserve cardholders enjoy access whenever they’re traveling on Delta or one of Delta’s partner airlines, and they also receive four one-time guest passes each year for bringing travel companions along.

My stop in the Delta Sky Club was the perfect way to unwind before an overnight flight. I made a plate of barbecue and macaroni and cheese, grabbed a glass of white wine and sat at a table on the outdoor sky deck just in time to watch the sun set over the tarmac.

Before long, I set off for my gate and boarded my late-night flight. I settled into my seat (7J) and prepared for takeoff. With a full day of sightseeing ahead of me, I opted for the Dine and Rest service to receive my full meal at once and get six uninterrupted hours of shut-eye.

I woke up to the slow lifting of the cabin lights and raised my window shade to reveal the Paris suburbs materializing below.

Accommodations in the middle of the action

With only a couple of days to take in Paris, I wanted a home base easily accessible from all the sights and experiences on my list. The 1st arrondissement’s Hotel Madame Reve perfectly fit the brief, as it’s situated just steps from the Louvre, the Bourse de Commerce and the Jardin du Palais Royale.

Leaning into the full Parisian experience, I selected an Executive Terrace Room, a chic oasis of caramel wood, pink mosaic tile and French impressionist art. The highlight, though, was enjoying breakfast each morning on the suite’s balcony with sweeping views of the city.

An accommodation of this caliber — in this prime location — doesn’t come cheap, of course. But the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card has another benefit that helped bring the cost down. Each year, cardmembers earn up to $200 in statement credits for prepaid vacation rentals or hotel stays booked through Delta Stays on delta.com/stays when using the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card.

And $200 is no small savings, especially when talking about the difference between a $1,200 hotel bill and a $1,000 hotel bill.

Checking items off the bucket list

With a painless travel experience and a peaceful home base, I was able to dive right into a packed itinerary of bucket-list items. One by one, sights and experiences transitioned from being saved in my Instagram feed to being stored in my memory.

I explored the galleries of Centre Pompidou, marveling at famous works from Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. I particularly enjoyed the temporary exhibit “The Childhood of Design: A Century of Furniture for Children,” which showcased the playful, nostalgic and visually stunning works of industrial designers throughout the 20th century.

Wanting to also check out some Parisian art from the present day, I stopped by 59 Rivoli, an otherworldly gallery and studio space that spans five floors and serves as a spot where local contemporary artists exhibit and sell their work. Here, I took in surrealist graffiti, abstract ceramics and works of emotionally charged multimedia. I was even able to chat with some of the artists about their work.

One of the highlights of my time in Paris was my dinner at Georges, a restaurant perched atop the Centre Pompidou. I booked a highly sought-after reservation here through Amex’s Global Dining Access by Resy, another perk of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card. Feasting on a delicious meal of green beans, mushrooms and spicy rigatoni with tomato and basil, I watched the sun set below the horizon.

And for meals stateside, Delta SkyMiles Reserve cardmembers also earn up to $20 per month in statement credits for purchases at eligible U.S. Resy restaurants after using their enrolled card.

A card for every Delta traveler

The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card isn’t your only option if you are looking for a valuable credit card to use when booking your next Delta flight.

There’s also the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, which earns 2 miles per dollar spent on eligible Delta purchases at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. You’ll also receive a free checked bag on Delta flights that extends to up to eight travel companions on the same reservation. That’s a savings of $70 for a round-trip flight or $280 for a family of four.

Then there’s the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, which earns 3 miles per dollar spent on eligible Delta purchases and at hotels (when booking directly with the hotel) and 2 miles per dollar spent at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. It also includes the same up-to-$10 monthly rideshare statement credit for U.S. rideshare services with select providers charged to the card after enrollment. Like the Reserve Card, it comes with 2,500 MQDs each Medallion year, and you can earn an additional MQD for every $20 in purchases spent on the card.

Finally, all three of these cards — the Delta Amex Reserve, the Delta Amex Gold and the Delta Amex Platinum — feature the previously described TakeOff 15 benefit that allows you to save 15% on Delta award flights booked with miles through delta.com or the Fly Delta app when you pay the taxes and fees with the card. This can really increase the value of your miles. Keep in mind that this does not apply to partner-operated flights.

Aspirational made attainable

All in all, my time in Paris was the creme de la creme. I traveled in style, got a good night’s sleep in Delta One business class, enjoyed coffee on my own balcony, wandered the halls of the Centre Pompidou and marveled over the sunset while sipping Champagne. But even if I had opted for a daytime economy flight, because I have the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card, I still could have kicked the trip off in style and enjoyed a visit to the Delta Sky Club before my flight and made use of all the card’s other perks and savings.

Upon reflection, this is a new type of travel for me. Throughout my 20s, I have been a hostel and Airbnb traveler. But thanks to the world of points and miles, I have been able to incorporate more and more luxury experiences into my globe-trotting over the last couple of years.

From helping my quest for Delta status to alleviating booking and planning headaches to scoring big savings along the way, the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card was the perfect companion to make my ultimate Paris dream a reality.

For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Amex Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Amex Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Amex Card, click here.