Delta Amex limited-time offer: Earn up to 125,000 bonus miles with a new Delta SkyMiles card

Get a head start on your summer travel plans with a limited-time welcome bonus when you open a new Delta SkyMiles American Express card.

Now through April 1, you can earn an increased sign-up bonus on Delta’s consumer and business cards. Whether you’re looking for ways to save on an international vacation or you’re a business owner with a busy travel schedule this year, now could be a great time to consider whether a Delta SkyMiles Amex card works for your spending.

Read more: Best airline credit cards

You’ll have until April 1 to open a new Delta SkyMiles card and earn an elevated sign-up bonus. And there’s a lot of value to gain: These welcome bonuses are some of the highest we’ve seen from Delta SkyMiles cards, based on recent past offers.

Here’s how much you can earn with each card:

• Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card: Earn 70,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases and an additional 20,000 bonus miles after you spend an additional $2,000 in purchases, both within the first 6 months

• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: Earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases and an additional 20,000 bonus miles after you spend an additional $2,000 in purchases, both within the first 6 months

• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: Earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending $6,000 in purchases and an additional 25,000 bonus miles after you spend an additional $3,000 in purchases, both within the first 6 months

The limited-time bonuses you’ll earn with any of these Delta cards can go a long way toward helping you save on future flights. But you should look carefully at the two-part bonus structure before you apply. You’ll have a relatively long six-month period to meet the spending requirement, but the total amount is steep.

If that’s more than you typically spend, you may want to time your application around a planned expense you have coming up — like booking travel for an upcoming trip or a spring renovation project. That way, you can get the maximum bonus amount without taking on a high-interest balance you can’t afford.

Delta’s business card bonuses are much more straightforward, and increase these cards’ regular welcome offers by 25,000 to 30,000 miles.

Like with the consumer cards, make sure you note the high spending required to earn each bonus. If that amount isn’t within your regular budget for business expenses, you may want to consider whether you can afford to spend the full amount within six months without taking on a balance.

Delta SkyMiles redemptions are dynamic, so there’s no standard amount that your miles are worth. But even using a standard 1 cent per mile redemption, the top 125,000-mile limited-time bonus would be worth a total $1,250.

Let’s say you want to plan a big summer trip to Japan, travelling over two weeks, between July 17 and July 31. You’ll leave from New York and land in Tokyo, and return on the same route (with one stop each way).

You could book this flight for a total 100,000 miles (plus $56.63 in taxes and fees) round trip at Main Classic fare. If you were to pay for the same flight and fare type with cash, you’d pay $1,451.93 (including taxes and fees) — making this a great redemption value for your miles.

Using miles, you can cover a large portion of this trip using any of the boosted Delta SkyMiles card bonuses. You can even use your bonus for the full cost or more, depending on which card you choose.

Take the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card, for example. You’ll have the 100,000 miles to spend when you earn the first part of the bonus, after $6,000 in purchases. However, if you also spend the additional $3,000 within the first six months before you book your flight, you’ll have enough miles to upgrade your ticket to Comfort Classic fare and still pay using only miles.

The total bonus alone is worth 125,000. But when you account for the $9,000 you must spend to earn the full bonus, you’ll add another 9,000 miles, at least (more if you make purchases in bonus categories).

In this case, your total round trip flight cost would be 126,000 miles and just $56.63 in taxes and fees.

As you plan how to use your welcome bonus miles, don’t forget to account for the extra savings you’ll get from your card’s benefits, including significant discounts on award flights that can stretch your miles even further.

The Delta SkyMiles Gold, Delta SkyMiles Platinum, and Delta SkyMiles Reserve cards (along with the business versions) all offer 15% discounts when you use your miles to book award tickets. That means your 100,000-mile trip may actually only cost 85,000 miles to book.

Just keep in mind that this discount applies only to Delta flights, not partner-operated flights (which are common options when you’re booking internationally).

Here’s a closer look at each of the consumer and business cards from Delta and Amex:

Read our full review of the Delta SkyMiles Gold American Express Card

Read our full review of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Express Card

Read our full review of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express Card

Read our full review of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express Card

Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card: Good for rewards on business and travel spending

Read our full review of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card

Read our full review of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express Card

More info about Delta cards:

Editorial Disclosure: The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. All opinions belong solely to Yahoo Finance and are not those of any other entity. The details on financial products, including card rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information. This site doesn’t include all currently available offers. Credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.