delta frequent flier miles

is is difficult to use Delta's frequent flyer miles in the US

"Difficult" how? "In the US"? For flights within the US or just originating in the US?

You need to do a fair amount of legwork to find availability using Delta miles, knowing partners, checking availability on your own often using outside sources like KVS Tool, etc. But I redeem hundreds of thousands of Delta miles a year, many of which are for flights within the US, almost always at the low mileage levels. Sure it takes some work, but Delta miles are some of the easiest and cheapest to obtain and have good routing rules compared with other airlines, so they are some of the best values in the frequent flyer world.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it

If you provide some more details on just what you are comtemplating, I'll give you some tips and processes to help you redeem.

Also, is it DL SkyMiles that you will redeem or a SkyTeam partner's miles that you want to redeem on DL metal?

As I posted in another thread, if you are expecting to be able to plug in two cities and have an itinerary pop back at the cheapest level, you will likely be disappointed. Most DL awards need to be pieced together to get the best value. Search and build leg by leg and you'll find availability, even to Australia and Tahiti.

Delta offers three tiers of mileage redemption levels. The low tier (green on the calendars) are not always easy to find.

It also depends on how many tickets you are booking at one time and the class of ticket.

Miles can also be used for upgrades but the fare codes are higher.

Are you a medallion member at gold or above? If you are then you MAY find award tickets at a lower level that are not available to a general member.

Heavily traveled itineraries will affect redemptions at the lowest levels.

It will take creative booking to catch a low tier ticket during a holiday season as well.

You should also weigh the cost of an L-U-T fare against the value of splurging on a medium or high level redemption.

Lots to think about before you begin your award search.

Would you be able to help me with tips for using Delta miles on round trip JFK-FCO, biz class? This would be using Amex points transferring into Delta. Would like to travel Dec. 8 or 9, returning Dec. 14 or 15. Thanks for any advice you can give. Have never had any luck trying to use Delta miles.

Sorry and don't want to piggyback onto someone elses question..but since the subject is DL miles. Can DL Skymiles miles be used for a multicity LAX-YVR ANC-LAX..Looking for outbound May 17th with a return on May 24th..Thanks for your time and answer.

Sorry and don't want to piggyback onto someone elses question..but since the subject is DL miles. Can DL Skymiles miles be used for a multicity LAX-YVR ANC-LAX..Looking for outbound May 17th with a return on May 24th..Thanks for your time and answer.

Yes, DL skymiles can be used for a multicity trip.

Easy to use? Sure, same basic process as with most airlines. You can do it online. But easy in terms of having enough miles for a trip? No, at least in my experience. Delta has fairly high requirements for trips. I've been able to get one-way transcontinental flights in first class on UA and AA for 25k miles (did it with AA in February and UA in July and August), but with Delta I haven't generally found even economy flights for less than 40k (some shorter flights for 25k economy).

Yes, DL skymiles can be used for a multicity trip.

Sorry but though Delta miles can be used for multi city or open jaw trips the poster's example is NOT possible. The unflown portion in this case (YVR-ANC) is longer than one of the flown portions (LAX-YVR). With some airline miles this is possible but not with Delta.

Easy to use? Sure, same basic process as with most airlines. You can do it online. But easy in terms of having enough miles for a trip? No, at least in my experience. Delta has fairly high requirements for trips. I've been able to get one-way transcontinental flights in first class on UA and AA for 25k miles (did it with AA in February and UA in July and August), but with Delta I haven't generally found even economy flights for less than 40k (some shorter flights for 25k economy).

True that transcons with Delta miles is tough. But I redeem domestic first class and coach for me and others all the time at low level. And I wouldnt call rhem all "some shorter flights."

But you probably wont find them initially using delta.com or even calling. It takes more work than that most the time.

How can you redeem the miles without going to the Delta website. I tried using our ff miles this morning to book PBI-New Orleans (can't remember the code for it) and it showed 40,000 - 50,000. Back in July I got two tickets for free because the charge was only 12,000 each way and we had 50,000 miles. Any tips or another website.

Easy to use? Sure, same basic process as with most airlines. You can do it online. But easy in terms of having enough miles for a trip? No, at least in my experience. Delta has fairly high requirements for trips. I've been able to get one-way transcontinental flights in first class on UA and AA for 25k miles (did it with AA in February and UA in July and August), but with Delta I haven't generally found even economy flights for less than 40k (some shorter flights for 25k economy).

