My Favorite Credit Card Raised Its Annual Fee By $100 This Year, But The Perks It Offers Make It Worth The Cost To Me

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Katie Oelker

• My husband and I both have Delta Platinum cards, and our annual fee went up recently.
• The most important perk to us is the companion pass for flights, which cuts our costs in half.
• For some destinations, that perk might not be as valuable, but it's still a great value for us.

My family is no stranger to travel rewards credit cards. I've been using them strategically to earn travel points and miles since after the birth of our first child.

During my days at home with our daughter, I learned how points and miles can be used for free or discounted travel. It meant we could still travel while operating on a budget with a single source of income. Since then, I've held several cards over the years, including Citi, Chase, and Capital One branded cards.

While I love the flexibility in point redemption that non-co-branded cards offer, one of my favorite cards is the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card. My husband and I like it so much that we each have one. My favorite feature of the card is that it offers a complimentary companion pass each year. Because we have two kids, this means when we each purchase a ticket, we can then bring our children with us for free.

We fly to our vacation destinations at half-price

Our kids, now ages 5 and 7, have traveled extensively around the U.S. Our Delta Platinum cards have made that possible. Each year, we use our companion passes to take a family vacation. We have been to Charleston once and Florida several times with them on these passes.

When we first signed up, the annual fee was only $250. We justified this price because regardless of where we flew with Delta, we weren't spending less than $250 on a flight.

Amex recently increased the annual fee for the Delta Platinum to $350/year, but it's still a good value to us. The higher annual fee now allows you to use the companion pass for the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, and Alaska, whereas before, it only covered the lower 48 states. Since we live in Minnesota, we always have a warm winter getaway on our list for the winter months.

The other perks offer added value, even if they aren't our top priority

The Delta Platinum card also offers other perks like discounted ticket bookings and additional points toward Medallion status. It also offers several statement credits you can enroll in, including $10 a month in rideshare credits, $10 a month Resy credits, and a $150 Delta Stays credit when using your credit card to book through the Delta Stays platform on delta.com.

While we have yet to use the Delta Stays credit, I plan to do so in November this year. My husband travels a lot for work and enjoys earning Medallion status, which helps him get upgraded on flights. Even if we weren't to use any of the other credits, the annual fee pays for itself with the companion pass purchase.

The only time the companion pass wouldn't save you money is if you spend less than $350 per ticket on a flight. For example, if you find tickets someplace domestically for $300, it would cost you $1,200 for a family of four. If you had two companion passes, you'd spend $600 for two tickets and get the other two free (besides taxes and fees), but you also have to factor in the $700 you spent on the cards' annual fees.