Make this year the one you master Delta SkyMiles and get the most out of them. And trust us: You can.
While others call them worthless, we’re still big fans of Delta SkyMiles. Sure, Delta’s frequent flyer program is difficult to understand: Award rates when using SkyMiles are constantly changing, with wild swings and sometimes exorbitant pricing – especially if you’re hoping to fly business class.
But we value SkyMiles because there are some incredible ways to use them – including some better deals than you’ll find with any other airline and the ability to easily cancel almost any award tickets and get your SkyMiles right back … even when prices drop on a trip you’re already taking.
Here are some of the absolute best Delta SkyMiles redemptions and why you shouldn’t shy away from earning them.
Read our guide to finding and booking the best Delta SkyMiles deals!
SkyMiles Deals & Flash Sales
Delta gets a bad rap for not publishing an award chart, but there’s a serious upside: Delta SkyMiles Flash Sales. They’re almost always the absolute best way to use your SkyMiles, period.
While you might see 50,000 SkyMiles or more to fly to Las Vegas (LAS) or New York City, these regular sales can bring that rate under 10,000 SkyMiles … roundtrip. SkyMiles deals to Mexico for less than 20,000 SkyMiles or Europe and back for under 30,000 SkyMiles are even better. And if you’re hoping to use your SkyMiles to fly business class abroad, you need to wait for a Delta SkyMiles flash sale.
The airline is always running these sales on award flights. Some of these are advertised – Delta keeps a running a list of available sales on their site. But many of the best sales aren’t publicized at all … at least not until we find them and send alerts to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members.
From domestic flights at just 8,000 SkyMiles (or less!) roundtrip to a trip abroad at a steep discount, jumping on one of these flash sales means you can spend half the SkyMiles that you’d normally pay – if not even less. In our minds, there’s no better way to use your Delta SkyMiles than with these flash sales. It’s a big part of the reason why we value SkyMiles much more than many so-called experts out there.
Want to fly Delta One business class with your SkyMiles? Heads up: The airline typically charges at least 300,000 SkyMiles for a one-way to Europe.
But these flash sales are your best bet if you want to use SkyMiles to do it, as Delta occasionally slashes prices to fly in style, too. We’ve seen rates as low as 98,000 SkyMiles for a trip to Europe and back – and, more recently, just 83,000 SkyMiles for a one-way flight to Seoul (ICN) or Taipei (TPE) in Delta One Suites!
Domestic Flights for 10K SkyMiles (Or Less!)
With other airlines, booking short domestic flights is rarely the best use of your miles. But with Delta, it’s a major sweet spot – even when there isn’t a hot SkyMiles flash sale, you can regularly snag a good deal with SkyMiles.
Shorter routes are fairly easy to find for roughly 10,000 SkyMiles round-trip. Flights shorter than 750 miles seem to be easiest to snag at this price, but even some longer flights make the cut. Be sure to book well ahead of your flight to ensure the lowest-priced SkyMiles award space is available.
Just beware that flights in and out of major Delta hubs like Atlanta (ATL), Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), or Salt Lake City (SLC) can be harder to get at low prices thanks to Delta’s hub penalty.
For all the faults of Delta SkyMiles, you’ll rarely find roundtrip domestic flights this cheap through other airline programs.
Book WestJet to Canada & Back from 25K
The pain with SkyMiles is that, thanks to their dynamic award pricing, award rates are all over the place. A flight one day might cost 8,000 SkyMiles … and 38,000 SkyMiles the next. Same goes for booking many partner airlines like Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, and more.
But not when using SkyMiles to book WestJet, Delta’s partner from across the northern border. No matter the cash price or the route, it’ll always be 25,000 or 30,000 SkyMiles to book roundtrip WestJet flights between the U.S. and Canada – at least when you can find the award availability to book it.
So why not fly WestJet for a weeklong trip to Calgary (YYC) to hit up Banff, Lake Louise, and other sights … especially when it costs you a fraction of flying Delta instead?
Or you can fly all the way from Atlanta (ATL) to Vancouver (YVR) and back for just 30,000 SkyMiles roundtrip. Not bad for a five-plus-hour flight that normally costs $700 or more, right?
