September 6, 2023
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Live near a Delta Air Lines hub city? Then you’ve likely heard of Delta SkyMiles, the Atlanta-based carrier’s frequent flyer program.
The Delta SkyMiles loyalty program — which is free to join — is worth it for frequent business travelers and occasional leisure travelers alike. Award flights start at just 4,500 miles one-way, making it easy to accrue enough miles for a free trip.
Travelers on Delta Air Lines can earn miles that never expire and are redeemable for free flights, seat upgrades and more. If you often travel with Delta frequently, you can earn a myriad of perks through its Medallion status program. This guide will walk you through Delta SkyMiles, highlighting the pros and cons and illustrating the best ways to earn and redeem these valuable miles.
Delta SkyMiles is the frequent flyer program for Delta Air Lines, the oldest airline still operating in the United States.
Travelers who fly with Delta and participate in SkyMiles are rewarded with redeemable award miles that can be used for free flights. Delta Air Lines also offers its Medallion elite status program that rewards its frequent flyers with perks like waived baggage fees, seat upgrades and even the option to enjoy a Delta Sky Club lounge membership.
Joining the Delta SkyMiles frequent flyer program is quick and easy: You can sign up for SkyMiles online at Delta.com. Once you’re a part of the program, you can add your Delta SkyMiles number to all your reservations to earn valuable SkyMiles on all Delta flights — plus, you’ll then be able to earn SkyMiles in other ways as well.
Delta SkyMiles are worth approximately 1.3 cents each.
Compared to other airline miles, such as American Airlines AAdvantage miles (worth around 1.0 cent each) and Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards (worth around 1.5 cents each), SkyMiles are of middling value.
Keep in mind that this is only an average value. Depending on how you use your SkyMiles, you could get either more or less than this value — as an example, for dynamically-priced domestic economy award tickets, you’ll likely get close to average value.
Cheap short-haul tickets can offer poor value for your SkyMiles. For example, flights from San Jose, Calif., to Los Angeles are often just $49 one way in basic economy. Meanwhile, awards start at 4,500 SkyMiles and $5.60, a value of just 0.94 cents per SkyMile. On the other end of the spectrum, First and Business class international flights can give you the best value for your SkyMiles.
For example, you could use 547,000 Miles and $612.17 for a round-trip business class ticket on Air France via KLM, both Delta partners, traveling to Paris from Los Angeles for a long weekend. The cash cost of this fare is $8,295.77, yielding a value of 1.52 cents per SkyMile. In addition, Delta often offers SkyMiles flash deals, where you can fly to a set of specific destinations for fewer SkyMiles. Snagging a ticket on a discounted route can yield greater value for your SkyMiles.
Delta SkyMiles are generally valued around 1.3 cents per mile — if a flight is worth 1 cent per mile or more, then it’s likely worth it to use miles.
To calculate the value of miles, use this simple equation:
Cash price (minus taxes and fees) / Number of points needed for flight = Points value for that specific flight
The most common ways to earn Delta SkyMiles are flying with Delta Air Lines or partner airlines, using a co-branded Delta credit card, transferring American Express Membership Rewards to SkyMiles and using Delta’s shopping portal. Here is a rundown on earning Delta SkyMiles:
Flying with Delta Air Lines is the most straightforward way to earn SkyMiles. Delta Air Lines offers a revenue-based system for earning SkyMiles on its flights, which means you earn miles based on how much you spend, not how far you fly. General SkyMiles members will earn 5 SkyMiles per $1 of base fare on Delta-issued tickets (excluding taxes and fees) while Delta Medallion members earn more depending on their status level.
| Status level | Miles per dollar spent on tickets |
|---|---|
| General member | 5 |
| Silver | 7 |
| Gold | 8 |
| Platinum | 9 |
| Diamond | 11 |
Note that there are some “exception fares” within the revenue-based earning structure. Exception fares include cruise fares, bulk fares, consolidator fares, vacation packages (including packages with Delta Vacations) and discount or inclusive tour packages.
