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Unlike many other programs, Delta SkyMiles do not expire as long as you have an account with Delta. However, Delta does reserve the right to terminate your account if:
- There is fraudulent activity on the account
- You request the closure of the account
- The member passes away
- You do not respond to repeated communication attempts regarding the status of your account
- You live in or relocate to a country where membership is prohibited by law
- You violate the terms of the Membership Guide and Program Rules
Earning SkyMiles
There are many ways to Earn Delta SkyMiles. You can earn miles the obvious way by flying but also everything from car rentals, hotel stays and even dining out. Here are some of the ways you can earn additional SkyMiles.
Credit Cards
The first and most obvious way to earn SkyMiles with Delta is through credit card spend, which include:
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
The nice thing about all of these cards is that you'll have access to additional perks including free checked bags and priority boarding.
You can also transfer American Express Membership Rewards to your Delta account at a ratio of 1:1; a great way to rack up some serious miles for everyday spending.
Hotels
Delta has partnerships with many of the big hotel chains from Accor to Hilton and IHG; the earning rates are not uniform and vary for each hotel group. that lets you earn additional Starpoints and SkyMiles.
Airbnb
Delta recently teamed up with Airbnb so you can earn miles for your stays. The offer also includes a nice SkyMiles sign up bonus when you first start using the service.
Shopping and Dining
If you like dining out or shopping, you can pick up extra SkyMiles through shopping via Delta’s shopping portal, or even going out for dinner at restaurants that participate in Delta’s Dining Rewards network.
Car Rental
Delta has partnerships with almost every major car rental company out there. Why not pick up some bonus miles the next time you hire a car? As a bonus, if you are a Medallion Gold (or higher) Member you also can pick up SIXT Platinum status with all the other benefits that entails. Gold (or higher) Medallions also receive status with Hertz.
Vacations
Next time you plan on taking a packaged vacation, have a look at the Delta vacations packages. You can find every type of option from budget trips to luxury villa rentals, and for every dollar you spend you will also be earning SkyMiles.
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From 2000 to 2006 I traveled a lot for work. My skymiles piled up quickly to the point that I was Gold Member status. I was told back then they would never expire, I changed jobs and didn’t fly for awhile. Somewhere around 2011, I wanted to use my Skymiles to travel and was told they expired,, lost them all. Now they are saying they won’t expire again. If they want to prove that, GIVE ME MY MILES BACK.
So in short, miles don’t expire even if you don’t have their credit card?
Correct. Delta SkyMiles do not expire.
Somehow it feels that this constant downgrade of program quality will result in cancelling the miles will result in cancelling non-expiring miles.
have it since years but not enough miles on it to do somithing with it – allways fly AA or LH…
The non-expiry is the only reason I have a Skymiles account. It’s very rare that I make a Skyteam flight that is not creditable to AS, so DL is the only program where I’m (eventually) likely to get anything from such flights.
One of the few things I like about Delta! 🙂
Flying Delta in the next couple weeks (only non-stop from MSY to ORD). Since I use them only occasionally, I’m glad these miles don’t expire 🙂
I’m glad they don’t expire. However, I wish there are other ways to get them.
SkyMiles are one of the easiest currencies to accumulate — what other mechanisms out there would you be looking to use to pick more of them up?
A long time ago, in the early 1980’s, when frequent flier programs were fledglings, people joined and began their loyalties to the legacy carriers. Their kids grew up eventually and joined and the ranks of passengers wanting to accrue and redeem their miles increased. Now, those kids’ kids have grown up and instead of one generation participating, we have three. And they all want to fly on miles to Hawaii. Together. With a finite number of airline seats in the sky the competition for those seats is fierce. Given the difficulties in finding attractive itineraries to redeem for, sometimes it requires a long research time to secure FF seats. Having miles never expire is practically a sacrament.
One would almost certainly see their existing miles lose value over time given Delta’s regular devaluations, so I think a sensible recommendation is to redeem SkyMiles as soon as possible.
They don’t expire but value drops every year it seems. Better to earn and burn.
Will there be an CC for Europe too?
Highly unlikely you’ll see a Delta co-branded credit card issued by any European bank.
Has anyone been terminated due to the specific circumstances mentioned?
I love this policy!
It is especially lucky that they don’t expire because DL won’t let Award Wallet keep track for us!
Craig, there is a work-around of sorts: https://awardwallet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2697&start=120&sid=54c26913804b9cce9c80199675428e6d#p5771
It’s nice that Delta miles never expire and I find the service onbord to be much better than on American and United.
I feel that Delta redemption rate is way to high. I have got two tix with AA for what DA wanted for one. Currently DA has better times & nonstop options from NYC so that increases value to me
As much flake as they get, I love this about Delta!
DL miles don’t expire but DL raises the mile requirements for award tickets literally every year, so at the end whether the miles expire or not doesn’t really matter because if you don’t earn and burn quickly, you will never be able to use DL miles even though they don’t expire.
This is one of the few things that sets Deltas ff program apart from others. Other airlines probably save millions of miles by having them expire each year.
I use to be a big fan of AA. However I am now totally frustrated trying to book an AA saver award. I have now successfully booked two Delta saver awards this year, one to Europe for 60,000 Skymiles, and one domestic award for 25,000 Skymiles.
I didn’t even realize this. I only fly Delta occasionally so this is good to know!! Thanks
The simple answer is “No, they don’t expire.”
I think that’s what we said.
I remember that Delta Skymiles used to expire but Northwest worldperks points did not. It seems they may have adopted the Northwest policy on non-expiration of points after the merger. I agree that it is very generous that their miles don’t expire and I hope they don’t change it.
It’s great these miles do not ever expire. Like others though I fear it won’t be long before policy is changed.
Delta tends to change their policy once a while so we will see…
Yeah, that’s the problem. You can never quite stop monitoring and let balances sit there..
i found it easier to book FF miles with Delta for the lowest amount of points compared to AA and United. To get the best times its better to book one way flights than round trip.
IMHO it’s is the best approach to customers. In the past IHG was proud to announce that their points are never expire and changed this rule one day. Let’s hope it remains.
Not having to worry about having your Skymiles expire is a great feature. This is especially a good deal for those who may only fly once or twice a year.
For a period in the past Delta miles did expire but someone came to their senses and switched back to non-expiring miles.
Great that SkyMiles don’t expire. But I suspect that, like all things Delta, this policy likely won’t last very long.
Very good point.
They don’t expire at all and this is such a rarity in the aviation loyalty world that can be considered a real perk!
It would be a real perk if it was any other program but Delta… 😉
JetBlue also has a program which their miles don’t carry an expiration date.