How To Use Delta Miles: Redeem Delta Miles

Redeem for Delta Flights

The most straightforward thing to do with your Delta SkyMiles is to use them to redeem flights on Delta Air Lines. And while that seems like the smart thing to do, it’s worth noting that Delta prices its award redemptions dynamically, which means there is some connection between the cash price of the ticket and the amount of SkyMiles it takes to book, as well as other factors like specific route popularity and demand for those seats.

Delta doesn’t publish an award chart listing the price for its redemptions, so that makes it quite hard to predict where the best deals will be, as they are always in flux.

Redeem for Partner Flights

Delta Air Lines partners with two dozen other airlines through which you can leverage your SkyMiles to book award travel. For the majority of them, you can find award space through Delta’s website, but for the remaining few, you will have to call Delta reservations in order to book award tickets. Award ticket prices for flights on Delta’s partners tend to mirror prices on the same routes where Delta also operates flights.

Redeem For Magazines

You can use your SkyMiles to redeem for magazine subscriptions through Delta’s partnership with Mags for Miles. Redemptions start at 200 miles plus $2 for up to four of your favorite publications.

Redeem for Checked Bag Fees

At check-in, you can select to pay with miles for your checked baggage fees on flights departing from selet U.S. airports. You can take advantage of this either through your Delta app, Delta’s website or at a check-in kiosk at the airport.

Redeem for Upgrades and More

Use your SkyMiles to upgrade your flights, either while booking your flights or after the fact, via the Delta app, Delta’s website or over the phone. The number of miles needed to upgrade varies depending on your specific flight dates, routes and class of service. Not all tickets are eligible for mileage upgrades.

You can also use your SkyMiles to buy yourself premium drinks at the Delta SkyClub, and even pay for some services, like ticket change fees, same-date confirmed fees or external ticket charge fees, using your SkyMiles too.

Buy, Gift, Transfer or Donate

If you’re short on miles for a specific redemption, you can top up your balances by buying miles in increments of 2,000 miles at around 3.5 cents per mile, plus taxes. While this isn’t a great deal, it can help you get to your next award redemption if you’re really close. You can only deposit 60,000 SkyMiles per calendar year.

For anyone feeling generous, you can gift miles—effectively buying miles for someone else—at the same cost as buying it for yourself, and with the same caps. You also have the ability to transfer miles out of your account and into that of a friend or family member, in increments of 1,000 miles per transaction and at a cost of 1 cent per mile plus taxes and a $30 transaction fee.

You can donate your miles to charity through SkyWish, where you can select from a list of charities in the U.S. or search regionally for charities in Asia, Latin America or Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

SkyMiles Deals

Delta regularly runs award ticket sales. The destinations change all the time, and so does the pricing, but it is consistently cheaper than those destinations when not on sale. These deals come in quite handy for those who are destination agnostic and will plan trips around a sale, or those who are comfortable taking advantage of a sale that gets them near their preferred destination.

Delta Operated Flights with TakeOff 15

If you are a cardholder of the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, you can save 15% on award redemptions when you use your SkyMiles to book flights operated by Delta itself (terms apply).

All you have to do is search for flight redemptions and you will see the discount applied to those eligible flights.

Short-Haul Flights within the U.S.

Some short-haul flights can be had for relatively low amounts of SkyMiles—primarily driven by the fare’s low cash value. These normally include flights up and down the coasts (as opposed to transcontinental flights) as well as short flights in general, which run around 10,000-15,000 SkyMiles round trip, but can sometimes be found for less than that too.

Long-Haul Flights Outside of the U.S.

Flights that don’t ‘touch’ the United States tend to have significantly lower prices than those departing, arriving or connecting in the U.S. For example, you can redeem a flight on Air France between Paris, France and Dubai, UAE for 42,500 SkyMiles one way in business class or 25,000 miles each way in economy.

A KLM flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Delhi, India will set you back 65,000 SkyMiles each way in business class and 35,000 miles each way in economy.

If you want to get from Europe to South America, you can redeem 105,000 SkyMiles each way for a flight in business class or 60,000 miles each way on Air France from Paris, France to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

You can maximize your SkyMiles earning by choosing the right Delta credit card and using it for bonus categories. Choosing the right card for the occasion can help you earn more miles faster. Leveraging shopping portals for your everyday purchases will slowly, but surely keep beefing up your balances.

Considering Delta has changing price points for flights operated by the airline itself, redemptions on partners tend to be better uses for your SkyMiles, as highlighted through the article.

Learning the ins and outs of a loyalty program may sound boring, but it can come in handy to know all the intricacies so you can make this program work for you and help you unlock better travels in the future.

For an in-depth look into the program, including earning, redeeming, how to earn elite status and a recap of all Delta-branded credit cards, check out our Delta SkyMiles guide.

Fees

Delta has eliminated award ticket redeposit and reissue fees, meaning that you will be able to cancel or change your award tickets at any time before your travel dates without incurring any cancellation or redeposit fees to recover the miles you used. This excludes tickets in basic economy fares, which are not changeable or cancellable.

Delta does charge a $5.60 United States Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee (colloquially known as 9/11 fee) on each award ticket segment.

Fuel Surcharges

While Delta does not collect a fuel surcharge on the majority of award tickets, some destinations or partner airlines may assess a field surcharge of their own, which Delta passes on to passengers booking award tickets.

With so many options to squeeze the most out of your hard earned SkyMiles it might be difficult to decide where to start. If you’re looking to take an overseas vacation, focus on flights outside of the U.S. with partners for extra value or if domestic travel is more your jam, keep your eyes on the deals page or sign up for emails from Delta to find the best deals and discounts on award tickets.

To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card please visit this page.
To view rates and fees for Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card please visit this page.