Putting complicated trips together using SkyPesos (sorry, DL people) is tough but not impossible. I recently helped a hearing-impaired friend put together a business-class round-the-world trip for himself and his wife, 280,000 miles each, and while it took me quite a lot of tap dancing to get the route he wanted and the days (+/- a day or two here and there) it eventually got done. (For those interested, the route was PBI-ORD-LAX-CAN-AKL-ICN-HKG-BKK-ICN-NBO-CAI-FCO-BOS-ATL-PBI. Today they're in Bangkok.)

Would you be able to help me with tips for using Delta miles on round trip JFK-FCO, biz class? This would be using Amex points transferring into Delta. Would like to travel Dec. 8 or 9, returning Dec. 14 or 15. Thanks for any advice you can give. Have never had any luck trying to use Delta miles.

There is low level business class award availability on all days. 100k per ticket. On the outbound, look at using AF 9 for the TATL segment through CDG on either day. Also, on the 9th, there is availability using Air Europa (UX) through Madrid. For the return, there is non-stop availability on the 15th on AZ 608. Both days have connecting availability through CDG on AF 8 and AF 10.

If you want something a bit different, you could fly on the 7th using Aeroflot through Moscow. No visa needed for transits through the airport.

You will likely have to work with a phone agent to book these, or you can try to do it by building a multi-city trip leg by leg. Hope this helps some.

Sorry but though Delta miles can be used for multi city or open jaw trips the poster's example is NOT possible. The unflown portion in this case (YVR-ANC) is longer than one of the flown portions (LAX-YVR). With some airline miles this is possible but not with Delta.

Sorry..for the confusion or if I'm confused with your answer...I'm looking to fly LAX-YVR for a northbound cruise that starts in Vancouver and ends in Seward then fly ANC-LAX...not going to be flying YVR-ANC.

Sorry but though Delta miles can be used for multi city or open jaw trips the poster's example is NOT possible. The unflown portion in this case (YVR-ANC) is longer than one of the flown portions (LAX-YVR). With some airline miles this is possible but not with Delta.

Sorry..for the confusion or if I'm confused with your answer...I'm looking to fly LAX-YVR for a northbound cruise that starts in Vancouver and ends in Seward then fly ANC-LAX...not going to be flying YVR-ANC.

You can book this with Skymiles on DL's webpage, but it's going to cost a lot of miles, at least for the dates I looked at.

Go to DL's webpage and choose multi-city option, LAX-YVR, return ANC-LAX and then choose "book SkyMiles award ticket". It will pull up some Alaska Airlines flights and some DL ones, but it certainly appears to allow you to book this online, using DL miles.

Sorry..for the confusion or if I'm confused with your answer...I'm looking to fly LAX-YVR for a northbound cruise that starts in Vancouver and ends in Seward then fly ANC-LAX...not going to be flying YVR-ANC.

I realize that, but the rules with Delta are such that with an "open jaw" (which is what you are doing is called), the "unflown" portion of the itinerary can not be greater than either of the flown portions for the award ticket to price as just one multi-city trip rather than as two one-ways.

LAX-YVR is 1,081 miles (you will fly this)

ANC-LAX is 2,343 miles (you will fly this)

YVR-ANC is 1,328 miles (you will NOT fly this)

So you look at all three of the mile amounts. If any of the FLOWN portions is less than any of the UNFLOWN portions, you can not book it as a Delta award unless you use a horrendous number of miles.

I had a similar situation with a family member earlier this summer from CA for a southbound Alaska cruise. We ended up using Alaska Air miles for the one way to Anchorage (since Alaska Air allows true one-way awards at half the round trip amount, using their miles and with their aircraft) and just bought a ticket for the return from YVR to CA. Taxes originating outside the US were so high that the fare difference (for us) was really minimal vs. using miles for the YVR to CA flight.

ETA: I was posting the same time as 6rugrats. Sorry if I misunderstood. If you want to book it with Delta, sure it is theoretically possible (almost anything is possible). But the minimum number of miles will be 50K since it will be considered two one-way awards (and since with Delta, one-way awards are priced at the same level as round trip awards, you pay 25K x 2). And that is if you can find "low level" Delta awards. If you use "medium" award levels, then the price jumps to at least 80K miles for these flights. Hardly worth it in either case, when you can buy a ticket for well under $400 for these two flights. I did check delta.com for your dates. Sure enough, Delta prices these flights as two one-way award tickets. Costs 65K if you use coach both ways (25K+40K) or 70K (25K+45K) if you return in first.

Yes, I am not a DL flier, and suspected it was pricing as two one ways, as I found nothing under 50,000 miles. This is a horrendous waste of miles, especially considering the price if you just purchased the tickets with cash.

I realize that, but the rules with Delta are such that with an "open jaw" (which is what you are doing is called), the "unflown" portion of the itinerary can not be greater than either of the flown portions for the award ticket to price as just one multi-city trip rather than as two one-ways.