These fares earn SkyMiles based on distance flown according to the following table:
| Exception Fare Class (Delta 006 Ticketed Only) | Miles |
|---|---|
| Delta One®/First Class/Delta Premium Select - J, C, D, I, Z, F, P, A, G | 150% |
| Full Fare Main Cabin/ Delta Comfort+® - Y, B, M, W | 100% |
| Main Cabin and Discounted Main Cabin - H, Q, K, L | 75% |
| Deeply Discounted Main Cabin - U, T, X, V, E | 50% |
Delta is an integral part of SkyTeam, so you can earn miles on a partner flight. While most American airlines are now on the fare-based system, Delta’s foreign airline partners still operate a distance-based system, awarding a percentage of SkyMiles based on number of miles flown.
You’ll have to check out each partner chart to determine how many miles you’ll earn for your particular flight. You’ll also need to use a tool such as MileCalc.com to estimate the number of miles flown for each particular flight segment.
For a closer look at a partnering award chart, here is the current partner chart for Aeromexico:
| Class of Service | Fare Class | Base Miles | Class Bonus | Total Miles Earned | MQMs | MQDs | Medallion Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business | J | 100% | 100% | 200% | 200% | 40% | |
| Business | C, D, I | 100% | 100% | 200% | 150% | 40% | |
| Full Economy | W, Y | 100% | 25% | 125% | 150% | 25% | |
| Economy | B, M, K, H, Q, L, T, U | 100% | 100% | 100% | 20% | ||
| Discounted Economy | E, N, R | 50% | 50% | 100% | 10% | ||
| Deep Discount Economy | V | 25% | 25% | 100% | 5% |
The total miles earned column shows how many miles you’ll earn, calculated off the distance flown. However, you’ll need to also account for the Medallion Bonus (120% for Diamond members, 80% for Platinum members, 60% for Gold members and 40% for Silver members), if applicable, which only applies to the base SkyMiles earned and not the class bonus.
Only a handful of Delta’s Skyteam partners allow you to earn MQMs on their flights. If Elite Qualifying miles are not as important to you as regular miles, this may be a great option for earning SkyMiles®, especially if you can find a cheap flight to a far away location on a partner flight. For a more in-depth look, check out Delta’s Partners page, here.
Here we’ll show each airline group and how MQM earning varies between different partners:
| Group | Airlines | MQMs for economy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AeroMexico, Air France, Alitalia, China Eastern, GOL, KLM, Virgin Atlantic and Australia | 100% |
| 2 | Air Europa, Kenya Airways, Middle East Airlines, Saudia, Tarom | 75% |
| 3 | Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentina, China Airlines, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Vietnam Airlines, Xiamen Airlines | 50% to 75% |
| 4 | Alaska Airlines, Great Lakes Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, WestJet, Korean Air | Varies |
Delta Air Lines offers a number of co-branded credit cards issued by American Express. You can earn at least 1 Delta SkyMile per $1 spent on eligible purchases with any of these cards. The products offered vary from the $0-annual-fee Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card to the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, which is loaded with benefits.
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card please click here.
| Card | Annual Fee | Rewards Rate | Welcome Offer | Other Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card | $0 | Earn 2X Miles per dollar spent on Delta purchases and at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases. | Earn 10,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months. | 20% in-flight savings |
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card | $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99. | Earn 2X Miles on Delta purchases, at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets. Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases. | Earn 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months. | 1 free checked bag on Delta flights, priority boarding |
| Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card | $250 | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels. Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, plus takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets and earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases. | Earn 50,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months. | 1 free checked bag on Delta flights, priority boarding, annual companion fare, MQD waiver, bonus MQMs |
| Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card | $550 | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases. Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases. | Earn 60,000 bonus miles after you spend $5,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months. | 1 free checked bag on Delta flights, priority boarding, annual companion fare (including for first class), MQD waiver, bonus MQMs, lounge access |
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card please click here.
