One of the well-liked frequent flyer packages is Delta SkyMiles, the loyalty program of Delta Air Traces. TPG’s September 2024 valuations peg Delta SkyMiles at 1.2 cents apiece, and you’ll redeem them for flights, upgrades, inns and extra. You may sometimes get essentially the most worth out of your miles if you happen to snag certainly one of Delta’s frequent flash gross sales, which supply discounted award flights domestically and overseas.
Whether or not flying or buying on-line, incomes SkyMiles is straightforward. Delta has a wide array of cobranded bank cards, lots of that are providing large welcome provides proper now that may assist increase your SkyMiles account. Hold studying to search out out extra in regards to the Delta SkyMiles program.
Associated: Finest Delta bank cards
What’s the Delta SkyMiles program?
Delta SkyMiles is the loyalty program of Delta Air Traces. Becoming a member of this system is free, and your miles by no means expire. Delta SkyMiles has roughly 120 million members, making it the world’s largest airline loyalty program.
You may earn Delta SkyMiles by way of quite a lot of strategies. Some well-liked ones embrace flying with Delta and its companions, spending on Delta’s cobranded playing cards, transferring factors from American Specific Membership Rewards, buying by way of the Delta SkyMiles Purchasing portal, eating out by way of the SkyMiles Eating program and partaking in numerous different promotions supplied by the airline.
You too can earn Medallion Qualification {Dollars} that will help you attain Delta’s 4 elite standing tiers, which give perks like seat upgrades, precedence boarding and airport lounge entry.
Associated: How you can hold your factors and miles from expiring
Delta SkyMiles program companions
Delta is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, which incorporates over a dozen airways worldwide. You may earn and redeem SkyMiles if you journey with any SkyTeam airline. SkyTeam serves 1,000 locations and touches nearly each a part of the globe, with flights touchdown on six continents.
The members are:
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- Aerolineas Argentinas
- Aeromexico (its partnership with Delta will reportedly finish in October 2024)
- Air Europa
- Air France
- China Airways
- China Japanese Airways
- Czech Airways
- Delta Air Traces
- Garuda Indonesia
- ITA Airways
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- Korean Air
- Center East Airways
- Saudia
- Scandinavian Airways
- TAROM
- Vietnam Airways
- Virgin Atlantic
- XiamenAir
Associated: Delta Air Traces unveils 4 new routes, expanded service to Latin America
Different companions
Delta has a number of different partnerships past SkyTeam members, supplying you with quite a few choices for incomes miles even if you aren’t flying with Delta or a SkyTeam airline. Nonalliance companions embrace:
- AirBaltic
- Cape Air
- China Southern Airways
- El Al
- Hawaiian Airways
- LATAM
- WestJet
Simply notice that every partnership has particular restrictions and necessities.
Associated: The perfect web sites for looking SkyTeam award availability
Delta SkyMiles elite standing
The SkyMiles program provides 4 elite standing tiers for frequent Delta flyers: Silver Medallion, Gold Medallion, Platinum Medallion and Diamond Medallion.
Incomes Delta Medallion standing
As of Jan. 1, 2024, Delta solely makes use of Medallion Qualification {Dollars} as standards for qualification — and the requirement thresholds have elevated considerably lately. Delta additionally modified the best way you earn MQDs by way of card spending, eliminating the MQD waiver profit from eligible playing cards.
You may earn MQDs within the following methods:
Now that it is tougher to earn Medallion standing, is it value making an attempt? Listed here are some key advantages of every of Delta’s standing tiers.
Associated: Is Delta Air Traces standing value it? What this disillusioned soon-to-be-Diamond thinks
SkyMiles Silver Medallion
The bottom elite tier in Delta’s SkyMiles program is Silver Medallion standing. As a Silver Medallion, you will obtain:
- Complimentary first-class upgrades on home and short-haul worldwide flights from 24 hours earlier than departure
- Upgrades to Consolation+ inside 24 hours of departure
- Precedence boarding (Zone 5) and check-in
- One complimentary checked bag
SkyMiles Gold Medallion
Subsequent up is Gold Medallion standing, which provides you with:
- Complimentary first-class upgrades on home and short-haul worldwide flights from three days earlier than departure
- SkyPriority standing
- Upgrades to Consolation+ inside three days of departure
- Waived charges on same-day confirmed modifications
- Two complimentary checked luggage (inside the U.S. and Canada)
SkyMiles Platinum Medallion
The third tier within the SkyMiles program is Platinum Medallion. Along with the beforehand talked about Silver Medallion and Gold Medallion perks, you will get the next:
- Complimentary first-class upgrades on home flights and short-haul worldwide flights from 5 days earlier than departure
- Upgrades to Consolation+ on the time of reserving
- Three complimentary checked luggage (inside the U.S. and Canada)
- Your choose of a Alternative Profit
SkyMiles Diamond Medallion
Lastly, the very best publicly obtainable tier within the SkyMiles program is Diamond Medallion. Diamond members get every part detailed above, plus some even higher perks:
Delta additionally has an invitation-only standing referred to as Delta 360 — however this tier stays considerably mysterious since Delta does not publish any data on its advantages or earn it.
