The Basics of Delta SkyMiles

Delta Air Lines is considered one of the Big Three U.S. carriers (alongside American Airlines and United Airlines) and, indeed, is one of the largest commercial carriers in the country as well as in the world. 

Delta operates more than 4,000 flights daily and connects more than 290 destinations worldwide, which is a huge footprint both domestically and internationally. Additionally, Delta is a member of SkyTeam alliance, which means that you can also purchase flights on many other partner airlines through the Delta website. 

So, to make the most of all that Delta and its partners have to offer, we recommend signing up for the Delta SkyMiles frequent-flyer program. It’s free to join and allows members to earn rewards for flying with Delta and its airline partners (as well as in a variety of other ways) and then redeem those miles for flights and much more. 

If you’re completely unfamiliar with Delta SkyMiles and how it works, we’re going to cover the basics, including how to join, how to earn miles, how to redeem them, how to earn elite status and more.

How to Sign Up for Delta SkyMiles

First and foremost, if you want to sign up for the Delta SkyMiles program, simply visit the Delta website and click the “Sign Up” button near the top-right corner of the homepage.

From there, enter some personal information, including your name, date of birth, gender, home address, phone number and email address. Finally, create a username and password. Once you create your account, you’ll receive your Delta SkyMiles account number, which will come in handy when earning miles or logging into your account.

How Delta SkyMiles Works

In general, the way that the Delta SkyMiles program works is that members earn miles for completing eligible activities. One way to earn Delta miles is to fly Delta or one of its airline partners and include your SkyMiles number when making your booking. 

However, there are also many other ways to earn miles, including transferring points from credit-card rewards programs, signing up for a Delta co-branded credit card, booking hotel stays, renting cars, dining out and more. 

Once you’ve earned Delta miles, you can redeem them in a variety of ways, including for flight tickets, seat upgrades, vacation packages, magazines and more. However, not all redemption methods offer the same value per point. 

For instance, when using SkyMiles to purchase gift cards, they’re worth about 0.8 cent apiece. On the other hand, when booking certain award flights, you can achieve several cents per mile in some cases. For this reason, we recommend saving your SkyMiles for flights rather than using them for other redemptions. 

The Delta SkyMiles program also offers members the opportunity to earn elite status by completing qualifying activities. There are four Medallion status tiers: Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. To qualify for elite status, you must accumulate a certain amount of Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs), which can be earned by flying with Delta and partner airlines and through other eligible spending, in a calendar year.

Earning elite status gives you access to special perks, such as additional miles earnings on flights, complimentary upgrades, free baggage allowance, waived fees, complimentary CLEAR membership and more.

Delta SkyMiles Partner Airlines

As mentioned above, SkyMiles members can earn miles for flying with partner airlines. You also can earn MQDs by flying on partner airlines. Because Delta is a SkyTeam member, you can earn miles and MQDs on flights with any SkyTeam airline. 

Here’s the current roster of SkyTeam airlines: 

• Aerolíneas Argentinas 
• Aeroméxico
• Air Europa 
• Air France
• China Airlines
• China Eastern Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indonesia 
• ITA Airways
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
• Saudia
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• Xiamen Airlines

Additionally, Delta has several partnerships with airlines outside of the SkyTeam alliance that allow you to earn SkyMiles and MQDs on paid flights, including the following: 

• Air Baltic
• El Al Israel Airlines
• Air Tahiti Nui 
• Cape Air
• China Southern Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• LATAM Airlines
• WestJet

In addition to earning miles and MQDs on flights with all of the aforementioned airline partners, you can redeem SkyMiles for award flights with all airlines listed above.

How to Earn Delta SkyMiles

There are quite a few ways to earn rewards through the Delta SkyMiles program. The most obvious way to earn SkyMiles is to take flights on Delta (and this is, indeed, one of the most effective ways to earn SkyMiles). However, you also can earn SkyMiles for flying with partner airlines, transferring credit card points to the SkyMiles program, signing up for one of Delta SkyMiles co-branded credit cards, booking hotel stays, renting cars, dining and more.

Some of these earning methods are much more effective than others and worth paying more attention to. So, let’s look at some of the most effective ways to earn SkyMiles and then briefly cover the other ways that you can pick up a few SkyMiles here and there. 

Flying with Delta Air Lines and Partner Airlines

One relatively effective (and the most obvious) way to earn Delta SkyMiles is to take paid flights with either Delta or one of its airline partners. To earn miles on eligible paid flights, you’ll need to choose Delta SkyMiles as your frequent-flyer program and enter your SkyMiles account number either when making your booking or when checking in for your flight. 

