Delta SkyMiles: The Ultimate Guide

Delta Air Lines, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is one of the strongest airline brands in the U.S. Delta SkyMiles is its loyalty program and is quite popular amongst U.S. travelers. SkyMiles are quite enticing as well given that they don't expire. Even if you are inactive for years at a time, SkyMiles will still be there and ready when you are.

The ease of earning SkyMiles is vast and options on how to spend SkyMiles are extensive. Throughout the program, there are better values than others and we will be taking a deep dive into Delta's frequent flyer program. We will be covering topics such as earning SkyMiles, frequent flyer statuses, credit card options that can boost your SkyMiles earning potential and spending SkyMiles.

Background

Delta Air Lines is one of the major U.S.-based airlines. They service 300+ locations globally and reach every continent except Antarctica. Delta has nine hub cities and two focus cities:

Atlanta (ATL)
Boston (BOS)
Detroit (DTW)
Los Angeles (LAX)
Minneapolis / St. Paul (MSP)
New York (JFK)
New York – LaGuardia (LGA)
Salt Lake City (SLC)
Seattle / Tacoma (SEA)
Cincinnati (focus city) (CVG)
Raleigh / Durham (focus city) (RDU)

Delta is a member of the SkyTeam Alliance. This alliance boasts an impressive 19 members and carries notable members such as Korean Air, Air France/KLM and China Eastern. In addition to Delta's SkyTeam partnership, they also have separate partnerships with Air Tahiti Nui, GOL Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Mandarin Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia and WestJet. This gives customers an even greater reach of being able to earn and spend SkyMiles.

Customers flying any of these airlines would be allowed to earn SkyMiles and also leverage some of their Delta benefits and perks on these partner airlines. These perks, such as free checked bags, priority boarding and lounge access may be based on your Delta Medallion, or status, level. SkyMiles can even be used to book flights on these partner airlines.

How to Earn SkyMiles

In order to earn SkyMiles, the first step is to enroll in the SkyMiles program. The account is free and anyone can sign up. If under the age of 13, a parent or guardian will have to sign up. Signing up is a no-brainer as earned SkyMiles do not expire, so even if you're an infrequent flyer, every little bit can add up.

By Flying

The most known and practical way to earn SkyMiles is by flying a Delta-operated flight. SkyMiles mileage earned per flight is determined by the cost of the ticket. As a Base SkyMiles member, you earn 5 SkyMiles per dollar spent on your ticket purchase.

While ticket cost is the typical way to earn SkyMiles, there are opportunities to earn SkyMiles based on distance traveled. Exception fares, which are unpublished fares offered by travel agents or other third parties, potentially earn SkyMiles on distance flow. These are common with vacation packages or bulk fare purchases. The slight kicker is despite the distance flown, it is then multiplied by a percentage based on the ticket's fare code.

Delta Medallion Status

Before diving into additional ways to earn SkyMiles, it is important to have at least a base understanding of Delta's status levels. One of the best ways to gain additional miles and perks is by earning elite status. Delta has four tiers and each carries its own requirements to earn that tier of status. One nice perk starting at Silver Medallion is unlimited rollover of excess Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs). This is great for getting a headstart the following year in re-earning status.

Requirements

Silver Medallion: 25,000 MQMs and 3,000 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs)
Gold Medallion: 50,000 MQMs and 6,000 MQDs
Platinum Medallion: 75,000 MQMs and 9,000 MQDs
Diamond Medallion: 125,000 MQMs and 15,000 MQDs

For a short summary of some of the perks and benefits had by these tier levels.

*Platinum—A customizable choice benefit, giving you the selection from four regional upgrade certificates, a gift of Silver Medallion status to a friend or family, 20,000 bonus SkyMiles, a $200 Delta travel voucher or a $200 Tiffany & Co. gift card

**Diamond—A customizable Choice Benefit, giving you the selection from a Delta Sky Club® membership, global and regional upgrade certificates, a Delta Sky Club® guest Pass, a gift of Gold Medallion status to a friend or family, 25,000 bonus SkyMiles, a $200 Delta travel voucher or a $200 Tiffany & Co. gift card

Credit Card Spending

Delta does carry a large set of co-branded personal and business credit cards. The credit card program and spending on your Delta credit card is a fantastic way to build your SkyMiles balance as you'll be able to earn miles without having to fly. All of them are backed by American Express, so wherever they are accepted, you'll be able to earn miles. We will touch on them at a high level but encourage reading our reviews if one is enticing to you.

Delta offers four co-branded personal credit cards attracting the full range of flyers from once a year to once a week. All also come with no foreign transaction fees, making them a viable international card option along with priority boarding on the cards that charge an annual fee. This is great if you don't have Medallion status with Delta as you're receiving some of the perks as if you did have status. A brief listing of the offering and the annual fee will be covered.