Associated: Delta 360 standing: What it’s and earn the invite-only elite standing
How you can earn SkyMiles
There are a number of methods to earn Delta SkyMiles. The best methods are flying Delta-operated flights, touring with a SkyTeam companion and opening a Delta cobranded bank card. You too can earn miles by way of on a regular basis actions like buying and eating.
Earn SkyMiles by flying
If you fly Delta on a Delta-issued ticket in the principle cabin or above (fundamental economic system fares do not earn miles), you will earn SkyMiles primarily based on the bottom value of your ticket. The upper your standing tier, the quicker you will earn miles.
- Basic member: 5 miles per greenback
- Silver Medallion: 7 miles per greenback
- Gold Medallion: 8 miles per greenback
- Platinum Medallion: 9 miles per greenback
- Diamond Medallion: 11 miles per greenback
In apply, because of this if you happen to purchase a one-way flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) to Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) for $250 earlier than taxes, you will earn 1,250 SkyMiles as a normal member. Nevertheless, you will earn 1,750 miles as a Silver Medallion and a whopping 2,750 miles if you happen to’re a Diamond Medallion.
One other solution to earn miles is by flying Delta’s companion airways, however the way you earn these miles is dependent upon the way you booked the ticket. For instance, if you e book companion airline tickets on Delta’s web site, you will earn miles the identical means as you’ll on a Delta-operated flight.
In the meantime, if you happen to e book a companion flight on the service’s web site (for instance, Air France) and add your Delta SkyMiles quantity, you will earn miles primarily based on a proportion of the gap flown. The precise variety of SkyMiles you will obtain varies primarily based on the companion, reserving class and your elite standing.
Associated: When you’ll (and will not) earn miles in your flight
Earn SkyMiles by way of bank cards
There is a Delta bank card for everybody — the loyalist, the enterprise traveler and even the rare flyer. All of them besides the Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Specific Card supply the next perks:
Every card provides some extra perks for vacationers. Here is a take a look at a few of the finest Delta SkyMiles bank cards from American Specific. (Phrases apply.)
| Bank card | Annual charge | Welcome bonus | TPG’s valuation (per September 2024 valuations) | Notable perks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Specific Card | $0 introductory annual charge for the primary yr, then $150 (see charges and costs) | Earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. | $960 |
|
| Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Specific Card | $350 (see charges and costs) | Earn 90,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. | $1,080 |
Enrollment is required for some advantages. |
| Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Specific Card | $650 (see charges and costs) | Earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. | $1,200 |
Enrollment is required for some advantages. |
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold Enterprise American Specific Card | $0 introductory annual charge for the primary yr, then $150 (see charges and costs) |
Earn 90,000 bonus miles after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. |
$1,080 |
|
| Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Enterprise American Specific Card | $350 (see charges and costs) | Earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. | $1,200 |
|
| Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Enterprise American Specific Card | $650 (see charges and costs) |
Earn 110,000 bonus miles after spending $12,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. |
$1,320 |
Enrollment is required for some advantages. |
Associated: 5 issues it’s essential to learn about Delta SkyMiles
Earn SkyMiles by way of buying portals
One of many best methods to earn SkyMiles is thru Delta’s on-line buying portal, Delta SkyMiles Purchasing. You may earn miles for purchases you’ll ordinarily make with over a thousand retailers on-line.
If you happen to do not have already got an account, you have to register utilizing your SkyMiles quantity. Then, you need to use the search field to search out the shop or product you are on the lookout for and evaluate costs and mileage charges at completely different retailers. You too can favourite shops, so you will be notified when these shops supply bonus miles.
