One of the crucial standard frequent flyer applications is Delta SkyMiles, the loyalty program of Delta Air Strains. TPG’s June 2025 valuations peg Delta SkyMiles at 1.25 cents apiece, and you’ll redeem them for flights, upgrades, accommodations and extra. You may usually get essentially the most worth out of your miles for those who snag one in all Delta’s frequent flash gross sales, which provide discounted award flights domestically and overseas.
Whether or not flying or procuring on-line, incomes SkyMiles is simple. Delta has a wide array of cobranded playing cards, lots of which have big welcome affords proper now that may assist enhance your SkyMiles stability. Preserve studying to search out out extra concerning the Delta SkyMiles program.
Associated: Finest Delta bank cards
What’s the Delta SkyMiles program?
Delta SkyMiles has roughly 120 million members, making it the world’s largest airline loyalty program. Becoming a member of this system is free, and your miles by no means expire.
You may earn Delta SkyMiles via quite a lot of strategies. Some standard ones embody flying with Delta and its companions, spending on Delta’s cobranded playing cards, transferring factors from American Specific Membership Rewards, procuring via the Delta SkyMiles Procuring portal, eating out via the SkyMiles Eating program, and partaking in varied different promotions provided by the airline.
You may as well earn Medallion Qualification {Dollars} that can assist you attain Delta’s 4 elite standing tiers, which give perks like seat upgrades, precedence boarding and airport lounge entry.
Associated: Find out how to hold your factors and miles from expiring
Delta SkyMiles program companions
The members are:
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- Aerolineas Argentinas
- Aeromexico
- Air Europa
- Air France
- China Airways
- China Jap Airways
- Delta Air Strains
- Garuda Indonesia
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- Korean Air
- Center East Airways
- Saudia
- Scandinavian Airways
- TAROM
- Vietnam Airways
- Virgin Atlantic
- Xiamen Airways
Associated: Delta bolsters 2025 plans in Europe, Asia with 2 new worldwide routes
Different companions
Delta has a number of different partnerships past SkyTeam members, supplying you with quite a few choices for incomes miles even while you aren’t flying with Delta or a SkyTeam airline. Nonalliance companions embody:
Simply observe that every partnership has particular restrictions and necessities.
Associated: The very best web sites for looking SkyTeam award availability
Delta SkyMiles elite standing
The SkyMiles program affords 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 in recent times. Delta additionally modified the best way you earn MQDs via card spending, eliminating the MQD waiver profit from eligible playing cards.
You may earn MQDs within the following methods:
Now that it is more durable to earn Medallion standing, is it value attempting? Listed below are some key advantages of every of Delta’s standing tiers.
Associated: Is Delta Air Strains standing value it? What this disenchanted 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 may 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 free checked bag on flights operated by Delta and choose accomplice airways, plus a free checked bag for as much as eight of your companions when touring on a Delta flight
SkyMiles Gold Medallion
Subsequent up is Gold Medallion standing, which will provide you with:
- Complimentary first-class upgrades on home and short-haul worldwide flights from three days earlier than departure
- Upgrades to Consolation+ inside three days of departure
- SkyPriority standing
- No further prices for same-day confirmed adjustments
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 may get the next:
- Complimentary first-class upgrades on home flights and short-haul worldwide flights from 5 days earlier than departure
- Upgrades to Consolation+ at reserving
- Your decide of a Alternative Profit
SkyMiles Diamond Medallion
Lastly, the best publicly out there tier within the SkyMiles program is Diamond Medallion. Diamond members get all the things detailed above, plus some even higher perks:
Delta additionally has an invitation-only standing known as Delta 360 — however this tier stays considerably mysterious since Delta would not publish any data on its advantages or the best way to earn it.
Associated: Delta 360 standing: What it’s and the best way to earn the invitation-only elite standing
Find out how to earn Delta SkyMiles
There are a number of methods to earn Delta SkyMiles. The best methods are flying Delta-operated flights, touring with a SkyTeam accomplice and opening a Delta cobranded bank card. You may as well earn miles via on a regular basis actions like procuring and eating.
Earn SkyMiles by flying
Whenever you fly Delta on a Delta-issued ticket in the principle cabin or above (fundamental financial system fares do not earn miles), you may earn SkyMiles on the bottom worth of your ticket. The upper your standing tier, the quicker you may 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, which means that for those who 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 may earn 1,250 SkyMiles as a common member. Nevertheless, you may earn 1,750 miles as a Silver Medallion and a whopping 2,750 miles for those who’re a Diamond Medallion.
One other approach to earn miles is by flying Delta’s accomplice airways, however the way you earn these miles relies on the way you booked the ticket. For instance, while you e-book accomplice airline tickets on Delta’s web site, you may earn miles the identical means as you’d on a Delta-operated flight.
In the meantime, for those who e-book a accomplice flight on that service’s web site (for instance, Air France) and add your Delta SkyMiles quantity, you may earn miles primarily based on a proportion of the gap flown. The precise variety of SkyMiles you may obtain varies primarily based on the accomplice, reserving class and your elite standing.
Associated: Can I earn the miles if I purchase somebody a ticket?
