The Ultimate Delta SkyMiles Guide: How To Earn and Redeem Miles, Achieve Elite Status, and More

One of the very first airline loyalty programs I joined was Delta SkyMiles. Although I may not use it as often these days, and I have mixed feelings about some aspects of the program, Delta is still a solid airline that I enjoy flying.

Even if you fly Delta Air Lines infrequently, it can be well worth joining SkyMiles to be rewarded for when you do. Plus, Delta offers many ways to earn SkyMiles that don't include flying, including one of the best suites of co-brand credit cards on the market.

In this guide, we'll cover every aspect of the program, including the top methods for earning SkyMiles, achieving Delta Medallion status, and redeeming SkyMiles.

Overview of Delta SkyMiles

Delta Air Lines is the oldest U.S. airline still in operation. It was founded as a crop dusting company in 1925 but began passenger operations four years later and hasn't looked back.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Delta Air Lines' traffic makes up most of its passenger throughput at Harstfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — which continues to be the world's busiest passenger airport. Besides its central Georgia hub, Delta has hubs in New York City (both LaGuardia and JFK), Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and Seattle/Tacoma. In short, the carrier offers extensive coverage across the United States.

Credit: Izyan Sultanali/Unsplash

Snapshot of Delta's network

Beyond its numerous domestic routes, Delta Air Lines has an excellent international network. As a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, Delta has partner airlines on all other inhabited continents except Australia. Key partners in Europe and Asia allow Delta SkyMiles members access to most corners of the globe. In total, SkyTeam has 20+ members, with Aeroflot currently suspended. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is the newest addition to SkyTeam.

The Delta network and flight volume are both enormous. The carrier has over 290 destinations and more than 4,000 daily departures. The airline carries over 190 million annual passengers with a fleet of over 950 mainline aircraft, with plenty more branded planes in its Delta Connection partner fleets. It makes sense it is the world's #1 airline in terms of revenue.

Even if you rarely fly Delta, the SkyMiles program can still be rewarding. Since Delta miles don't expire, you have plenty of time to accrue enough to redeem. However, there are some clear pros and cons to choosing Delta SkyMiles as your primary loyalty program. We'll discuss this in detail below. First, let's dig into how to join and start earning SkyMiles.

How to join the Delta SkyMiles program

The easiest way to join Delta SkyMiles is to head to delta.com and click ‘Sign Up' near the right end of the top menu. After that, Delta will ask for some personal information, including your full name, date of birth, and gender. Then, you'll also provide an address, phone, and email as contact information before creating your account login info.

Once enrolled, Delta will email you a welcome email with your SkyMiles number.

Click “Sign Up” to Enroll in Delta SkyMiles.

You can also enroll your kids in Delta SkyMiles online. The only difference will be a checkbox confirming that you are the parent or guardian of the child under the age of thirteen.

Joining SkyMiles is completely free. You can immediately start earning SkyMiles in a variety of ways after you've signed up. We also recommend that you install the Delta mobile app, which is a convenient way to manage your SkyMiles account. You should also add your Delta account number in AwardWallet.

Unlike most reward programs, Delta doesn't allow us to check your balance automatically on the website. The best way to ensure all your account details are tracked is to link the email that is associated with your Delta SkyMiles account to your AwardWallet account. Another option is changing the email in your Delta account to the username@awardwallet.com email address you were assigned. Then, we'll update everything automatically and forward the emails to you.

Related: How to Track Delta, Southwest, United Accounts in AwardWallet

How To Earn Delta SkyMiles

Of course, the most obvious way to earn Delta SkyMiles is flying with Delta — the old butt-in-seat method. But, you have plenty of other ways to add to your SkyMiles balance. These include a suite of Delta co-branded credit cards, flying Delta partner airlines, transferring rewards points to Delta SkyMiles from other programs, and using SkyMiles shopping, dining, and travel portals. You also can buy Delta miles, although rates are typically too high to justify this option.

Delta SkyMiles co-branded American Express cards

Delta has one of the best co-brand credit card lineups among airlines. The carrier offers several different credit cards issued by American Express. All of the cards let you earn SkyMiles through spending, and all of them offer bonus SkyMiles as part of their welcome offers.

Beyond their earning capabilities, the suite of SkyMiles Amex cards offers various benefits when flying with Delta Air Lines. These perks range from free checked bags and priority boarding to discounts on in-flight purchases. And except for the Blue Delta Amex, the other cards all offer a 15% discount on SkyMiles award bookings.

The higher-tier cards also provide annual companion fare certificates and can even help you earn Delta Medallion status.

Here are the four Delta SkyMiles personal American Express cards:

• Delta SkyMiles^® Blue American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Gold American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card

And here are the three Delta SkyMiles business American Express cards:

• Delta SkyMiles^® Gold Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve Business American Express Card

Depending on the card, you can earn 2x to 3x Delta SkyMiles per $1 spent on Delta purchases. Some of the Delta American Express cards also offer bonus miles in other select spending categories. The cards all earn 1x mile per $1 for all eligible non-bonus purchases.