 

LAX-YVR is 1,081 miles (you will fly this)

ANC-LAX is 2,343 miles (you will fly this)

YVR-ANC is 1,328 miles (you will NOT fly this)

 

So you look at all three of the mile amounts. If any of the FLOWN portions is less than any of the UNFLOWN portions, you can not book it as a Delta award unless you use a horrendous number of miles.

 

I had a similar situation with a family member earlier this summer from CA for a southbound Alaska cruise. We ended up using Alaska Air miles for the one way to Anchorage (since Alaska Air allows true one-way awards at half the round trip amount, using their miles and with their aircraft) and just bought a ticket for the return from YVR to CA. Taxes originating outside the US were so high that the fare difference (for us) was really minimal vs. using miles for the YVR to CA flight.

 

ETA: I was posting the same time as 6rugrats. Sorry if I misunderstood. If you want to book it with Delta, sure it is theoretically possible (almost anything is possible). But the minimum number of miles will be 50K since it will be considered two one-way awards (and since with Delta, one-way awards are priced at the same level as round trip awards, you pay 25K x 2). And that is if you can find "low level" Delta awards. If you use "medium" award levels, then the price jumps to at least 80K miles for these flights. Hardly worth it in either case, when you can buy a ticket for well under $400 for these two flights. I did check delta.com for your dates. Sure enough, Delta prices these flights as two one-way award tickets. Costs 65K if you use coach both ways or 70K if you return in first.

Thanks so very much..I'll book without using my miles and save them when they are well worth the use.

Yes, I am not a DL flier, and suspected it was pricing as two one ways, as I found nothing under 50,000 miles. This is a horrendous waste of miles, especially considering the price if you just purchased the tickets with cash.

With all due respect, that is why I wish people would not answer such questions on the forum if they really don't know the correct answer. Otherwise it takes way longer to undue the false information that is being given. FYI, you are not the only one ;)

If you did in fact find an option for 50K miles for the poster's dates, please post the flights and routing. I found nothing for that level for the poster's dates (which would be low level both directions in coach). Now I am curious as to what you found (my guess is that you didn't use the poster's dates but some other random dates, but I could be wrong).

In re: LAX-YVR and ANC-LAX open jaw.

There is one "fix" that you could do to make this a legal open jaw rather than two one-ways. Instead of flying from LAX, drive over to Tucson and make your trip TUS-YVR and ANC-TUS. That's a legal open jaw since TUS-YVR is 1339 miles - more than the unflown leg from ANC to YVR.

Unfortunately, SAN and PHX don't work.

Your choice if you want to try that route. Sometimes it takes an unconventional approach.

You might also consider flying in late the night before. With all of the issues of flight delays, etc. even though you are not flying that far, it can be hair raising to have a flight delay and be wondering if you will make the ship or not.

Flying on the late evening flights is cheaper than the morning flights anyway, so that can pay a good part of the hotel for the night. It will also give you some time to see a little of Vancouver, which is an added benefit and well worth it.

Sorry but though Delta miles can be used for multi city or open jaw trips the poster's example is NOT possible. The unflown portion in this case (YVR-ANC) is longer than one of the flown portions (LAX-YVR). With some airline miles this is possible but not with Delta.

Sorry, I didn't pay that much attention to the poster's proposed itinerary; I was just answering the basic question of can miles be used for a multi city ticket.

Sorry but though Delta miles can be used for multi city or open jaw trips the poster's example is NOT possible.

With all due respect, that is why I wish people would not answer such questions on the forum if they really don't know the correct answer.

Would that include yourself, since it's since been shown that is IS possible to use miles for the poster' example? More miles than makes it worthwhile for all intents and purposes, but possible nonetheless. ;)

You are at a short window, but that can sometimes work to your advantage.

 

There is low level business class award availability on all days. 100k per ticket. On the outbound, look at using AF 9 for the TATL segment through CDG on either day. Also, on the 9th, there is availability using Air Europa (UX) through Madrid. For the return, there is non-stop availability on the 15th on AZ 608. Both days have connecting availability through CDG on AF 8 and AF 10.

 

If you want something a bit different, you could fly on the 7th using Aeroflot through Moscow. No visa needed for transits through the airport.

 

You will likely have to work with a phone agent to book these, or you can try to do it by building a multi-city trip leg by leg. Hope this helps some.

and another question please. This may be a dumb one or maybe an obvious one, but I didn't think you could use Amex points for biz on AF. Do I transfer my Amex points to DL first and then try booking as you've suggested using my now DL "miles"? Thank you for your patience with those of us who are not so familiar with the complexities of attempting to us ff miles.