Questions about using Delta Skymiles

 

Anyway, what I want is to pay with "miles" only. DH and I have it all figured out, now. Also,we looked on AA and since neither of us have enough Advantage miles to cover the other, we dashed that idea because of fear that we would not be able to get the second ticket after booking the first. Plus their flight times were screwy.

 

Book the first ticket. Then try to book the 2nd. If you can't get the same or similar miles, you have 24 hours to cancel the first ticket, no harm done.

1. "Pay with Miles". This is a revenue ticket, or a cash ticket, but you can buy down the amount of cash you need to spend by paying part of the fare with miles. This option is only available to Sky Miles members who also have a Delta branded American

I didn't know this option was only available to Delta Credit Card holders...no wonder I confused the OP :).

Book the first ticket. Then try to book the 2nd. If you can't get the same or similar miles, you have 24 hours to cancel the first ticket, no harm done.

Thank you. We did not know that AA has a 24 hour cancellation policy. We will look at flights again tomorrow afternoon.

I didn't know this option was only available to Delta Credit Card holders...no wonder I confused the OP :).

That's OK. The great thing about this forum is that we can all learn new things. ;)

I didn't know this option was only available to Delta Credit Card holders...no wonder I confused the OP :).

Yep. "Miles plus cash" can be used by anyone though. As pointed out by someone, neither of these are typically a good value for your miles, and often a straight up award ticket or a straight up cash ticket is a better value. That said, I know sometimes people are saving miles for some other purpose, but that sometimes a person simply doesn't have the cash available and need to use some sort of combination. Always worth considering all options available to you.

Thank you. We did not know that AA has a 24 hour cancellation policy. We will look at flights again tomorrow afternoon.

It's a DOT regulation that applies to all US airlines. There is some applicability to foreign airlines that operate in the US but I'm not 100% sure on that; Flyertalker, Globaliser or someone else more knowledgeable than I can probably clarify. Also, if I recall correctly, it does not apply to tickets purchases less than 7 days from departure, so if you purchase a "last minute" ticket you're probably stuck with it, or will have to pay a fee to cancel it.

UPDATE:

We bit the bullet tonight and went ahead and booked with Delta. :D

We checked AA again, and the Economy Saver was not available for our flights. The Economy Advantage was for 50,000 pp. :eek::eek:That came with no seat assignment. We would have had to pay baggage fees (and a carry-on, other than a personal bag is not allowed with Economy.) Plus, as mentioned before, we could not book the tickets together. There is no 24 hour cancellation allowed, but we would have been able to hold a reservation while we tried to book another. In the end, we just did not want mess with doing all that and risk not being together. We decided that those points would better be used for single flights when one of us has a need. DH could possibly use his for a golf trip this fall.

Delta Skymiles - We used 39,000 pp for seats in Comfort Plus. Was that too much? Probably...but we feel good about it. The paid tickets were almost $550pp for C+. We will have free baggage being Gold. We are also upgrade eligible. We'll see. ;)

Thank you again for the help. :)

 

Delta Skymiles - We used 39,000 pp for seats in Comfort Plus. Was that too much? Probably...but we feel good about it. The paid tickets were almost $550pp for C+.

How many miles was regular economy? As gold medallions, you are able to select exit row seating, which I often find has more legroom than C+, and sometimes there is an exit rows with only 2 seats in it. Gold status also gives you Sky zone boarding, and while you don't get the complimentary cocktails that C+ gets, you would have some drink vouchers in your virtual wallet from Delta. On the flip side, exit rows seats are slightly narrower since the tray table is in the arm rest so that could be a factor for some people (not an issue for me).

Meg, You just saved me having to look up our seats on Seatguru!

The exit row seats are billed as Comfort Plus. We actually picked those two seats for the flight from ATL to FLL (the return flight did not have them available) because Delta's equipment for that flight is 3-3. Other than First Class, those two seats are the only in that configuration. However, both my DH and I had in the back of our minds that we did not like those seats for some reason. I chose those and said that I would look them up today and we could change if needed. I now remember about the seat trays being a pain, and us being stuck out in the open...no bags allowed because there is not a seat ahead of us, etc. Thank you for the reminder. I will change us. We picked Isle seats across from each other for the return and will do the same for the ATL to FLL segment.

We do have drinks included. ;)

For reference: :DDelta has Basic and Main. Then C+...