When you fly with Delta, you’ll earn points based on the base fare of your flight and your status in the SkyMiles program. Here’s how many miles per dollar you’d earn at each SkyMiles status tier: 

• General member – 5X miles 
• Silver Medallion – 7X miles 
• Gold Medallion – 8X miles 
• Platinum Medallion – 9X miles 
• Diamond Medallion – 11X miles 

For example, if you spent $200 on your flight and you didn’t have elite status, you’d earn 1,000 redeemable SkyMiles on that flight ($200 x 5 = 1,000). However, if you took that same flight as a Gold Medallion member, you’d earn 1,600 SkyMiles ($200 x 8 = 1,600). 

When earning SkyMiles on paid partner flights, your earnings are calculated according to each partner’s own unique earnings table, which you can view by visiting the Earning with Airline Partners page. Then, click on the airline partner that you want to fly with to view that partner’s earnings table. 

SkyMiles earnings on partner flights are based on the distance of your flight (in miles) and your booking class. Additionally, Medallion elite status members will earn bonus miles with some partner airlines and not with others. 

Transferring Points from Credit Card Rewards Programs

Another particularly effective way to earn SkyMiles is to transfer points from American Express Membership Rewards, the only credit card rewards program that allows transfers to the Delta SkyMiles program. 

So, if you have an American Express Membership Rewards credit card, you can transfer your points to Delta SkyMiles instantly at a 1:1 ratio. 

Spending on Delta SkyMiles Co-Branded Credit Cards

The Delta SkyMiles program currently offers seven co-branded credit cards to U.S. consumers (four consumer cards and three business cards), all of which are issued by American Express. All of these cards allow members to earn SkyMiles on every purchase they make and even earn elevated spending bonuses in certain spending categories.

Annual fees for these Delta co-branded cards range from $0 to $650, so there’s a Delta credit card for you regardless of what your budget and spending habits are. 

Here are all of the currently available Delta co-branded cards and their respective annual fees: 

• Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card ($0 annual fee, see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card ($150 annual fee, see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card ($150 annual fee, see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card ($350 annual fee, see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card ($350 annual fee, see rates and fees)
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card ($650 annual fee, see rates and fees)

Each of these cards also offers a welcome bonus for new cardmembers who sign up and spend a certain amount on their card in a set period of time after account opening. For example, here’s the current welcome offer from the SkyMiles Reserve Card.

These welcome bonuses are a great way to rack up a large balance of SkyMiles, which can be used to purchase one or several award flights.

To get more information on these Delta co-branded credit cards, visit the credit cards page. 

Other Ways to Earn

In addition to the three earnings methods listed above, there are many other ways to earn miles through the Delta SkyMiles program, including booking hotel stays, renting cars, booking vacation packages, spending through Delta’s online shopping portal, dining out, ride-hailing apps and more. 

While these earnings methods are unlikely to earn you a ton of SkyMiles, they can help you earn some miles here and there to get a little bit closer to your next award flight. 

To explore the full spectrum of ways in which you can earn Delta SkyMiles, you can visit the “How to Earn Miles” page. 

Best Ways to Redeem Delta SkyMiles

There are many ways to redeem miles through the Delta SkyMiles program. However, certain redemption methods provide far more value than others. To calculate the value of a specific redemption, divide the cash value of that redemption by the number of miles required. 

For example, if you were to redeem 5,600 SkyMiles for a $50 gift card, you’d get a value of about 0.8 cent per SkyMile ($50 x 100 cents / 5,600 SkyMiles = 0.8 cent per mile). Generally, you want to shoot for at least 1 cent per SkyMile, and, in some cases, you can get significantly more value than that. Thus, the redemption in the example above would yield poor value for your miles.

In the following sections, let’s look at the best ways to maximize the value of your SkyMiles.

Booking Award Flights

In general, the best way to get maximum value out of your SkyMiles is to book award flights on Delta or one of its partner airlines. Unfortunately, Delta SkyMiles uses a dynamic pricing model to price its own award flights as well as partner award flights, meaning that award rates fluctuate in accordance with demand and other factors. Thus, most award flight redemptions will provide a value of right around 1.2 cents per mile. Occasionally, you can find award flights that offer slightly more value.

Nonetheless, although booking award flights through Delta SkyMiles doesn’t provide amazing value, it’s still the best way to spend SkyMiles if you want to maximize their value.

If you want to book award flights through the SkyMiles program, you’ll need to visit the Delta website and sign in to your SkyMiles account. After that, simply click the “Shop with Miles” checkbox to search for award flights instead of cash flights. Then, enter your flight information (such as origin, destination, flight type, travel dates and number of passengers) and click the “Search” button, and the results displayed will include all available award flights (from Delta as well as partner airlines). 

