Which frequent flyer is Delta?

Delta Air Lines Frequent Flyer Program: Skymiles I refer to Skymiles as a form of currency since the users are rewarded based on the number of flying miles, just as people earn money for the number of hours they work.

Delta Air Lines has one of the largest global travel-reward programs in the world, known as Skymiles. Skymiles has memberships of over 100 million; it enables travelers to earn miles when they fly with Delta and its partners and can later use these miles to book a flight and even get an upgrade.

How Skymiles Works

Skymiles is a traditional mileage/reward points-based frequent flyer program. That means that the members are only awarded their miles depending on the number of miles that have been flown, not the cost of the Delta Airlines Ticket. Members obtain miles when flying with Delta or any of the associated airlines which comprises Aeromexico, Air France-KLM, Alitalia, China Eastern, Virgin Atlantic, etc. They also earn miles for reserving hotel accommodations, car rentals, and many others through Delta.com.

The SkyMiles membership is categorized into five categories: general membership, Silver membership, Gold membership, Platinum membership, and Diamond membership. The higher the status, the better the privileges provided to members, including more points on flying, pre-boarding, lower fares for upgrades, and other privileges. Elite status in medallion is awarded depending on the number of medallion qualification miles and medallion qualification segments on the Delta.

Miles and Award Flights

Members gain 5–11 miles for every US dollar spent on tickets, depending on the ticket price fare class purchased, Medallion status, and SkyMiles partners included in the itinerary. This is on the condition that there is some form of activity, even if it is earning or redeeming miles, within 18 months for the miles not to expire.

Reward flights can be paid using the miles and can be made to any destination Delta has a route to. Delta is not featuring award charts anymore and this has gone for dynamic awards where the number of miles required varies depending on destination, time, and other factors. The economy flight miles are about 6,000 miles one-way for the North American routes, while the European routes can go up to 70,000 miles round-trip. Delta does not transfer carrier-imposed fees and surcharges directly on award bookings.

Upgrades and Perks

For upgrades, the general membership level allows them to request an opportunity to upgrade to Delta Comfort+, First Class, or Delta One no earlier than 72 hours before the flight. For anyone who is ranked higher, they can ask for an upgrade as early as the time of booking. Only some of them may be cleared based on the status level and the fare class that has been purchased.

Some of the benefits of Medallion status include fee exemption, boarding priority, priority seating, expedited security check-in at certain airports, higher miles, complimentary drinks, upgrades, and others. Members also receive benefits with partners of Marriott, for example, room upgrades with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, car rentals with discounts with Avis and Hertz, and others.

Credit Cards

Delta has co-brand credit card relationships with American Express in which various features include free checked bags, priority boarding, MQMs, Miles earn bonuses, and MQD waivers at certain thresholds, among others, depending on the card. Other promotions that go with the card include sign-up bonuses such as 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) when using the card to make purchases.

The most common approach to its utilization is the use of Delta SkyMiles Credit Cards provided by American Express. However, what you should know is that these cards attract annual fees of between $0 and $550, which will depend on the type of card that you are going to use.

Recent Changes and Criticisms

Delta has, for instance, received some flak over the Skymiles program in the recent past. Specifically, in 2015, when Delta decided to shift to dynamic award pricing, some customers complained that the company was eroding the value of SkyMiles due to the removal of award charts that guaranteed specific rates. Incentive flights on partners such as Virgin Atlantic also once offered much greater value in terms of top-tier awards.

Non-frequent leisure travelers were affected by the increase in Medallion requirements, which began in 2014. But some positive changes were made, such as the opening of more saver-level economy award seats, expanding the routes flown by partners, and extending statuses to those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Therefore, regarding value, Skymiles remains beneficial for Delta clients who would like to stick to one airline for both flights and rewards. However, for the occasional flyer, the high mileage rates for awards and the new requirements for status may make the airline less lucrative compared to the traditional airline programs that are still using zones, charts, and segments flown.

The only strategy that can be employed to effectively make the most of Skymiles is to continue using co-branded Delta credit cards for other benefits and keep on observing aspects of bookings and partners that may offer more value on award redemptions. Some aspects of it can still be annoying, for instance, the issue of upgrades when you are not a high-tier member; however, Delta maintains a huge route network and good award inventory on average.

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