Basic price was $423. Main was $473. Comfort Plus was $531

Skymiles in Basic was not available. Main was 34,500. C+ was 39,000 (BTW- We noticed that the amount of miles went up from 37,000 each to 39,000 each, when we added a 2nd passenger.

 

The exit row seats are billed as Comfort Plus. We actually picked those two seats for the flight from ATL to FLL (the return flight did not have them available) because Delta's equipment for that flight is 3-3. Other than First Class, those two seats are the only in that configuration....... stuck out in the open...no bags allowed because there is not a seat ahead of us, etc.

 

For reference: :DDelta has Basic and Main. Then C+...

To clarify, as a routine thing, exit row seats are not automatically billed as C+...unless the exit row on your particular aircraft happens to be within the C+ section. For example, if C+ is rows 10-14, and rows 15-36 are main cabin, and row 25 is an exit, row 25 is not called C+ simply because it's an exit row. It may show up on the seat map as a preferred seat, but is not C+, i.e. sitting there won't get you C+ perks, such as free drinks on domestic flights, snack basket on 900+ mile flights, etc.

Also to clarify, yes, Delta sells economy tickets in 3 categories: Basic economy, Main cabin and Comfort +. However, Basic economy does not refer to a particular section of the aircraft, the way "main cabin" and "comfort plus" do. It is simply a discounted fare that provides you with a seat somewhere in the economy section, the trade-off being that you cannot select your particular seat in advance, and you cannot change/cancel your ticket. As these seats are assigned at the last minute, they typically end up being middle seats in the back of the plane, though if the plane isn't full or there are last minute cancellations, you could end up with any seat in the main cabin, or even in C+.

Oh, and as far as seat storage in those unique exit rows where there are only 2 seats and so you don't have a seat directly in front of you.... who told you that you cannot bring a bag? You can still bring a carry on bag to place in the overhead, and you can still bring a personal item to place under the seat in front of you.... the seat in front of you is simply 2 rows in front rather than directly in front due to the "missing" seat. You'd have to get out of your seat to stow and retrieve it, and I can understand someone not wanting to do that, but that under-seat storage area is still yours to use. :)

On this particular equipment, the seats that we booked were marked C+. They were Exit row seats and I had to check that we understood all restrictions. There were no seats in front of us...only the bathroom. There was a row of 3 behind us that were also exit row seats, and also billed C+. Yes, I know we can store overhead, but did not want to do that with my smaller carry-on bag. ;)

On this particular equipment, the seats that we booked were marked C+. They were Exit row seats and I had to check that we understood all restrictions. There were no seats in front of us...only the bathroom. There was a row of 3 behind us that were also exit row seats, and also billed C+. Yes, I know we can store overhead, but did not want to do that with my smaller carry-on bag. ;)

Hmmmm 18 D & E...not a favorite of mine personally...but hope they work out well for you.

On this particular equipment, the seats that we booked were marked C+. They were Exit row seats and I had to check that we understood all restrictions. There were no seats in front of us...only the bathroom. There was a row of 3 behind us that were also exit row seats, and also billed C+. Yes, I know we can store overhead, but did not want to do that with my smaller carry-on bag. ;)

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Lol...we changed seats yesterday after hearing about the seats from Meg. Isn't it amazing that people pay extra for those seats and Delta gets away with it. :(

We booked isle seats across from each other. Row 20.

On this particular equipment, the seats that we booked were marked C+. They were Exit row seats

Yes, and again- just to clarify for others- they weren't marked C+ because they were exit row seats. The C+ section just happened to include some emergency exits. There would be additional exit rows further back, over the wing, that would be in the main cabin and would not be marked C+ because they aren't in the more forward C+ section. (Just don't want someone misinterpreting and assuming all exit rows are automatically C+ seats with C+ perks!)

I recently booked C+ seats on Delta for a flight from SAN to SCL. I was shocked to see how many miles were needed for those seats - 115,000 miles pp for Thursday, Friday and Saturday departures, while "only" 46,000 miles were needed for the same flights on Wednesday. The cash price for the tickets on all four days was exactly the same - $1,408 pp. A Wednesday departure was my first choice so I did get those tickets. Five days later, the miles needed for the flights I booked jumped up to 115,000 miles per ticket, despite the fact that the number of available seats had not changed. In fact, 4 additional C+ opened up since I booked our flights so I was able to change our seats so that we are now seated together.

I did have to transfer miles from my DH's account into mine so that I had enough miles to cover the two tickets. There is a $0.01 per mile charge and a $30 admin fee for the transfer. The $140 spend (plus 92,000 miles) was a reasonable cost in place of spending $2800+ for the same tickets.

