However, once you have a stash of SkyMiles in your account and are armed with the knowledge necessary to navigate this program, you will find that you can get a tremendous amount of value from your SkyMiles. Looking for a deal to Europe? Delta has run flash sales for round-trip economy for 16, SkyMiles and round-trip flights for 98, SkyMiles. In , Delta removed award charts from its website without notification, and they have not and by all accounts will not return. The second point to make on the lack of published award charts is just how vast a range of SkyMiles can be required for the same route.
Domestic flights that are 8, miles one day can be half that just days later. When it comes to international routes and specifically premium cabins, the variance can be even more significant, like with this award search for one-way business class flights from Detroit DTW to Paris CDG :. Availability with award programs is always a challenge, but without set prices, these significant variances end up forcing you to plan your trip schedule around availability, rather than SkyMiles rewarding you with your desired schedule.
Finally, with no fixed prices, last-minute SkyMiles award tickets function like revenue tickets: They tend to be significantly more expensive.
This is a major drawback to collecting SkyMiles compared to other legacy carrier miles. If I need a last-minute ticket, I no longer bother even searching with SkyMiles. Counterintuitively, to pay fewer miles for a Delta award ticket, you sometimes need to fly more. Try to avoid starting a domestic award search on Delta. In late , Delta again increased the SkyMiles required to book partner-operated award flights.
It now costs even more miles to fly with partner airlines across the board on flights to and from the U. Business-class awards were especially hard-hit by these changes. For example, Virgin Atlantic flights to and from the U. The price of economy tickets has also risen 10, miles to 35, miles one-way. Anyone can join the Delta SkyMiles program for free. But to move up from basic membership to elite status, where the real perks are, you need to fly the airline regularly.
Delta has introduced a slew of changes and promotions to make Medallion status easier to earn in Earn bonus qualifying miles, dollars and segments on regular Delta flights. This bonus does not apply to flights flown with Delta partners.
Earn qualifying miles, dollars and segments on Delta award flights. Usually you would not earn any elite qualification from award flights, but Delta has changed this for the remainder The earning rate is somewhat complicated: The Medallion Qualifying Miles are based on miles flown, while the Medallion Qualification Dollars are based on the number of miles used divided by Bonus qualifying miles on some Delta co-branded credit cards.
These promotions vary by card — see here for complete details. These qualifying bonuses apply for flights taken between April 1 and Dec. Put simply: Medallion status is easier to earn when flying with Delta for the remainder of The requirements for each level described below remain unchanged, but Delta is offering bonuses to make them easier to reach. The SkyMiles Medallion program has four levels. We'll start by looking at what you get at each level, then how to get there.
All Medallion members get priority check-in and priority boarding. All levels above Silver get priority security lane access and priority baggage service at select airports. Additional benefits include:. Medallion members at the Platinum and Diamond levels are eligible for "Delta Choice Benefits," in which they choose the premium benefits they want from a list.
Platinum members can choose one of the following:. Package of four regional upgrade certificates. Gift of Silver Medallion status to a friend. Diamond members can choose three of the following:. Individual membership to Delta Sky Clubs unlimited access for self; guests pay a fee.
Executive membership to Delta Sky Clubs unlimited access for self and two guests — this option counts as two choices. Package of as many as eight upgrade certificates eight regional, four global, or two global and four regional.
Gift of Gold Medallion status to a friend. See full details about choice benefits. You earn 1 MQD for every dollar you spend on Delta flights. This includes the fare and airline fees, but not taxes and government fees. You earn these based on how far you fly and the fare class of your ticket. With regular economy class tickets, you earn 1 MQM per mile flown. For higher classes, it may be 1. You earn these based on how many takeoff-to-landing flights you fly. But if you changed planes in, say, Minneapolis, then you would earn 2 MQSs.
To earn this status, you must have MQDs of at least:. Medallion status for a given year is earned based on activity in the previous calendar year.
Your status is generally good until Jan. For example, your Medallion status for is based on your activity in and will last until Jan. MQMs roll over from one year to the next. Say you earned 65, MQMs in The "unused" 15, extra MQMs roll over to to give you a head start on your next year's earning.
Delta also offers to match your status in another airline loyalty program. You must have current elite status with a qualifying airline, and you cannot have used the match in the previous three years. To keep it for the rest of the year, you need to earn it during those three months:. Delta is one of 20 airlines in the international SkyTeam alliance, which allows you to earn and use SkyMiles on flights aboard carriers other than Delta.
As of January , Delta also had partnerships with these non-SkyTeam airlines:. Delta's credit cards are issued by American Express. All of the cards offer different spending rewards. Earn 2 Miles on every dollar spent on eligible purchases made directly with Delta. Earn 3 Miles on every dollar spend on eligible purchases made directly with Delta and on every eligible dollar spent on purchases made directly with hotels. Earn 1. Earn 3 miles per dollar spent on Delta purchases.
Earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases. To determine the value of reward miles, we compared cash prices and reward redemptions for economy roundtrip routes across several destinations and dates. Read more about how we arrived at these figures. This is therefore a baseline value for Delta miles, based on real-world data collected from hundreds of economy routes, not a maximized value.
In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 1. We've covered all the basic details of the Delta SkyMiles program. But if you still aren't sure whether a frequent flyer program is worth the effort, see our absolute beginner's guide to frequent flyer programs. Delta SkyMiles do not expire, but they might lose value over time.
Delta SkyMiles cost 3. That is to say: Buying Delta miles is generally not a good move. For more information, see How We Make Money. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for some American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress. Last updated November 11, All reviews are prepared by NextAdvisor staff. Opinions expressed therein are solely those of the reviewer.
The information, including card rates and fees, presented in the review is accurate as of the date of the review. Trending 1.
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