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card please click here.
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card please click here.
Opening a Delta card is a great choice if you fly primarily or exclusively with Delta. For the occasional Delta traveler, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card may make sense, especially if your savings on checked bag fees exceed the annual fee. Or, you might opt for a general rewards card with the option to transfer miles, like the American Express® Gold Card.
SkyMiles Shopping offers SkyMiles on purchases with 1,000-plus retailers. Some of the popular stores include Apple, Home Depot, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Office Depot and Disney. Earning rates vary between 0.5 miles and 20 miles per dollar, depending on the retailer. Some stores offer a one-time bonus for shopping or taking advantage of a specific offer.
To earn miles with SkyMiles Shopping, visit the portal page, browse the retailers and click through to be taken to the website of your selected retailer. Alternatively, you can install a browser extension that will let you activate SkyMiles Shopping to earn miles without even visiting the portal page.
Delta has a dining portal that allows members to earn bonus miles when eating at partnered restaurants. All you need to do is register a credit or debit card to earn miles at the following rate (including taxes and tip):
Delta enjoys a wide variety of dining partners in most major cities, so it should not be too difficult to rack up miles in this capacity. Here are the number of partners for a few major cities:
| City | Number of partnered restaurants |
|---|---|
| Boston | 584 |
| Detroit | 448 |
| Los Angeles | 1,821 |
| New York | 2,645 |
| Orlando | 362 |
| San Francisco | 607 |
| Seattle | 457 |
| Washington DC | 783 |
Hotel rewards programs are an excellent resource for increasing your earning potential, especially since Delta has partnerships with many major hotel brands. During stays at partner hotels and Airbnbs, you can earn SkyMiles® in place of the hotel’s membership points. Alternatively, you can transfer your hotel points to SkyMiles® directly.
| Hotel | Mile earning rate | Hotel points:miles |
|---|---|---|
| IHG | 2 miles/$ | 5:1 |
| Langham Hospitality Group | Depending on the hotel: Up to 500 miles/night, max 1,500 per stay Up to 250 miles/night, max 750 miles per stay | N/A |
| Le Club Accor Hotels | 2.5 miles/10€ to 12.5 miles/10€, depending on the hotel | 4:2 |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 2 miles/$ | 3:1 |
| Radisson Rewards Americas | Not published | 10:1 |
| Shangri-La | 500 miles per stay | 1:1 |
| WorldHotels Collection | 500 per stay | N/A |
| World of Hyatt | 500 miles per stay | 2.5:1 |
With Delta vacation packages, you can save money on travel and earn up to 5,000 bonus SkyMiles. You can book packages with a select set of Delta partners, including KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Aeromexico, Air France and Alitalia. If you use a co-branded Delta American Express card to pay for your vacation package, you’ll also earn 2x miles per $1 you spend.
With each rental service, an eligible rental within the U.S and Canada will post 500 SkyMiles® to your account. In the case of Hertz, Platinum and Diamond status members get as many as 1,250 miles. You must visit Delta’s site and book your car rental through their portal in order to get the miles.
| Service | Miles per rental |
|---|---|
| Alamo | 500 |
| Dollar Car Rental | 500 |
| Hertz | 500, 1,000, 1,250 |
| Enterprise | 500 |
| National | 500 |
| Thrifty Car Rental | 500 |
You can earn between 1,500 and 30,000 bonus SkyMiles by booking a cruise through Delta SkyMiles Cruises. The exact number of miles depends on the cruise line and length of cruise, among other factors. Major cruise lines including Norwegian, Carnival and Royal Caribbean let you earn points when booking through the Delta SkyMiles Cruises portal.
| Length of cruise | Miles |
|---|---|
| 1-5 Nights | 1,500 |
| 6-8 Nights | 3,000 |
| 9-12 Nights | 5,000 |
| 13+ Nights | 10,000 |
Delta is one of many airline transfer partners available through American Express Membership Rewards. The transfer rate is 1,000 Membership Rewards points to 1,000 SkyMiles.