As an aside, we don't fly for business, just pleasure. I therefore look for the special bonus mile offers that the loyalty cards offer periodically. I opened a Delta AMEX account last year before purchasing tickets for flights to Europe. The 60,000 bonus miles earned went a long way for me on this recent purchase. The same offer for the Delta AMEX card was very recently available so my husband got a card so he'll get the 60,000 mile bonus. Good thing since we will be looking for tickets for another European cruise next year.

Enjoy your cruise and your C+ seats!

Five days later' date=' the miles needed for the flights I booked jumped up to 115,000 miles per ticket, despite the fact that the number of available seats had not changed. In fact, 4 additional C+ opened up since I booked our flights so I was able to change our seats so that we are now seated together.[/quote']The number of physical seats on the aircraft that you may or may not be able to allocate is not directly related to the yield/revenue management numbers that drive pricing through availability by booking class. Pricing in any particular cabin can even be changed by bookings made in different cabins, not only by bookings in the same cabin.

 

In other words, although your booking may have influenced the price increase, the fact that four physical seats in your cabin became available for pre-allocation may have had nothing to do with the things that govern pricing.

The number of physical seats on the aircraft that you may or may not be able to allocate is not directly related to the yield/revenue management numbers that drive pricing through availability by booking class. Pricing in any particular cabin can even be changed by bookings made in different cabins, not only by bookings in the same cabin.

 

In other words, although your booking may have influenced the price increase, the fact that four physical seats in your cabin became available for pre-allocation may have had nothing to do with the things that govern pricing.

Thanks for the info. I am going to assume that the computer models, working in the background, are using lots more brain power than I have to make good guesses about pricing. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I make a good or reasonable guess re: purchasing tickets or booking cruises. The ability to capture price drops for cruises (up until final payment), for those of us in the US, does take the sting out of a bad guess. I have, only once, been able to change our airline tickets and come out ahead, despite the change fee. So, my interest in tracking airfare is only academic once I have gotten our tickets. I was puzzled by the the substantial shifts/increases in miles needed for tickets when the same number of seats remain available within a category. Excepting the small number of C+ seats remaining open, the number of available seats in main cabin and BC on this flight are still substantial.

I was puzzled by the the substantial shifts/increases in miles needed for tickets when the same number of seats remain available within a category. Excepting the small number of C+ seats remaining open' date=' the number of available seats in main cabin and BC on this flight are still substantial.[/quote']There's no way for an outsider to know how many seats remain available for sale in any category. The physical seat map tells you virtually nothing about that. The selling configuration (how many reservations the airline is prepared to take in each cabin) may be very different from the physical seat map, and may change from day to day; also, the selling configuration of the economy cabin could change as more business/first class reservations are taken, and vice versa.

 

This is why we often stress that even if you have picked a seat, the airline has not sold you a ticket to sit in that seat. This is not a theatre, cinema or opera house. Basically, all you have bought is a promise that the airline will try to get you onto that flight in some seat or other, and a much vaguer promise that the airline might seat you in the particular seat you have requested.

I was puzzled by the the substantial shifts/increases in miles needed for tickets when the same number of seats remain available within a category. Excepting the small number of C+ seats remaining open' date=' the number of available seats in main cabin and BC on this flight are still substantial.[/quote']

 

If you are using a seat map to calculate loads, know that it can be highly inaccurate - at best.

Last week we booked one way to tickets to Bangkok using Delta Skymiles. This is the first time that we have ever used them. We did not have too many-they slowly built up over the years.

Our issue was that Delta was only displaying 2 seats available for the flights/date and redemption cost that we wanted. We each only had just enough to cover the trip. We did not want to be in a situation where we got one online, then logged into the other account only to find that the second ticket was not longer available.

We called the Delta Skymiles 1800 number.. The CSR was excellent. She understood the issue. She 'grabbed' both redemptions and then processed them one by one. With two locator numbers-one each. The Delta tickets cost us each 35000 points and $100CAD. A similar Aeroplan option was 45000 points, $250 in fees if we booked on the web. If we did it by phone the total fee per person would have been $325. CAD...hardly worth the effort.

For us, this was such an improvement. If we redeem points by phone with our Air Canada Aeroplan account we incur a service charge of $75 per person (not per reservation). Just one of several reasons why we bailed on the AC program and their credit card program.