Even a coast-to-coast flight from New York City (JFK) all the way to Victoria (YYJ) on Vancouver Island with a connection will still cost you just 25,000 Delta SkyMiles.
Buy Some Champagne in the Delta Sky Club
This won’t be for everyone, but it’s a fun one. And it’s a great way to use your SkyMiles.
You can buy expensive (and delicious) bottles of champagne in many Delta Sky Clubs for as low as 2,400 SkyMiles. After a devaluation a few years back, SkyMiles won’t get you as far when buying champagne (or other premium drinks): They’re worth 1.5 cents apiece toward these beverages now, as compared to 2 cents each before.
Still, it’s a great way to start any vacation with a bottle of champagne, starting at 1,400 SkyMiles. After a recent menu overhaul, here’s a taste of what champagne you can currently snag at the Sky Club:
- Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs Rose (375ml half bottle): 1,400 SkyMiles or $21
- Banshee ‘Ten of Cups’ Sparkling Brut (750ml bottle): 2,000 SkyMiles or $30
- Laurent-Perrier La Cuvee Brut (375ml half bottle): 2,400 SkyMiles or $36
- Nino Franco ‘Rustico’ Prosecco (750ml bottle): 3,000 SkyMiles or $45
- Champagne Jeeper Grand Rose Brut (375ml half bottle): 3,800 SkyMiles or $57
- Argyle Sparkling Vintage Brut (750ml bottle): 3,800 SkyMiles or $57
- Taittinger La Francaise Brut (750ml bottle): 7,600 SkyMiles or $114
- Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé (750ml bottle): 8,000 SkyMiles or $120
- Bollinger Special Cuvee (750ml bottle): 9,200 SkyMiles or $138
This deal has been around for a few years, and our team never hesitates to take advantage. Sky Club bartenders will even give you a bucket of ice if you’d like to drink it away from the bar. You can even add on a tip with your SkyMiles.
If you’ve got a few thousand SkyMiles to burn, this is a great way to start your trip off right.
Read our guide to buying champagne in the Delta Sky Club using your SkyMiles!
Book a Cheap Flight Deal with SkyMiles
It won’t always make sense, but you can use a novel feature of Delta’s SkyMiles program to book a cheap flight deal – and come out way ahead.
Delta Pay with Miles allows you to put your SkyMiles balance toward the cash price of your flight. It’s only available to American Express Delta cardholders. Don’t confuse it with Delta’s Miles + Cash option, which is almost always a terrible deal.
When you use Pay with Miles, each SkyMile is worth 1 cent toward the fare, so 5,000 SkyMiles is worth $50 off your fare. And you have to pay in 5,000-mile increments.
While it’s not the greatest value, you can come out ahead when you find a great flight deal here or through Thrifty Traveler Premium: It means you can book a flight for fewer miles than the standard award flight may cost.
Check out this example we found from New York-JFK (JFK) to Singapore (SIN) for around $450 or 45,000 SkyMiles round-trip. A typical award ticket on this route typically costs over 100,000 SkyMiles.
This is also how we’ve booked two roundtrip tickets to Hawaii for . If you play it right, using this method can be one of the best uses of your SkyMiles.
Fly to Mexico & the Caribbean
SkyMiles can be unpredictable, and the routine flash sales mean you can snag some even better deals than this one.
But it’s pretty easy to book a round-trip flight to Mexico in economy for 30,000 SkyMiles – and sometimes even less. That’s a solid deal for a winter escape, as many flights during the peak season can cost $500 or more.
You can even save a few thousand SkyMiles by booking one of their basic economy awards, giving up free seat assignment and a few other benefits.
Use Your SkyMiles Outside the US Instead
Whether you’re flying within the U.S. or to or from the states somewhere abroad, Delta award rates are all over the map.
But flying within Europe, from Europe to Asia, or from Southeast Asia to Australia, it’s different. While it’s not published anywhere, Delta still uses a hidden award chart that dictates stable pricing on these worldly routes. And that means you can use SkyMiles to fly some of Delta’s excellent partner carriers, getting far more bang for your buck in the process.
