Deriving value from Delta SkyMiles

Deriving value from Delta SkyMiles

Collecting miles for great trips can be a very lucrative hobby, and there are some key differences between programs.  One of the main differences is the availability of award spots from program to program.  United boasts the best and Delta - sadly - has the absolute worst availability.  This refers to the availability of low-level awards (shown below).

Not great availability from Delta.com

Great.  So now I have a giant pile of miles with Delta (you know they never expire), and apparently can't use them easily.  Well, there are a few things you should know about your miles... they are MUCH more valuable than other.  While you may not be able to book domestic awards easily, there is a lot of opportunity to put together great international itineraries.

Partners

Delta has a number of great partners through SkyTeam, as well as several other partners for award booking.  Unfortunately Delta does not make it easy to find availability on its partners, as the award search does not display the majority of the partners flights.   Because of this, putting together an award takes a bit more work.  This will require any number of the following things

• A flying blue account
• An ExpertFlyer account
• KVS access
• A ton of patience (calling Delta to request availability)

Stopovers and open-jaws

Delta's booking rules specifically state that you may book one stopover or one open jaw on each award ticket.  However, they regularly allow for both stopovers and open jaws on itineraries.  What this means for you is that you can see more destinations on your award ticket.  

All this for 120,000 SkyMiles (in business class!)

On the illustration here, not only would you get to see your final destination (MLE), but you could take a few days in Seoul prior to the trip, and take extra time in Singapore following your time in MLE.
These combinations make the possibilities nearly limitless.

More to come

Many thanks to the experts over on FlyerTalk who have spent countless hours putting together information for those of us who want to get the most from our miles.  I suggest reading the threads over at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-skymiles-665/ 

I'll post more in the upcoming days one how to put these awards together.

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