In general, you can often find high value on Delta-operated domestic flights across the U.S. as well as Delta-operated flights between the U.S. and Mexico City. We’ve also found solid value on premium-cabin partner award flights and limited-time offers listed on the SkyMiles Award Deals page. 

Upgrading Delta Flights

Aside from booking award flights, another way to get good value out of your Delta SkyMiles is to use them for upgrades on Delta-operated flights. To use SkyMiles for a cabin class upgrade, you need to be already booked on a Delta flight. If your flight is eligible for an upgrade, you’ll see the option to upgrade with either points or cash on the reservation page for your flight (which you should be able to access through a link in your confirmation email).

Like the rates for award flights, the award price of an upgrade will vary depending on demand and other factors. However, in most cases, using SkyMiles for upgrades will yield a value of about 1 cent per mile. 

While redeeming your miles this way perhaps isn’t the best way to maximize their value, many travelers like to purchase cash flights and then upgrade those flights to premium cabins using SkyMiles. 

Ordering Magazines

Delta SkyMiles allows members to redeem miles for magazine subscriptions through a partnership with MagsforMiles. Surprisingly, this is actually one of the best ways to maximize the value of SkyMiles. In comparing the cash prices for magazine subscriptions to the mileage rates offered on MagsforMiles, we found that you can get around 1.5 cents per point when redeeming miles this way, which is high for the SkyMiles program.

So, if you were about to renew a magazine subscription anyway, you might want to consider paying for that subscription with SkyMiles instead.

Other Ways to Redeem SkyMiles

In addition to the redemption methods mentioned above, there are several other ways to redeem SkyMiles that tend to offer lower value per mile. Some of these redemption methods include booking vacation packages through Delta Vacations, donating miles to charity, transferring miles to another SkyMiles member, buying gift cards and paying for experiences (like concerts or sporting events). 

Delta Medallion Elite Status

In addition to earning SkyMiles through qualifying spending, you can earn Medallion Qualification Dollars (MDQs), which are the metric used to determine eligibility for elite status in the Delta SkyMiles program. By earning Medallion elite status, you can gain access to increased savings and extra benefits when flying with Delta and its partners. 

Medallion Elite Status Qualification

There are currently four elite status tiers in the Delta SkyMiles program: Silver Medallion, Gold Medallion, Platinum Medallion and Diamond Medallion. The following table includes the number of MQDs that you’ll need to earn in a calendar year to reach each of these tiers: 

Here’s how many MQDs you can earn through each eligible spending activity: 

• 1 MQD per $1 on airfare for Delta and partner flights (excluding taxes and fees, basic economy fares and similar fares)
• 1 MQD per $1 on completed rentals through Delta Car Rentals 
• 1 MQD per $1 on completed hotel stays and vacation rentals through Delta Stays (excluding gratuities, room service and other booking charges)
• 1 MQD per $1 on vacation packages through Delta Vacations
• 1 MQD per $10 on Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
• 1 MQD per $20 on Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card

If you want to see how many MQDs you have at any point, log in to your SkyMiles account and visit the “My SkyMiles” page to view the SkyMiles Status Tracker tool. 

Medallion Elite Status Benefits

Earning elite status with the Delta SkyMiles program comes with many benefits that can save you money and make your flying experience more comfortable. The higher your elite status, the better your benefits. 

The following table includes the most notable benefits at each elite status tier: 

As you can see, earning elite status in the Delta SkyMiles program can help you save a lot of money on upgrades, CLEAR Plus membership fees, baggage fees, airport lounge access and more. Plus, the higher your status tier in the SkyMiles program, the faster you’ll earn reward miles on flights and the more award flights you’ll be able to buy. 

The Bottom Line 

The Delta SkyMiles frequent-flyer program is one of the most well-known rewards programs in the airline industry, mostly because Delta is one of the largest airlines in the world by several metrics. 

However, due to the fact that this program prices all award flights using a dynamic model (both its own and partner awards) and the fact that earning SkyMiles elite status is solely based on how much money you spend with Delta and its partners, the SkyMiles program is far from the best loyalty programs out there. 

Nonetheless, Delta SkyMiles does offer members a lot of options for both earning and redeeming miles (including those that weren’t mentioned in this article). So, if SkyMiles is your program of choice, then it may be worth looking into all of the ways that you can earn redeemable miles and MQDs. 

And, since Delta operates thousands of flights across the U.S. daily, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll end up flying Delta in the future. So, it can‘t hurt to be familiar with the airline’s frequent-flyer program.

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