What loyalty program is Delta part of?

  • Jul 18, 2024
What loyalty program is Delta part of?

Delta Air Lines is among the leading airlines in the United States, it is also a member of the SkyTeam public joint venture. This implies that it is involved in a SkyTeam for frequent travelers known as SkyMiles.

What is SkyMiles?

SkyMiles is a service provided by Delta Airlines , whereby the airline rewards loyal clients with frequent flying. Delta SkyMiles allows its members to earn miles while flying with Delta and partners that are subject to be used for award flights and other rewards.

Some key things to know about SkyMiles:

  • It began in the year 1981 under a different name and therefore makes it one of the oldest airline groups still in existence today.
  • As of now, SkyMiles has a membership base of over 100 million consumers, and it is still expanding, thus, it can be considered one of the biggest loyalty programs in the airline industry in 2022.
  • It is possible to earn miles by flying on the Delta, subsidiary companies and the associates of the airline partners and it has a reach of over fifteen international airline partners.
  • Miles have no expiration period, which means that they can be earned over a considerably long period.
  • Earnings can be converted into free awards that will give the member free flights in Delta and other selected airline partners. The members often find out that they get the best redemption rates when they book their travel on Delta-operated flights.
  • However, according to the rules, it is also allowed to use miles for upgrading, accommodation, car rentals, magazines, donations, etc. Yes, there is an online store, and it is called SkyMiles Marketplace.
  • It has four special levels of the program: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. Higher tiers offer additional enhancements and facilities for the regular users of Delta Airlines.

SkyTeam Alliance

Delta Air Lines is also a member of the world's oldest and largest alliance for passenger airlines known as SkyTeam formed in 2000. The alliance of SkyTeam initially included Aeromexico, Air France, and Korea Air. It has expanded and is inclusive of over a dozen member airlines that include some of the most influential ones like China Airlines, Saudia, and Vietnam Airlines among others.

What does SkyTeam offer to its members? It gives the following benefits to Delta Air Lines and its passengers:

  • Free access to more than 750 airport lounges around the world for qualifying passengers with SkyTeam Lounge Access programs. This also extends to the Delta Sky Club lounges.
  • Free First, Business, and Economy class upgrades for elite status members, priority baggage fees check-in, boarding, and more.
  • Better connections, transfers, and rebooking if something happens that will change one’s planned schedules.
  • Alliance-based around-the-world award ticket redemptions for program frequent flyers through collaboration.
  • Thus, Delta’s membership in SkyTeam assists the company’s passengers to gain better and more consistent passenger privileges relative to the cooperating like-minded carriers.

Some Tips For Booking Delta Award Flights Using SkyMiles

One of the main advantages of accumulating miles in the Delta SkyMiles program is the possibility of using the miles to pay for Delta flights or to get significant Delta flight discounts including Delta First Class and Delta Business Class tickets. Let’s take a look at some key things you should know about booking reward tickets using SkyMiles:

  • The SkyMiles portal online is ideal to check the flight awards and the number of miles required for the journey. This means that booking a reward seat depends on the route, dates of travel, and the cabin class preferred.
  • Saver awards reward the traveler with the lowest redemptions but has the lowest availability of flights. More premium program award space opens when paying more miles for SkyMiles Choice Awards.
  • For economy class redemption within the domestic region, the flights can begin from 6,000 SkyMiles per round trip. Loyalty programs of an international business class could range from 80000 to 400000+ miles for a round trip between North America and other continents such as Europe, Asia, Australia, etc.
  • If you want to make the best out of your miles, be prepared to be more flexible with your dates and ready to book at the more advanced dates. In general, the probability of getting award seats is higher during off-peak travel seasons.
  • In addition to free tickets, you can use your miles to pay for other things, such as travel amenities, make flight upgrades, compensate for ticket costs,s, and other things depending on the account class and the number of miles that are used.
  • Therefore it is possible to have a couple of free trips if only you can make some little planning and have adequate knowledge on how to go about it by using the Delta flight miles. Other features also help with easier search and booking of award seats for members of SkyMiles.

Why SkyMiles is the Best Frequent Flyer Program for You

Here are some key reasons why you may want to focus your loyalty on Delta’s SkyMiles program over other airline frequent flyer schemes:

  • Miles never expire thereby allowing to save them for years. Other airline programs also cancel off their mile to ensure that their accounts are active.
  • No award chart. While SkyMiles has a table that sets the price of award seats like CAN 10000, CAN 20000, etc, it has a dynamic valuation system that prices seats according to the destination, date, demand, etc This is more flexible and offers more options.
  • Member Sharing feature can be used to share files among different family members with the account being held in SkyMiles. Great for family vacations.
  • Acceptance by many partners so the miles that are earned can be from flying other than Delta Airlines. Fulfills the needs of the casual Delta traveler while making it possible to achieve elite status.
  • Free First Class tickets on some domestic flights for passengers holding Main Cabin tickets if the passengers are Diamond/Platinum Medallion tier members.
  • Thus, though every airline mileage program seems to have its strengths and weaknesses, the freeness and the convenience of SkyMiles make it ideal for most people to join for most of their flying.

The Bottom Line

Some of the key travel-related activities that it is involved in include; Delta Air Lines is a member of the SkyMiles frequent flyer program, which is owned by the company. In this way, members focusing on Delta can earn miles on the company and then use these free flights and other incentives.

Delta is also joining the SkyTeam alliance; it was founded by the airline. Such linkages with other major airlines such as Air France and China Airlines are also another plus for the passengers and also enhance travel. , and in turn, it is the same self-same customer who gets to enjoy the benefits that Delta has to offer in terms of loyalty as well as alliance.