Earn SkyMiles via 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, provide the next perks:
Every card affords some further perks for vacationers. This is a take a look at among the finest Delta SkyMiles bank cards from American Specific. (Phrases apply.)
| Bank card | Annual price | Welcome bonus | TPG’s valuation (as of June 2025) | Notable perks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Specific Card | $0 introductory annual price for the primary yr, then $150 (see charges and charges) | Earn 80,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 on eligible purchases throughout the first six months of card membership. Provide ends July 16. | $1,000 |
|
| Delta SkyMiles Platinum American Specific Card | $350 (see charges and charges) | Earn 90,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on eligible purchases within the first six months of card membership. Provide ends July 16. | $1,125 |
Enrollment is required for some advantages. |
| Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Specific Card | $650 (see charges and charges) | Earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending $6,000 on eligible purchases in your first six months of card membership. Provide ends July 16. | $1,250 |
Enrollment is required for some advantages. |
| Delta SkyMiles® Gold Enterprise American Specific Card | $0 introductory annual price for the primary yr, then $150 (see charges and charges) |
Earn 90,000 bonus miles after spending $6,000 on purchases on the primary six months of card membership. Provide ends July 16. |
$1,125 |
|
| Delta SkyMiles Platinum Enterprise American Specific Card | $350 (see charges and charges) | Earn 100,000 bonus miles after spending $8,000 on purchases on the primary six months from card membership. Provide ends July 16. | $1,250 |
Enrollment is required for some advantages. |
| Delta SkyMiles Reserve Enterprise American Specific Card | $650 (see charges and charges) |
Earn 110,000 bonus miles after spending $12,000 on purchases on the primary six months of card membership. Provide ends July 16. |
$1,375 |
Enrollment is required for some advantages. |
Associated: 5 issues it is advisable to learn about Delta SkyMiles
Earn SkyMiles via procuring portals
One of many best methods to earn SkyMiles is thru Delta’s on-line procuring portal, Delta SkyMiles Procuring. You may earn miles on purchases you’d ordinarily make with over a thousand retailers on-line.
If you happen to do not have already got an account, it’s essential to register utilizing your SkyMiles quantity. Then, you need to use the search field to search out the shop or product you are in search of and evaluate costs and mileage charges at completely different retailers. You may as well favourite shops, so you may be notified when these shops provide bonus miles.
After deciding on your service provider, click on on the shop, product or provide, and you will be taken to the shop’s web site to buy and take a look at. The shop will alert the portal while 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 usually inside three to 5 days, however it could actually take as much as 15 days.
Virtually each main airline has a procuring portal, so use a procuring portal aggregator to make sure you get the perfect deal while you store on-line.
Associated: Your information to maximizing procuring portals on your on-line purchases
Switch Amex factors to Delta
Lastly, you possibly can switch American Specific Membership Rewards factors to your Delta SkyMiles account at a 1:1 ratio. We do not normally suggest this as a result of we worth Amex factors increased than SkyMiles: TPG values Amex factors at 2 cents apiece, in comparison with just one.25 cents per SkyMile, per our June 2025 valuations.
It is typically troublesome to get the next worth from Delta, because of dynamic pricing. You may additionally must pay an excise tax offset price when transferring Amex factors to Delta (and different home frequent flyer applications).
Associated: American Specific Membership Rewards switch companions: Maximize your factors
Find out how to redeem SkyMiles
Delta eliminated printed award charts in 2015, changing into the primary main U.S. airline to shift to dynamic pricing for award tickets. In consequence, you will want 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 simple to navigate, and its helpful calendar characteristic may also help you discover the bottom costs on your subsequent redemption.
We have usually discovered the perfect redemptions on home flights. With one of many Delta cobranded playing cards that gives a 15% low cost on Delta-operated award tickets, you possibly can generally e-book short-haul flights for beneath 4,000 SkyMiles one-way. That stated, costs will fluctuate by day, route and cabin class.
Be aware that Delta award tickets are absolutely refundable (on flights originating within the U.S. and Canada, excluding fundamental financial system fares), so in case your plans change, you possibly can redeposit the miles and get a refund for the taxes and charges you paid. This additionally means that you can rebook award tickets when the mileage worth drops, securing a refund of the distinction in miles.
Moreover, you need to use your SkyMiles to e-book accomplice 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 accomplice awards, particularly in premium cabins.
Associated: Find out how to redeem your 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 quality. Previous offers embody round-trip flights to Europe for simply 34,000 miles and fares to Tahiti beginning at 60,000 miles.
In fact, these low-cost tickets aren’t at all times properly marketed, so it pays to verify availability typically. Delta typically costs short- and mid-haul award tickets properly beneath what different airways would cost for comparable flights. You may typically discover the perfect offers when reserving prematurely and touring on off-peak dates.
Delta and LATAM financial system flights to South America
Whatever the class of service, money flights to South America are hardly ever low-cost, particularly to Brazil. Delta SkyMiles members can e-book LATAM award tickets at affordable costs, and it is one of many higher methods to make use of SkyMiles. For instance, 66,000 SkyMiles can usually get you a round-trip itinerary from JFK to Sao Paulo-Guarulhos Worldwide Airport (GRU), and plenty of of those flights are nonstop.
Associated: Find out how to get worth from 5,000 or fewer Delta SkyMiles
Backside line
With its operational efficiency, vast route community and quite a few accomplice airways, Delta is touted by some as the perfect home airline. In reality, the service has taken the highest spot in TPG’s evaluation of the finest airways within the U.S. for the final seven years. Though latest adjustments to award pricing and elite standing necessities have disenchanted many Delta loyalists, there’s nonetheless a lot to love concerning the Delta SkyMiles program.
Whether or not you are a frequent Delta flyer or extra informal buyer, specializing in a mixture of flying, utilizing procuring portals and making purchases with Delta bank cards can improve your SkyMiles stability on your subsequent redemption.
For charges and charges of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Delta SkyMiles Gold Enterprise Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Delta SkyMiles Platinum Enterprise Card, click on right here.
For charges and charges of the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Enterprise Card, click on right here.
