Introduction to Delta SkyMiles (1) - Sweet Spots for Award Redemptions [4/17 Update: Mixed-Partner Glitch Fixed T_T]

Delta SkyMiles, nicknamed by many as "SkyPesos," has a reputation for being low-value because awards often require a lot of miles, and even domestic flights can price out at an eye-popping number of miles. Still, as a major player in the SkyTeam alliance (for more on airline alliances, see our Introduction to Airline Alliances), Delta miles can be used for many flights, and many of them can be booked online. Delta's website is also simple and easy to use for award searches, making it a useful tool for looking up SkyTeam availability. And within SkyTeam are several airlines familiar to many readers, including China Eastern, China Southern, XiamenAir, China Airlines, and Korean Air.

Delta SkyMiles registration page: https://www.delta.com/profile/enrolllanding.action

【4/8 Update】According to a post by blogger Lucky, Delta sharply increased the mileage cost for partner awards on some routes without notice. For example, on U.S.-China routes, one-way economy went from 35,000 to 40,000, and business class went from 80,000 to 95,000.【4/17 Update】The mixed-partner glitch has been fixed. For details, see Drawback #4: Devaluations Without Notice.

Contents [Hide]

1 Ways to Earn Points
2 Basic Rules
3 U.S.-China Routes
4 Sweet Spot: Domestic China Flights
5 Sweet Spot #3: Limited-Time Award Promotions
6 Drawback #1: The Website Cannot Combine Segments on Its Own (Married Segments)
7 Drawback #2: Some Partner Airlines Have Blackout Dates for Awards
8 Drawback #3: Fuel Surcharges (YQ/YR)
9 Drawback #4: Devaluations Without Notice
10 Related Articles

Ways to Earn Points

Flying: Every time I look at SkyTeam partner earning charts, I feel the deep malice of the "SkyTeam mess." Korean Air, another founding SkyTeam member, has a huge number of fare classes that earn 0% when credited to DL, and China Southern is not much better. Among Delta's Greater China partners, China Eastern (MU), its closest partner, is actually pretty decent. If you fly China Eastern, you may want to try crediting to Delta (update: but first find your fare class and check the earning rate on wheretocredit.com—always compare your options). Delta's earning on its own flights is tied to ticket price and elite status:

Delta SkyMiles is a transfer partner of SPG points: 20,000 SPG points = 25,000 DL miles. Like transfers to other airline programs, it is not instant. For people who do not travel for work, SPG points mainly come from spending on the AMEX SPG credit card.
In North America, DL miles have an important transfer partner: AMEX Membership Rewards, with a transfer ratio of 1000:1000. Based on testing, transfers post instantly. MR points mainly come from welcome bonuses or everyday spending on the Everyday Preferred credit card.
AMEX offers a three-card lineup of Delta co-branded credit cards: the Gold Delta SkyMiles^® Credit Card offers 40,000 DL miles after spending $2000 in the first three months. If you use the card for Delta purchases within the first three months, you can also get a $50 credit. The first-year $95 annual fee is waived, so you can try holding it for a year and then decide when the second-year annual fee posts whether it is worth keeping. Here is our recommended application link. The Platinum Delta SkyMiles^® Credit Card offers 50,000 Delta miles + 10,000 MQMs (used for elite qualification) after spending $3000 in the first three months. If you use the card for Delta purchases within the first three months, you can also get a $100 credit. The $195 first-year annual fee is not waived. Each year, you also get a companion ticket valid within the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Here is our recommended application link. The Delta Reserve^® Credit Card offers 10,000 DL miles and 10,000 MQMs after your first purchase, with a $450 annual fee. It also includes unlimited Delta Sky Club access.

Basic Rules

Delta awards can be booked one-way, but stopovers are not allowed.

U.S.-China Routes

DL miles for U.S.-China awards are decent but not amazing. Delta does not publish an award chart, but in general, one-way saver awards between the U.S. and China cost 35,000 in economy (40,000 on partner airlines) and 80,000 in business class (95,000 on partner airlines). China Eastern has fairly good availability, while China Southern and Korean Air both have blackout dates for awards (which we will discuss below).