Keep in mind that American Express has a once-per-lifetime rule for welcome offers on its credit cards. More recently, Amex added card “family” restrictions to Delta cards that can limit you from earning welcome bonuses, even on cards that you've never had.

Transfer flexible rewards points to Delta SkyMiles

Since Delta is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, you can earn Delta SkyMiles with any Membership Rewards-earning card. Points transfer from Membership Rewards to Delta SkyMiles at a 1:1 ratio, in increments of 1,000 points, and transfers between Membership Rewards and Delta SkyMiles are generally instant.

There are many Membership Rewards-earning cards out there, so we'll only highlight a few. At the top of the list is The Platinum Card^® from American Express. This premium travel card offers an excellent suite of perks for the frequent traveler, including

Delta Sky Club^® access for the primary cardmember when flying Delta that day. Plus, you can take advantage of its array of other perks and credits. Card members get 10 visits to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year.

Some other great options include the American Express^® Gold Card, which offers 4x points on restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 of purchases annually, then 1x) and U.S. supermarket purchases (on up to $25,000 of purchases annually, then 1x), and 3x points on flights booked directly with the carrier or through Amex Travel. Finally, there is The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express, which offers 2x points on the first $50,000 of purchases annually, then 1x.

Related: How To Transfer Amex Points: A Step-by-Step Guide

Fly Delta Air Lines

Flying with Delta is the most obvious way to earn SkyMiles. Like many U.S. carriers, Delta awards members with miles based on the amount they spend, not the distance they fly. The base rate is 5x SkyMiles per dollar of base fare. Base fare is the airfare without including taxes and fees. Here are the earning rates:

• General SkyMiles Members: 5 miles for every $1
• Silver Medallion Members: 7 miles for every $1
• Gold Medallion Members: 8 miles for every $1
• Platinum Medallion Members: 9 miles for every $1
• Diamond Medallion Members: 11 miles for every $1

It used to be easy to confuse redeemable SkyMiles (what you can use to book an award flight) with Medallion Qualification Miles. However, Medallion Qualification Miles are no more. You now earn Delta Medallion elite status through only Medallion Qualifying Dollars. We'll cover this in detail later.

Earnings example

I priced out a round-trip flight from Portland, Oregon (PDX) to London Heathrow (LHR) via Salt Lake City (SLC) for $883.41. The base fare is $620.00, while the taxes and fees are $263.41. This fare would earn a General Member 3,100 SkyMiles (5 x 620). If I were a Platinum Medallion, earning 9 miles per $1, this ticket would net me 5,580 SkyMiles. Delta is clear with what your ticket will earn during the booking process.

Flying Delta is the original way to earn SkyMiles.

Fly Delta's SkyTeam partners and non-alliance partner airlines

You also can earn SkyMiles from flying Delta's partner airlines. Unlike when flying Delta, you earn miles based on the distance flown and fare class.  The earning rates vary, so make sure to consult the chart for the specific partner you're flying.

Note that if you ticket a partner flight through Delta (ticket number starts with 006), then you'll earn miles based on Delta's accrual rates, including Medallion status bonuses. If the flight is ticketed with another airline, you'll earn according to Delta's chart for that airline.

The earning rates for Delta's Core Global Airline Partners, listed below, are the best of the bunch.

• Aeromexico
• Air France
• China Eastern
• KLM
• Korean Air
• LATAM
• Virgin Atlantic

With the exception of LATAM, all Core Global Partners are SkyTeam airlines. And here are Delta's other partner Global Airline Partners:

• Air Baltic
• Aerolineas Argentinas
• Air Europa
• Cape Air
• China Airlines
• China Southern Airlines
• EL AL Israel Airlines
• Garuda Indonesia
• Hawaiian Airlines
• ITA Airways
• Kenya Airways
• Middle Eastern Airlines (MEA)
• SAS
• Saudia
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• WestJet
• Xiamen Air

Partner earning example

Let's look at earning with Air France, one of Delta's key European partners. Suppose I book a round-trip ticket between San Francisco (SFO) and Paris (CDG) in fare code W (Premium Economy) for $1,718.  The round-trip flight distance is approximately 11,166 miles. Air France flights in fare code W earn 150% of flown miles as SkyMiles, so I'd earn ~16,749 base SkyMiles.

This example highlights when it can be advantageous to book flights with partners when prices are comparable, as a Delta itinerary of the same cost would earn around half the number of miles.

The partner earning charts also note whether the Medallion earning bonus applies. This is a “yes” for Air France (and all other Core Global Partners). A Platinum Medallion would, therefore, earn ~30,148 total SkyMiles in the example above (an 80% bonus).