If you often fly with Delta and don’t currently own an American Express Membership Rewards card, you should consider signing up for one, as some cards offer special benefits with Delta in addition to points.
Delta sells SkyMiles directly to members at a cost of $70 per 2,000 miles (3.5 cents per mile) for a maximum of 60,000 SkyMiles per calendar year — but at this price, purchasing SkyMiles is rarely worth it. Buying miles should only be an option when you’re either getting more than 3.5 cents per mile in value from the award booking, or when you need to top off your account with a few miles for an award. Even then, transferring Membership Rewards points to Delta SkyMiles is a better strategy.
With award flights that can start at just 4,500 miles, you don’t need to accumulate many SkyMiles to be able to fly for free. In addition to free flights on Delta Air Lines and its partners, you can use SkyMiles for seat upgrades and Delta Vacations packages.
The easiest way to redeem your SkyMiles is to use them to book a flight with Delta. You can easily search for award flights at Delta.com. Because Delta doesn’t publish an award chart, prices depend entirely on your origin, destination and travel dates.
Here are some sample one-way prices for various cabins to sample destinations:
| Cabin | Sample routes and pricing |
|---|---|
| Basic Economy |
|
| Main Cabin |
|
| Comfort+ |
|
| First Class |
|
| Premium Select |
|
| DeltaOne |
|
Taxes and fees on award flights start at $6 one-way. In general, you’ll get a better value for your SkyMiles when redeeming them for premium cabin products, although Delta’s pricing can often be sky-high for certain destinations or nonstop flights (the 320,000-mile flight from Los Angeles to Paris above, for example).
Delta routinely offers SkyMiles Flash Deals to destinations all over the world. Flash Deals are limited-time promotions where Delta offers flights between select origins and destinations for a discount.
SkyMiles Flash Deals can be excellent value. For example, in the past, Delta has offered:
These prices are much better than what’s offered by major competitors that operate a region-based award chart. For instance, American Airlines charges 30,000 miles for a one-way economy ticket to Europe during peak dates.
Note, however, that without an award chart to compare prices, it’s hard to tell how great of a deal you’re getting. It’s a good idea to compare award prices to cash fares to determine the redemption value in each case.
Delta also gives SkyMiles members the ability to use its miles for cabin upgrades. You can upgrade with miles either at time of booking or after you purchase your ticket. Tickets eligible to upgrade with miles at time of booking will show it as an option on the Trip Summary page. This is the easiest and most seamless way to upgrade with miles.
After booking, you may be presented with the option to upgrade with miles at Delta.com or through the Fly Delta app. You can check your reservation at any time to see if this is an option. Alternatively, you can contact a Delta representative to upgrade with miles.
Other uses for Delta miles include magazine subscriptions and SkyMiles Experiences (unique experiences for miles). SkyMiles Experiences is currently on hold.
Delta rewards its most loyal members with special airline perks through its Medallion status program. Benefits include free checked bags, waived fees, bonus SkyMiles, complimentary upgrades and more. The perks get better as your Medallion status level increases.
To qualify for Delta Medallion status, you’ll need to meet requirements for both Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) or Medallion Qualifying Segments (MQSs) and Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs). To qualify for Delta Medallion status, you must meet the requirements given in the following chart.
Delta does offer ways of augmenting your MQMs through its co-branded credit cards. If you hold a Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card, these cards will offer bonus MQMs for meeting specific spending thresholds.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta will extend your 2021 Medallion Status an additional year through Jan. 31, 2023. It’s also rolling over all MQMs to 2022, so that members can get a jump start on qualifying for status for the following year. For all other COVID-19 updates and extensions, visit Delta’s website.
