Tag Archives for delta skymiles.
Delta isn’t raising SkyMiles status requirements for 2026, but it is reshuffling the Choice Benefits that Platinum and Diamond members can select. Three options improve, while the American Express statement credit quietly drops in value — a detail Delta doesn’t call out in its announcement.
These prices are available for 3 days only, through December 19th. The good news is that Delta Amex cardholders should pay a bit less, since SkyMiles charges a premium to customers who don’t have their card. Awards booked online by cardmembers should cost 15% fewer miles.
Delta’s President views SkyMiles as a ‘giveaway program’ rather than something his customers invest in and can expect a return from. So it’s no surprise that Delta can charge more than 4 times as many miles for the same Delta seat that their partners will charge to their own customers. The Vice President running SkyMiles even admits they’re not trying to compete over offering value to customers.
Delta will charge you 425,000 SkyMiles one-way Atlanta to Santiago, Chile in business class on April 17th. And Delta will happily make award space on this flight available to its partners. So if you’re an Air France KLM Flying Blue member, the same flight that Delta charges 425,000 miles to SkyMiles members can be booked for just 90,000 Flying Blue points.
A recent blog post calls out frequent flyers using the term “SkyPesos” for Delta’s SkyMiles as potentially racist. And, since it acknowledges that the term – which took off in mileage circles – is something that I originated, they’re suggesting that I’m being racist.
Delta Sky Clubs in Minneapolis are offering 50% off on premium drinks through May 31, providing exceptional value for SkyMiles redemptions and making luxury drinks more accessible to travelers.
Delta SkyMiles Platinum and Diamond members get to choose from a variety of benefits. One Diamond member – with around half a million qualifying miles and over $50,000 in spending this year – was thrilled to be able to gift Gold status to two people.
Delta talks publicly about its expectation of generating nearly $7 billion from American Express this year, and that it has a goal to stretch this to $10 billion. And because of this, it’s commonly believed to be the best at extracting revenue from its SkyMiles program. Yet SkyMiles is the least rewarding of the major frequent flyer programs. Its miles are indisputably worth less than competitor currencies. What’s going on here?
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian says that SkyMiles changes have only been rolled back temporarily, and his explanation to customers for why they’re making changes is not consistent with what his airline has been telling investors.
CEO Ed Bastian reported that they are “getting good feedback” from customers and that they “had too many changes rolled out at the same time” and that’s why they needed to go back and “reassess” the planned rollout for new elite qualification levels.
He contends that the vitriol from SkyMiles members simply shows their “intense loyalty to Delta” and that “most everyone agrees” Delta needed to make changes because they have more premium customers than they have premium assets to offer.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