Personal

Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card

Welcome offer: Earn 10,000 bonus miles after you spend $500 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months
Rewards: Earn 2 miles per dollar at restaurants and on Delta purchases. Earn 1 mile per dollar on all other eligible purchases.
Annual Fee: $0
Rates & Fees

Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card

Welcome offer: Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months.
Rewards:
Annual Fee:$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99.
Rates & Fees

Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card

Welcome offer: Earn 50,000 bonus miles and 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months.
Rewards:
Annual Fee:$250
Rates & Fees

Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card

Welcome offer: Earn 50,000 bonus miles and 10,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months.
Rewards:
Annual Fee: $550
Rates & Fees

Business

Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card

Welcome offer: Earn 50,000 bonus miles and a $50 statement credit after spending $2,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months.
Rewards:
Annual Fee: $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99
Rates & Fees

Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card

Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 bonus miles, 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs), and a $100 statement credit after spending $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months.
Rewards:
Annual Fee: $250
Rates & Fees

Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card

Welcome offer: Earn 60,000 bonus miles, 10,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs), and a $100 statement credit after spending $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months.
Rewards:
Annual Fee: $550
Rates & Fees

Transfer Partners

Delta has multiple transfer partners for boosting up your SkyMiles balance. The most accessible is Membership Rewards, which is the currency for American Express credit and charge cards. Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Delta SkyMiles as long as the card account allows transfers to airline partners. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points.

Delta also has partnerships with both hotel and car rental companies where you can transfer points into Delta SkyMiles at varying transfer rates. Some partners include Le Club Accorhotels, Radisson, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Hertz. While the transfer rates generally aren't advantageous, it could make sense if you're close to being able to have enough miles for a flight. One of interest is Marriott. The normal transfer rate is 3 Marriott Bonvoy points to 1 Delta SkyMile. For every 60,000 Bonvoy points transfer, a bonus 5,000 SkyMiles will be added.

Other Forms of Earning

Earning SkyMiles extends well beyond what has been covered. Delta carries partnerships with Lyft, Airbnb and a slew of hotel and car rental companies which include some names such as Marriott, Hertz, National and more.

Delta also has its own shopping portal. By using its shopping portal, users can earn SkyMiles while shopping online. While you can use any form of payment, pairing it with a SkyMiles-earning credit card will boost your balance even more.

Finally, you can purchase SkyMiles directly from Delta. This isn't typically a good deal as you're usually paying a premium on SkyMiles, so this should only be done if you're close to having enough miles for a flight. Generally, SkyMiles are worth around 1.2 to 1.4 cents each. Purchasing directly from Delta costs 3.5 cents per SkyMile and is only possible in increments of 2,000.

Redeeming

On Delta Air Lines

Delta utilizes a dynamic pricing for its award redemption flights, meaning that award redemption prices are somewhat tied to cash prices. Delta uses factors such as the equivalent cash price, demand, and location being traveled to and from to formulate a mileage cost for a trip. This can make it difficult if you're trying to save for a specific award redemption.

Your best bet is to use Delta's price calendar, feeding in your departing and arrival airports to see the range of SkyMiles your trip may cost. That said, there are no blackout dates, so as long as there is an operating flight for that day with seats available, it can be booked with SkyMiles.

While there is no official award chart, with enough research, you can start to see a baseline in what a flight may cost. For example, searching New York to Paris reveals that the minimum amount of SkyMiles needed for an award flight in economy could be 40,000 SkyMiles (plus taxes and fees) roundtrip in coach. For this specific search, prices are as high as 68,000 SkyMiles, though can go for more on peak dates. Being as flexible as much as you can with award booking dates can save you thousands of SkyMiles.

On Partner Airlines

One thing that makes SkyMiles versatile is the ability to book more than just Delta-operated flights. If there is saver-level available award space on a SkyTeam Alliance member or a non-alliance partner airline, it can be booked using SkyMiles. Most award space can be viewed online, but for some, calling Delta to book the flight may be required.

To search for partner space, simply search on Delta's website as if you were searching for Delta award space. In the search results on a specific day, you can see which airline operates the route on award space.

Delta Flash Deals

Delta's best values come in the form of flash sales that periodically occur throughout the year. With these, Delta offers a discounted rate when using your SkyMiles to pay for the trip. For example, in late February 2020, Delta was offering trips as low as 5,000 SkyMiles in basic economy and 20,000 in first class on specific routes. A sample routing that was offered during this deal was Seattle to Cancun, which is quite the distance for so few miles. These deals come up without much notice, so act fast if it is a deal you can leverage.

Other Ways to Use Miles

SkyMiles can be used for more than just award flights. SkyMiles can be used to offset the price of a cash ticket purchase or even upgrading your seat class of service (where applicable). Delta Club membership, gift cards and vacation packages can also be purchased using SkyMiles. Typically these Finally, you're able to use your miles on magazine subscription services, but this would be highly recommended not to do due to the poor redemption value.

Bottom Line

Delta has a very good international network for earning and spending SkyMiles. Pairing with a co-branded card can also lead to accelerated SkyMiles balance growth as earning can continue even when not flying. The tricky part is redeeming. With dynamic award pricing, it's difficult to set that "end goal" for the number of required miles when pricing is not consistent. That said, with so many ways to beef up your balance and knowing miles don't expire, it is a good program to be a part of for U.S.-based flyers. This applies even more so to those who live in and near hub and focus city locations.

To view rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card, please visit this page.

To view rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, please visit this page.

To view rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, please visit this page.

To view rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, please visit this page.

To view rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, please visit this page.

To view rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, please visit this page.

To view rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, please visit this page.

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