Sweet Spot: Domestic China Flights

For short domestic flights within mainland China, one-way economy is 6,000 and business class is 7.5K. Short routes like Shanghai-Wuhan and Guangzhou-Changsha price like this:

There is a small trick here. These short-haul awards are based on the short distance between origin A and destination B. No matter where you connect between A and B, the price stays the same. So no one is stopping you from connecting at a faraway airport C, and of course no one is stopping you from somehow "not knowing how to board the flight from C to B"... Still, this trick is probably best not abused.

Sweet Spot #3: Limited-Time Award Promotions

Generally speaking, Delta charges 12,500 miles for a one-way domestic U.S. economy award, but Delta occasionally runs promotions for domestic U.S. travel. Delta is also excellent for short domestic hops within the U.S. For details, see Introduction to Delta SkyMiles (2) – How to Beat U.S. Domestic Award Pricing and the Latest Award Promotions and Introduction to Delta SkyMiles (3) – How to Fly Round-Trip Coast to Coast for 18,000 Delta Miles (Restrictions Apply).

Drawback #1: The Website Cannot Combine Segments on Its Own (Married Segments)

If you are searching a simple point-to-point itinerary, Delta's site is fine. But for people like OneMoreDay who enjoy squeezing maximum value from award tickets, how could we be satisfied with only the results the website shows us? Delta's system just does not like creative people. One advantage of the UA and AA systems is that sometimes when you search A-C directly, the option connecting in B does not show up. But if you search A-B and B-C separately and both award seats are available, then as long as the combined A-B-C itinerary follows UA's or AA's award rules, you can often ticket it via the multiple destination tool or by calling in. Delta's website, however, does not let you search segment by segment and piece them together into a one-way award (this is what people commonly call Married Segments). If you call customer service, then it depends on how capable the agent is. If you find a good agent willing to help you search, just ticket it right away. For example, you may be able to find a same-day China Airlines nonstop from JFK-TPE and another same-day China Airlines nonstop from TPE-PVG, but if you search JFK-PVG, the China Airlines option does not appear. In that case, you can first book the JFK-TPE flight, then call and see whether an agent can add the TPE-PVG segment.

Drawback #2: Some Partner Airlines Have Blackout Dates for Awards

This means DL miles cannot be used on certain dates for China Southern and Korean Air flights. On U.S.-China routes, the blackout dates in 2016 included:

Also, Korean Air releases only one business-class award seat and two economy award seats per flight to DL. So if you want to book Korean Air flights, you may want to try redeeming with Korean Air miles instead. For more details, see our Introduction to Korean Air Miles (1) – Great for Hawaii and One of the Best SkyTeam First Class Redemptions.

Drawback #3: Fuel Surcharges (YQ/YR)

The biggest problem with SkyTeam airline miles is fuel surcharges, or YQ. Delta is actually relatively reasonable here. The following flights do not incur YQ:

North America domestic tickets on DL and Alaska Airlines;
Domestic Greater China tickets on China Southern, China Eastern, China Airlines, and XiamenAir;
Aeromexico flights, Korean Air flights, Virgin Australia flights, and China Airlines flights (many other blogs say China Airlines has YQ, but OneMoreDay tested it personally and found no YQ);
U.S.-to-Europe flights on DL and its partners (but Europe-to-U.S. flights on DL and partners do have YQ).

Redeeming China Eastern and China Southern flights between the U.S. and China comes with substantial YQ. However, on U.S.-to-China itineraries, you can use the HKG trick to reduce YQ. A nonstop New York-Shanghai ticket has YQ of $200+, but if you set Hong Kong as the destination and get off in Shanghai, the YQ drops to under $120.

Drawback #4: Devaluations Without Notice

【4/8 Update】Delta has a history of overnight devaluations. At the beginning of last year, it directly raised one-way business class on U.S.-China routes from 70,000 miles to 80,000. Then yesterday, Delta once again stooped to a new low and increased the mileage required for partner awards on some routes without any notice. On the U.S.-China routes most readers care about, pure partner awards (such as China Eastern, China Southern, Korean Air, etc.) increased from 35,000 to 40,000 one-way in economy, and from 80,000 to 95,000 one-way in business class, while awards on Delta-operated flights stayed the same. As shown below:

Partner awards on U.S.-Australia and U.S.-Europe routes also increased. One-way business class on U.S.-Europe went from 70,000 to 85,000, and one-way business class on U.S.-Australia went from 95,000 to 115,000: