Delta SkyMiles: Now a better value?
According to a story on ajc.com today, Delta is eliminating the expiration date from its SkyMiles program. The system had previously deleted any acquired frequent flier miles after two years of inactivity.
More from the story:
Delta — which also faces the prospect of Southwest Airlines’ arrival in Atlanta via its buyout of AirTran — has made other recent changes that affect its most frequent fliers at elite levels. But this one affects those at the other end of the spectrum: infrequent fliers.
Inside Flyer magazine publisher Randy Petersen said Delta has been “beat up a lot” about the difficulty of redeeming miles. Delta also previously allowed customers to restore expiring miles for a fee, but probably found “it really wasn’t that much income versus the badwill they were creating,” Petersen said.
Hear, hear! It’s time other airlines jumped on this bandwagon. How dare you take away miles I rightfully earned.
Will flying Delta be a better value for you now that its frequent flier miles don’t expire? Which airline has the best rewards program for you?
– By Lauren Davidson, Atlanta Bargain Hunter
See a great deal I should know about? Email me at ldavidson@ajc.com. You can also follow me on Facebook or on Twitter @atlbargains.
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64 comments Add your comment
BigDawg
February 16th, 2011
9:10 am
The miles are the hardest to use in the industry, one typically has to pay double miles. Welcome Southwest!!
Rule .303
February 16th, 2011
9:18 am
BD is right. Expiring miles has never been an issue with me since I fly often, but it used to be that 25k miles would get you a ticket. Now it’s 50k for most flights. Although I like using them to”pay down” a ticket, I’ll be flying SW for most of my traveling.
Typical Delta
February 16th, 2011
9:22 am
I was notified that my miles were expiring in January, and I could use them for magazine subscriptions or transfer them to someone else for a fee (I had 23,000 and it would have cost me over $250.00 to transfer them). Hard to believe Delta just decided to do this on the spur of the moment. Wonder how may people lost their miles right before this announcement. Delta is the lowest of low air carriers in my book.
CharlieATL
February 16th, 2011
9:29 am
I welcome this change by Delta. I left the workforce over 10 years ago with about 370,000 accumulated SkyMiles, and I still have over 300,000. Not having to by a magazine that I don’t want every two years is a relief.
I avoid air travel at all costs, except for significant distances. The industry is in a shambles and the TSA’s stumbling efforts to disrupt air travel take their toll on everyone, to little avail.
When things improve, I’ll start flying again.
Sorry, not exactly on topic. Off the soap box now.
Tweets that mention Are Delta SkyMiles now a better value? Which airline has the best frequent flier programs? #NoExpiration -- Topsy.com
February 16th, 2011
9:32 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Craig Vickery and Kelly Yamanouchi, ATL Bargain Hunter. ATL Bargain Hunter said: Are Delta SkyMiles now a better value? Which airline has the best frequent flier programs? http://bit.ly/eSYGuH #NoExpiration [...]
SC
February 16th, 2011
9:49 am
Where? Where?
Bradley G
February 16th, 2011
9:50 am
SkyMiles has SOOO many rules in fine print about how the miles can be used and by whom, I got tired of trying to figure it all out. Cancelled my AMEX SkyMiles card, and stopped using Delta.
Ryan
February 16th, 2011
9:54 am
Delta’s skymiles have become a joke (not to mention Delta’s flights in general). Over the past year or so, the number of miles needed to redeem a flight have increased from 25,000 to 50,000 plus. This dilution in value has caused me to cancel my AMEX card and loyalty to Delta.
Mike
February 16th, 2011
10:16 am
It looks like they’ve changed their system once again but the last time I redeemed miles on a round-trip to Seattle it was going to cost 50,000 SkyChoice miles because no 25,000 SkySaver seats were available. I instead booked my whole family in first class because the 45,000 miles SkySaver seats were wide open there. I mostly gave up on Delta when they started awarding half the miles for buying cheaper tickets.
Mary
February 16th, 2011
10:17 am
Used to save my miles for trips to the west coast, but now that it costs 50,000 skymiles to fly to LAX or SeaTac, I’m rethinking. Southwest looks good from here.