You can see the number of MQMs and MQDs you’ll earn on the Trip Summary page when booking a ticket through Delta.com. The number of MQMs earned is dependent on the fare class, but you’ll always earn at least 100% of flown miles as MQMs — even for basic economy fares. To determine the number of MQMs you earn with partners, you’ll have to refer to the chart for each specific partner.
The perks you enjoy as a Delta Medallion member increase as you rise through the tiers, with Delta Diamond Medallion members enjoying the richest benefits. Delta is unique in offering rollover MQMs — this means that any MQMs in excess of your Medallion level earned will roll over to the following year.
| Silver Medallion | Gold Medallion | Platinum Medallion | Diamond Medallion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SkyMiles earned | 7/$1 (40% bonus) | 8/$1 (60% bonus) | 9/$1 (80% bonus) | 11/$1(120% bonus) |
| Unlimited First Class and Comfort+ upgrades | 24-hour window | 72-hour window | 120-hour window | 120-hour window, with priority |
| Comfort+ Upgrades after ticketing | ||||
| Free checked bag (up to 8 companions) | ||||
| Priority check-in and boarding | ||||
| Complimentary preferred seats | ||||
| SkyTeam Elite status | ||||
| Hertz Elite status | Five Star status | President's Circle status | President's Circle status | |
| Choice Benefit | 1 Choice Benefit | 3 Choice Benefits | ||
| Complimentary CLEAR membership |
Depending on how much you fly, it may or may not be worth targeting Delta Medallion status, especially the lowest status tier. You can enjoy most of the perks of Silver Medallion by simply holding the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card. However, if you fly routinely for business and have the option of attaining Diamond Medallion, the perks are worth several thousand dollars.
Delta SkyMiles is an excellent loyalty program for anyone who flies Delta Air Lines or any of its partners. And since Delta SkyMiles never expire, the program could even be useful for people who rarely fly Delta Air Lines.
The program is also excellent for the frequent work traveler, offering an excellent array of elite benefits, including Delta Sky Club lounge membership and upgrade certificates (as a Choice Benefit) for Platinum and Diamond Medallion members. Global upgrade certificates can even be used for long-haul international flights with some of Delta’s best partners.
What’s more, this program is also free, so there are no additional expenses required to be a part of it.
No, Delta SkyMiles never expire. However, Delta does reserve the right to close an account in a variety of unusual circumstances.
Delta SkyMiles is a frequent flyer program that allows you to earn miles through a variety of methods and lets you redeem them for free flights as well as other uses.
You can check your Delta SkyMiles account online by logging in at Delta.com or by using the Delta Air Lines mobile app.
You can find your Delta SkyMiles number online at Delta.com by logging in to your Delta account and navigating to your profile. You can also find your SkyMiles number in the initial email communication you receive from Delta.
Yes, Delta SkyMiles is free to join.
You can easily sign up for Delta SkyMiles online at Delta.com. See the “Sign Up” button in the upper right corner of the screen — you’ll be required to provide personal information.
No, you cannot transfer Delta SkyMiles to Marriott points. However, you can do the reverse and convert Marriott points to Delta SkyMiles.
Yes, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Delta SkyMiles at a 1:1 ratio in increments of 1,000 points.
Yes, you can use Delta SkyMiles to book flights on any of its partner airlines, including Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Airlines and LATAM, all of which are bookable online at Delta.com.
There are a number of ways to earn Delta SkyMiles, including flying on Delta airlines and their partners, shopping through the Delta portal and using a co-branded Delta credit card.
When you fly on Delta airlines, you’ll earn Delta SkyMiles.
Because we value Delta SkyMiles at 1.3 cents each, 50,000 Delta SkyMiles would be worth around $650.
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card please click here.
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card please click here.
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card please click here.
To see rates & fees for Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card please click here.
The above offers and/or promotions may have since changed, expired, or is no longer available. Check the Issuers’ website for more details.
