delta skymiles

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How Throwaway Ticketing Can Reduce Your SkyMiles Award Ticket Costs By Two-Thirds

by Gary Leff on May 10, 2023

May 10 2023

I’ve written several times that the biggest and worst devaluation of the Delta SkyMiles program only seems to apply to flights that either start or end in the United States. SkyMiles now charges for partner awards, which are all saver awards and limited in availability, as though they were awards on Delta. That’s how you can get over 500,000 miles one way for a coach award between the U.S. and Thailand.

But if you start a trip in Mexico, you’re effectively rolling back to the last devaluation where partner awards are merely super expensive. And this creates an opportunity.

Delta Devalues SkyMiles Again, Starts Booking Cheapest International Awards As Basic Economy

by Gary Leff on April 21, 2023

Apr 21 2023

Delta has begun imposing basic economy restrictions on their cheapest coach awards for international travel. Not only does Delta charge a ton of miles for travel, they now will require you to pay for seat assignments and pay a fee to cancel and redeposit your miles unless you spend even more. They’re uncompetitive with American and United in this regard.

Delta Temporarily Counts Car Rental And Hotel Bookings Towards Elite Status

by Gary Leff on February 27, 2023

Feb 27 2023

Delta hasn’t been nearly as aggressive with mileage partnerships over the past several years, outside of its main credit card partner, as competitor airlines.

That could be changing. Through March 31, 2023 hotel and car rental bookings through their portal earn qualifying dollars towards SkyMiles elite status.

What Does Delta’s 15% Off Amex Award Discount Mean For The Future Of SkyMiles?

by Gary Leff on February 3, 2023

Feb 03 2023

What TakeOff15 says is you only get the best value out of your miles if you’re a co-brand cardmember. They’re giving even less value to the median member of the SkyMiles program, who doesn’t have the card. And they don’t seem to be concerned that this will erode brand loyalty.

Report: Delta Now Investigating If Your Elite Status Is “Real” When You Request A Match

by Gary Leff on December 31, 2022

Dec 31 2022

Delta SkyMiles has been known to status match a ham sandwich. No matter what proof of your current status with another airline you’d send in, they’d approve temporary SkyMiles status and a challenge to keep that status. That’s part of how they work to poach the best customers of their competitors.

The easy matches may be tightening up a bit at Delta Boulevard. At least they may be working to make sure the status you’re offering with another airline to justify the match is at least real.

When Delta Says SkyMiles Are Low Value, You Should Believe Them

by Gary Leff on November 23, 2022

Nov 23 2022

Delta is advertising a ‘deal’ between the U.S. and Japan for 121,000 miles roundtrip in coach. And Delta says you can find this special price if you book March 28 – April 5, 2023.

The ‘regular price’ of roundtrip domestic coach awards used to be 25,000 miles. Delta now considers it a ‘discount’ to pay 26,000 points roundtrip for Minneapolis – Los Angeles, a price they say is available January 25 – 31, 2013. When Delta literally promotes how low value their miles are, you should believe them.

Something Wonky Is Going On With Delta SkyMiles That Could Be The Biggest Devaluation Of All Time

by Gary Leff on October 28, 2022

Oct 28 2022

Delta has doubled or in some cases even tripled those higher prices. It’s possible to spend 650,000 miles roundtrip on a simple business class partner award to Europe.

Flash Award Sale: Delta Business Class To Europe For 148,000 Miles Roundtrip

by Gary Leff on June 28, 2022

Jun 28 2022

Delta is running a flash sale on business class SkyMiles awards to Europe. Prices start at 148,000 miles roundtrip, which is roughly what other programs normally charge. But it can be half what Delta frequently charges, and availability is pretty good. But you have to act fast.

Head Of Delta SkyMiles Explains Why They Charge So Much More For Awards Than Other Airlines

by Gary Leff on May 15, 2022

The inimitable Brian Sumers interviewed the Vice President of the Delta SkyMiles program for Skift and put the question to Prashant Sharma why does Delta charge so many more miles for the best awards than other airlines?

And Sharma’s answer is pretty simple: it’s because they can get away with it, and customers keep earning SkyMiles and signing up for the Delta credit card.

Delta Business Class Awards To Europe For 39,000 Points

by Gary Leff on May 3, 2022

May 03 2022

Delta business class award space between New York JFK and Frankfurt is reasonably available between May and December 7 at the saver level. You can book these seats right now for just 39,000 points each way.