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
10:22 am
Delta is King! We love Delta for all of our travel. We just went to Hawaii first class on Delta Skymiles and the service was amazing! As soon as we boarded we we’re handed a free Mai Tai and a free gift bag including eye cover for sleeping, ear plugs, bottled water and snacks. Come to find out drinks are free (including alcohol) in first class! The seats in first class were the type that lay flat, too! What great comfort! We each had our own personal LCD TV and remote with access to several movies, tv shows and games. Delta Skymiles are so easy to accumulate through their vast list of partners and promotions like the American Express card I signed up for that got me 40,000 miles. With the Gold Amex or First class ticketing you also get 3 bags free, priority boarding and priority security checkpoints where you skip the long lines. Southwest Award program is LAME. They have SOOO many rules and restrictions. With them you have to fly 8 roundtrips in 24 months! Who does that? Not the regular Joe! And Southwest doesn’t let you transfer your awards to other accounts either. LAME! Delta has a good value, great service and their jets are not old decaying relics like their competitors. It’s Delta for us!!
Everyday is Sunday
February 16th, 2011
10:26 am
Hate to say it because they are local but Delta and their miles are a joke. Cant wait for Southwest.
Greg T
February 16th, 2011
10:26 am
Delta is the worse. When we see the stories about Delta’s next bankruptcy, you will be able to trace it to the way they mistreat their customers. I’m an elite level flyer. Southwest, here I come.
Kitty Conrad
February 16th, 2011
10:29 am
Methinks too many people like to trash people/companies/things. I am not a frequent flyer, yet I took a companion to Hawaii less than two years ago, using miles accumulated with Amex/Delta. I booked online, with ease, picked my seats, checked my bags and checked in online. I don’t understand all the whining, itching and moaning.
Dunwoodian
February 16th, 2011
10:34 am
FF programs were started thirty years ago by American Airlines, Delta and TWA soon followed suit with their own program later that year. Here is a copy of American’s “Menu” for redeeming miles in 1981/82
1981/1982 American AAdvantage Chart
* 12,000 miles – one first class upgrade from a coach ticket
* 20,000 miles – 25 percent off a roundtrip ticket
* 30,000 miles – 50 percent off a roundtrip ticket
* 40,000 miles – 75 percent off a roundtrip ticket
* 50,000 miles – one free first class roundtrip ticket plus first class upgrade on a companion ticket
* 75,000 miles – Two free first class tickets on American
As you can see a free ticket wasn’t offered until the 50k threshold, lower amounts simply applied a discount.
Remember tickets are the same price in actual dollars today as they were back then (no inflation). In theory the number of miles required to redeem a ticket should increase with inflation but it apparently has not. Housing, fuel, automobiles, and food have all doubled in price during the last thirty years.
Why don’t we chastise the home builders, oil companies, auto manufacturers, or supermarkets for passing their increased cost onto us the way we do with the airlines?
Yes non-expiring miles are a good thing, as is paying for the actual cost or the service provided.
Joe
February 16th, 2011
10:36 am
I just looked at planning a long weekend in May from ATL to Nassau, Bahamas, and it’s 35k round trip. I don’t think that’s too bad at all.
Bob
February 16th, 2011
10:48 am
Delta wants loyalty then they should quit jacking their customers over. So I pay about $95 a year for my Delta Skymiles AMEX card. My wife and I went to Colorado. Weekend tickets were 50,000 miles each while weekday tickets were 35,000 each. They don’t tell you in all their advertising that they are going to charge you more miles per flight than what you were told in the beginning. I sure would like to know how many people actually get a free ticket for 25,000 miles. Its a little bit of bait and switch to me. As soon as I get my card paid off I will be cancelling that card and ending my relationship with their fraudulent program.
Surely there is a lawyer out there bold enough to sue them for their false claims!!!
Josh
February 16th, 2011
10:50 am
As a Platinum (soon Diamond) Medallion, the fluctuating chart of mileage redemptions isn’t particularly fair or opaque. It becomes a cattle call to jump on low-cost awards (i.e. 120k Asia roundtrip vs. 340k if you wait only 2-3 DAYS after the 331-day advance redemption window opens).