While Delta might charge you an arm and a leg to fly from the U.S. over to Southeast Asia, you can book a flight from Ho Chi Minh (SGN) down to Singapore (SGN) for just 22,500 SkyMiles with Vietnam Airlines – or bump up to business class for 40,000 SkyMiles.
Need to get from Europe to Dubai (DXB)? Use your SkyMiles to fly KLM: It’ll always cost 25,000 SkyMiles in economy or 42,500 miles in business class.
Those are just two of countless examples out there around the globe. While this method won’t make sense for every traveler, SkyMiles can come in handy if you’re trying to piece together a trip somewhere overseas.
Cash in Your Miles for an Upgrade
OK, so this one is nothing new. Delta has been hawking cabin upgrades for years whether you pay cold, hard cash or redeem SkyMiles to move up front.
But as business class redemptions have skyrocketed and the list of ways to get outsized value from SkyMiles has shrunk, using your SkyMiles on an upgrade is well worth considering. In fact, Delta is one of the few airlines where upgrading with miles is a safe bet.
Here’s the biggest reason why you should look into using your SkyMiles for an upgrade, though: They’re cheaper than ever.
It’s not a slam dunk by any means but we’ve seen an undeniable trend of cheap upgrades with Delta, routinely dropping below $500 or $600 to bump up to a Delta One business class seat – or 50,000 or 60,000 SkyMiles. Sometimes, it’s half the price.
Read more: Upgrades to Delta One are Cheaper than Ever
When using SkyMiles to upgrade, it’s tied directly to the cash cost – and you’ll almost always get a flat 1 cent for each mile. That means a $500 upgrade costs you 50,000 SkyMiles while a $449 upgrade will be 44,900 SkyMiles each.
Is that the best way to redeem SkyMiles for top dollar? Hardly. You can get much more bang for your buck (or SkyMiles) by waiting for a great flash sale or using other methods on this list.
But personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to cash in some SkyMiles for an upgrade at the right pice. It might just be the best way to book Delta One right now, period.
How to Earn Delta SkyMiles
You’ve got plenty of options to pile up some SkyMiles for these redemptions.
Your first stop might be the Delta SkyMiles cards from American Express, from the fan-favorite *delta skymiles gold card* to the *delta skymiles platinum card* and even the top-tier *delta reserve card*.
We routinely see Delta and American Express roll out elevated bonuses on their entire slate of cards. So if you don’t see bonuses of up to 100,000 SkyMiles or more, it’s probably worth waiting.
Not sure which Delta credit card is best? Read our guide to find which Delta credit card is right for you!
But your options for earning SkyMiles go beyond Delta credit cards.
Look at the *amex gold*. It’s one of the best travel cards, period, thanks to the 4x points it earns at both restaurants and U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 each year). bonus_miles_full But check to see if you qualify for a massive 75,000-point bonus via CardMatch (terms apply) … or even more from personal referral links!
Delta is an Amex transfer partner, which means you can instantly transfer these points to your SkyMiles account whenever you need them. Points transfer on a 1:1 basis, so 60,000 Amex points will get you 60,000 Delta SkyMiles.
There’s a reason why we’ve named this card the single-best credit card to earn Delta SkyMiles.
If you want to earn more miles and a bit of luxury during your travels, you can’t do better than *amex platinum*. The annual fee clocks in at $695 a year (see rates & fees), which is steep … but no other travel card offers better lounge access, from Amex Centurion Lounges to Delta Sky Clubs (when you’re flying Delta that day) and 1,000-plus more around the globe, plus a host of other valuable travel perks.
Oh, and the points. It starts with a standard, 80,000-point welcome bonus after spending $8,000 in six months. But be sure to check and see if you qualify for a 175,000-point bonus for the same spending requirement – or see if you can snag a 175,000-point referral offer from a friend!
Want to earn even more Delta SkyMiles? Check out our master guide with all the best ways to earn SkyMiles!
Bottom Line
Delta SkyMiles are far from worthless. They just require a bit more work and care to ensure you’re squeezing all the value you can out of them.
While these are some of the best ways to use SkyMiles, this list is far from exhaustive. It should get you started for getting the most out of your SkyMiles.