After choosing your service provider, click on on the shop, product or supply, and you will be taken to the shop’s web site to buy and take a look at. The shop will alert the portal if you’ve made a purchase order, and the miles you earned shall be added to your SkyMiles account. You may obtain a affirmation electronic mail when your miles have been posted — that is sometimes inside three to 5 days, however it might take as much as 15 days.
Virtually each main airline has a buying portal, so use a buying portal aggregator to make sure you get the very best deal if you store on-line.
Associated: Your information to maximizing buying portals in your on-line purchases
Switch Amex factors to Delta
Lastly, you may switch American Specific Membership Rewards factors to your Delta SkyMiles account at a 1:1 ratio. We do not often suggest this as a result of we worth Amex factors greater than SkyMiles. TPG values Amex factors at 2 cents apiece, in comparison with just one.2 cents for SkyMiles, per our September 2024 valuations.
It is usually tough to get the next worth from Delta, due to dynamic pricing. You may additionally must pay an excise tax offset charge when transferring Amex factors to Delta (and different home frequent flyer packages).
Associated: American Specific Membership Rewards switch companions: Maximize your factors
How you can redeem SkyMiles
Delta eliminated printed award charts in 2015, turning into the primary main U.S. airline to shift to dynamic pricing for award tickets. Consequently, you have to to go looking on the Delta web site or app to find out what number of SkyMiles you want for an award ticket. Delta’s web site is fairly straightforward to navigate, and its useful calendar function may help you discover the bottom costs in your subsequent redemption.
We have typically discovered the very best redemptions on home flights. With one of many Delta cobranded playing cards that provides a 15% low cost on Delta-operated award tickets, you may typically e book short-haul flights for beneath 4,000 SkyMiles one-way. That stated, costs will differ by day, route and cabin class.
Be aware that Delta award tickets (excluding fundamental economic system fares) are totally refundable, so in case your plans change, you may redeposit the miles and get a refund for the taxes and costs you paid. This additionally lets you rebook award tickets when the mileage value drops, securing a refund of the distinction in miles.
Moreover, you need to use your SkyMiles to e book companion tickets on most of Delta’s SkyTeam and nonalliance companions. Sadly, these have now largely been aligned with costs on Delta’s personal flights, minimizing the chance to get higher worth from companion awards, particularly in premium cabins.
Associated: How you can redeem Delta SkyMiles for max worth
Candy spots
With Delta utilizing full dynamic pricing throughout its route community, there aren’t many candy spots to maximise the worth of your SkyMiles. Nonetheless, there are just a few good choices on the market.
Delta flash gross sales
Delta regularly runs SkyMiles flash gross sales to short- and long-haul U.S. locations and cities in Europe, Asia and the Caribbean. We have seen some terrific offers for the principle cabin, Consolation+ and top notch. Previous offers embrace round-trip flights to Europe for simply 33,000 miles and fares to Tahiti beginning at 60,000 miles.
After all, these low cost tickets aren’t at all times properly marketed, so it pays to examine availability usually. Delta usually costs short- and mid-haul award tickets for properly beneath what different airways would cost for related flights. You may usually discover the very best offers when reserving prematurely and touring on off-peak dates.
Delta and LATAM economic system flights to South America
Whatever the class of service, money flights to South America are not often low cost, particularly to Brazil. Delta SkyMiles members can e book LATAM award tickets at cheap costs, and it is one of many higher methods to make use of SkyMiles. For instance, 66,000 SkyMiles can typically get you a round-trip itinerary from JFK to Sao Paulo-Guarulhos Worldwide Airport (GRU), and plenty of of those flights are nonstop.
Associated: How you can get worth from 5,000 or fewer Delta SkyMiles
Backside line
With its operational efficiency, broad route community and quite a few companion airways, Delta is commonly touted by some as the very best home airline. Actually, the service has taken the highest spot in TPG’s evaluation of the finest airways within the U.S. for the final 5 years. Though latest modifications to award pricing and elite standing necessities have disillusioned many Delta loyalists, there’s nonetheless loads to love in regards to the Delta SkyMiles program.
Whether or not you are a frequent Delta flyer or extra of an off-the-cuff buyer, specializing in a mixture of flying, utilizing buying portals and making purchases with Delta bank cards can enhance your SkyMiles steadiness in your subsequent redemption.
For charges and costs of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Card, click on right here.
For charges and costs of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card, click on right here.
For charges and costs of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card, click on right here.
For charges and costs of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Enterprise Card, click on right here.
For charges and costs of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Enterprise Card, click on right here.
For charges and costs of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Enterprise Card, click on right here.