From Delta’s announcement, they stated that “Last year, frequent flyers redeemed more than 264 billion miles in the SkyMiles program for more than 12 million award redemptions. In 2010, 8.3 percent of revenue miles flown on Delta were for award travel.”
I’ve redeemed 25k for a domestic round-trip award, but recently had to spend 60k for the same ticket.
Adjusting for inflation – or 1981-82 market conditions – isn’t reasonable in this case. It still costs me $500-700 for roundtrip domestic business tickets (COACH, not first class), which is in-line with ticket prices from the 1980s (when there was food, more space, newer aircraft, friendlier/less entitled flight crew, and a lack of useless/senseless TSA “security theatre” nonsense).
flyinhigh
February 16th, 2011
10:56 am
LOL u people crack me up…I can’t wait till SWA comes into ATL and burst your bubble!!! Delta will handle them in ATL like they do in many cities. Stop whining there are other things in this world to worry about…geesh!!!! Americans=spoiled
oldtimer
February 16th, 2011
11:03 am
Love Southwest!
Josh
February 16th, 2011
11:09 am
Hey flyinhigh – How about you take a trip to somewhere else in the world and tell me how the airline service is.
Say, Poland. LOT Polish Air has *phenomenal* service. In Holland, KLM (still) offers small houses filled with liquor – they are collectibles, not often consumed. And in Thailand, Bangkok Air somehow finds a way to serve food to EVERYONE on the aircraft – including people stuck in the back row of coach.
So before you say “Americans are spoiled” out of your rear end, a more correct statement is that “American Union Workers Who Get Free Healthcare and Insane Pension Benefits are Spoiled.”
Those of us who pay $900 to fly round-trip from Atlanta to Austin, TX without food nor ample leg room? Not spoiled.
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
11:13 am
@ Bob… Advertising? If you take a look at Delta’s Mileage Chart on their website it plainly lists the number of miles needed for the locale you plan to fly into depending on the day of the month which is considered low, medium or high the Skymiles needed to redeem will vary. It’s kind of like the hotel business Bob, you know they have their prime season and weekends are always higher. From the looks of it you flew in a premium seat on a weekend which can sometimes cost more miles. Delta has a neat little calendar that clearly shows the different levels in real time as your booking your flight so you can get the most bang for your miles. Didn’t you see that when you booked your flight, Bob? Look for it next time. It’s very helpful!
atlmom
February 16th, 2011
11:14 am
My husband just booked his flight thru the delta system to use miles. Honestly, sure, they charge more – sometimes! – but really – there are ALWAYS seats available. It used to be they had two or three seats available, and if you didn’t get them, you were out of luck. NOW – well, they ‘price’ for the tickets with miles the same as the price for dollars. If there aren’t a lot of seats available – well, you’re going to have to ‘pay’ more – whether it’s dollars or miles. I don’t find that unreasonable AT ALL.
And… their website makes it SO EASY to use! It used to be a bear and VERY annoying. Now, you just say: use skymiles, and there it is. So easy.
And, realistically, they were one of the last holdouts – they used to not have your miles expire, then they made it 3 years, then more recently, 2. Other airlines are MUCH more restrictive about it. And now they’re getting rid of it altogether (because, really, it just makes more of a headache).
@charlieatl: what the heck are you waiting for? Those miles aren’t a pet – USE THEM. They do *not* get better with age…as most travel writers will say – they will only get more restrictive to use…
FFlyer
February 16th, 2011
11:17 am
Don’t care for SW and have no plans to start flying them. Nice option for those of you who seem to think they are the end all of flying. As someone noted before, SW doesn’t charge extra for things becuase they have no extras to offer. Good luck to you SW fliers if you ever want to go to Europe or Hawaii.
I have a AMEX Delta SkyMiles card and get lots of miles which I use all the time with no problem. I have no personal affiliation to Delta but thought I needed to give them some KUDOS as all the posts here seem to be of the “let’s bash Delta” mentality.
atlmom
February 16th, 2011
11:23 am
@josh: and the people who live in those countries for the most part are subsidizing it. Is that what you want here?
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
11:27 am
This is Delta’s current mileage chart. My wife and I went to Hawaii first class round trip for two weeks departing on a weekend at the end of summer for 75,000 miles each. We saved about $5000 in actual ticket cost. Am I complaining? I don’t think so!
SkyMiles Award Mileage Chart
For Travel between Continental U.S., Alaska, Canada
Cabin Low Medium High
Economy 12,500 20,000 30,000
Premium 22,500 40,000 50,000
Hawaii
Economy 20,000 32,500 45,000
First 37,500 67,500 90,000
Where's my miles?
February 16th, 2011
11:33 am
Sure, now that they have eliminated thousands of accounts and millions of miles from the system they do away with the 2 year thing. WIll my 14 & 17 yr old daughters be getting back the 40,000 miles they accumulated since age 1? No! And for that reason alone no one in my family will Delta ever again (not to mention that they are always the most expensive flight to anywhere!). Sorry, Delta, you can stick it!
Dragon
February 16th, 2011
11:40 am
@ Bob,
You mentioned the $95 annual fee. It is waived for the first year. In addition on the anniversary date you get a $99 companion certificate. So essentially it is free to have the card, so long as you pay the your credit card balance in full each month and that you travel with someone at least once a year.
ATLflyr
February 16th, 2011
12:29 pm
Gosh, Southwest!! I can see the herds of cattle lining up at the gate now. The same people whining about Delta will whine about Southwest. Nothing is every good enough. Those are the same people that whine and blame Delta for weather and FAA delays.
Southwest is the walmart of air travel.
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
12:31 pm
@ Where’s my miles?…That’s what happens when you let miles sit and stagnate with just about any rewards program with most companies. It’s called non-activity. It happened to me once because of non-activity with my Delta account, but I called their customer service and they we’re gracious enough to reissue a partial amount. Now I use an American Express credit card that’s partnered with Delta so I never lose my Skymiles. You can also downgrade to an Amex with no annual fee and still collect miles for purchases. Plus if you sign up for Delta’s weekly flight sales via email you would see flights leaving Atlanta to most major cities are drastically reduced. I’ve used Delta for about 17 years and they have become very competitive in their pricing and much improved in their customer service. I say give them another chance!
Dumb DAL Union Pilot Thug
February 16th, 2011
12:35 pm
@ Josh 11:09am
Josh,
Delta is the least unionized airline in the USA. Just the pilots (12,500) along with two other small work groups are organized. The flight attendants, mechanics, and ground service personal are not members of any unions, in fact all three groups have voted down union representation within the last year or so. Southwest on the other hand is completely unionized.
900 bucks ATL to AUS is steep! Do you sell your business product/service for less than the market will bear? You had to get there that day, your demand is great, the supply is limited. Economics 101.
FYI, health insurance costs me 500 bucks a month for my family, and my pension is like Scarlet O’Hara…Gone With The Wind.
FreqFlyer
February 16th, 2011
1:06 pm
Is it just me, or does anyone else suspect that “Get the facts straight” is a Delta PR/Marketing rep? Those posts sound like they come out of a Delta infomercial.
Dumb DAL Union Pilot Thug
February 16th, 2011
1:20 pm
Josh-
I also want to thank you for you patronage.
You most likely will not believe me, but I do realize it is the guys like you that pay my wage. I try my best to treat the diamonds/platinum etc with the the best service possible, from my corner of the world that means passing along timely and accurate information when I get it. Sometimes even an accurate picture of what is going on is difficult for us to get even with persistent prodding and questioning though Things don’t always work out the way we both want them to. Turbulence, airspace congestion, and weather are out of my control!
Thanks- DDUPT
cw
February 16th, 2011
1:23 pm
I welcome the non expiring miles but it was very easy to continue them with non flight activity anyway. I have flown all over the world with my miles. yes you sometimes have to be flexible and creative but I have always been able to fly at the base # of miles with little problem. As long as their pricing is anywhere close I will always fly Delta. In my opinion they are Atlanta’s airline.
bill
February 16th, 2011
1:28 pm
If “get the facts straight” doesn’t work for Delta then I think they owe him at least 3 “attaboys”….
Kat
February 16th, 2011
1:37 pm
Get the Facts Straight: Um…those free Mai Tais, other free alcoholic beverages, and free gift bags (eye mask, ear plugs, etc.) ARE NOT FREE!
Where's my miles?
February 16th, 2011
1:52 pm
Get the facts straight —
Kinda difficult for a 14 yr old, who joined Delta FF at age 10 DAYS, to get a credit card, don’t ya think? Kinda tough to lose her entire life’s miles simply because, god forbid, she didn’t fly for 2 years. Give me an f’in break – how stupid are you?
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
2:05 pm
@ FreqFlyer…at least I have something intelligent to say that offers a bit of information for some of the other folks posting comments here.
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
2:07 pm
@ bill….thanks for your kind words!
Growler
February 16th, 2011
2:14 pm
A year-and-a-half ago I was able to get two RT’s to Salt Lake City for 25k miles each. I mean, I had to be flexible but was able to make it work. Have things really gotten worse since then? I understand the criticism over restrictions… but just assumed that flexibility was always a part of the equation.
Elizabeth
February 16th, 2011
2:15 pm
Book your flight early and you’ll have no problems!
If you plan ahead, you can score some great deals with FF miles.
last year, my husband and I went Non-Stop to Paris for 50,000 SkyMiles each! This was two $900RT tickets that we were able to secure with SkyMiles. We booked our tickets in July and traveled in March.
Those of you who feel your SkyMiles are best used when booking at the last minute should try a different approach.
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
2:18 pm
@ Where’s my miles?…That’s what happens when idiots like you set up frequent flyer accounts for 1 year olds and expect all of the same benefits as an adult. What did you think Delta was going to do? Keep your kids stagnant accounts open for 16 years? Get real buddy!
KAW
February 16th, 2011
2:23 pm
I guess I have been lucky….I love Delta…have always been able to get redeem Sky Miles for tickets at the low threshold. I have flown the whole family (4 of us) to Dallas and Miami using 25,000 points for each tickets. I recently flew to Denver for 32,500. I also love the fact that being in Atlanta, you can usually get a direct flight to anywhere you want to go.
Everyone says they can hardly wait for SWA, but just remember, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
2:30 pm
@ KAW…You hit the nail on the head! and lookie here…I just got an email from my friends at Delta. They have a flight for only $94 one-way to sunny Miami, FL. Nice! I think I’ll fly down there and stay on the beach this weekend since that’s a very affordable price. No need to waste my Skymiles on a price like that! Thanks Delta!
Joseph
February 16th, 2011
2:34 pm
Delta is the only carrier servicing Austin-Atlanta nonstop. Of course its going to be more expensive. $900 is a lot, but that sounds like a last-minute purchase, or first class…
I like Delta / SkyTeam. It’s nice to have so many destination options direct from Atlanta. I flew to Europe late last summer for 60k miles. The deals are there, you just have to be a bit more flexible. You can’t expect 25k seats on Thanksgiving weekend.
The best news lately is the premium economy section.
sheeesh
February 16th, 2011
2:39 pm
Hilarious!! Delta has their PR people hitting this blog with Delta commercials to offset the real people who are telling it like is.
If you are going to shill for Delta here, at least try to sound like a real customer.
Joseph
February 16th, 2011
2:47 pm
I don’t believe that just because someone is a fan of Delta, that they automatically work for them. That would be just as absurd as us saying that anyone who is bashing Delta must work for AirTran/Continental/whomever. You can like whichever airline you want, it doesn’t bother me. I used to like AirTran more, flying them almost exclusively for about 5 years, until the price gap between them and Delta ceased to exist.
Elizabeth
February 16th, 2011
2:48 pm
Sheesh,
do you want to see the pics from my Paris trip or pics of the kid we made while we were there?
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
2:57 pm
@ sheeesh…You mean like the type of customer you portray that loves to thrive on complaining about everything and anything? Nahhhh! We say good things about Delta because we’re smart consumers that know how to find a good deal.
Get the facts straight
February 16th, 2011
2:59 pm
Elizabeth, I wouldn’t give sheesh the benefit of seeing your pics. He’d probably just say, Sheesh!