Earn miles on everyday and travel purchases

You can earn Delta SkyMiles from a variety of SkyMiles partners. In several cases, you can earn miles by simply linking your account. This includes merchants like Starbucks, Lyft, and Ticketmaster. With Lyft and Ticketmaster, once your Delta account is linked, you'll earn 1x mile per $1 spent. You can earn miles on eligible Starbucks card reloads, too.

You also can earn miles by booking a Delta Vacations package. The number of miles varies, and Delta regularly offers bonus miles depending on what you book.

Delta's partnership with Hertz is solid and includes benefits for Delta Medallions elites. General SkyMiles members earn 4 miles per $1 spent. But you can earn more as an elite:

• Delta Silver members: 5x miles per $1 spent with Hertz, plus Five Star status with Hertz
• Delta Gold members: 6x miles per $1 spent with Hertz, plus Five Star status with Hertz
• Delta Platinum members: 7x miles per $1 spent with Hertz, plus President's Circle status with Hertz
• Delta Platinum members: 8x miles per $1 spent with Hertz, plus President's Circle status with Hertz

Related: Delta and Hertz Improve Partnership With a Status Match & Enhanced Mileage Earning

Transfer hotel points to Delta SkyMiles

While we don't generally recommend this, you can convert hotel points to Delta SkyMiles. Delta partners with several hotel chains, including Le Club Accor, Radisson Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, and IHG One Rewards. The transfer ratios vary, depending on the chain. Few transfers offer much value. Even transferring Marriott points 3:1 isn't a great deal, given the respective value of the currencies.

Still, should you have a need for a few SkyMiles to top up your account, transferring hotel points is an option.

Delta SkyMiles Shopping and Dining platforms

Like several other airlines, Delta has an online shopping portal that lets you earn miles by shopping at over 1,000 different retailers. The number of SkyMiles earned per $1 varies greatly. Earning can be as low as 0.5x miles per $1 with major chains such as Lowe's and CVS, but select retailers offer 5x, 7x, or even 12x miles per dollar spent. Not all products are eligible for earning SkyMiles, so read the terms and conditions carefully.

Shop with over 1,000 retailers and earn Delta SkyMiles.

In addition to online shopping, you can earn miles through SkyMiles Dining. Members earn 3x miles per $1 spent; all you have to do is sign up and opt-in to email communication. If you dine 11 times within a calendar year, you'll become a VIP member and start earning 5x miles per $1 spent. If you don't opt-in to receive emails from SkyMiles Dining, you'll earn just 1x miles per $2 spent.

Buy and gift Delta SkyMiles

You can also buy Delta miles at a rate of $70 per 2,000 SkyMiles. This is an exorbitant price of 3.5 cents per mile, which is not worth it in the vast majority of situations. We'd only recommend this if you need just a few more miles for a high-value award and have no other means of obtaining the miles quickly before the seats disappear. Members are capped at a maximum of 60,000 purchased SkyMiles per year. All miles purchases are nonrefundable.

Gifting SkyMiles works just like buying, and it costs the same. Again, we don't recommend it unless you have no other options. While you can gift miles to multiple members, no account can receive more than 60,000 SkyMiles per year. This cap is cumulative with the maximum number of purchased miles.

Can you transfer SkyMiles to other members?

If gifting miles is too expensive, Delta also lets you transfer SkyMiles to other members. The cost is 1 cent per mile — much less than the cost of gifting. However, the fee to transfer miles wipes out much of the value of your miles. Plus, no matter how few miles you transfer, Delta imposes a processing fee of $30. If the other member has other ways of obtaining miles for an award, these will likely be a better option.

So, it really isn't worth it to transfer miles to other SkyMiles members. A better option would be using the miles in your account to book an award in the other person's name. It accomplishes the same thing (assuming you have the required miles) without the fees.

All the Ways To Redeem Delta SkyMiles

Delta SkyMiles aren't the most valuable among U.S. airlines (see here for point and mile value data points from AwardWallet users). Both Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and United Airlines MileagePlus have a higher average per-mile value. Even Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, with its revenue-based earning and redemption model, gets you more on average than redeeming Delta SkyMiles. The low average value of SkyMiles is one of the primary negative aspects of the program.

Still, SkyMiles aren't worthless. We'll walk through the value of SkyMiles, how to redeem them for flights, and the best ways to use Delta SkyMiles.

Delta One Suite on A350 aircraft. Credit: J.T. Genter/AwardWallet

What are Delta SkyMiles worth?

While points and miles valuations can be subjective, several criteria go into determining value. These include the cost of different types of awards and the abundance of award space — from economy to premium cabins. However, like a number of airlines over the past several years, Delta has taken a lot of the variation out of the value of SkyMiles.

Plus, Delta prices its awards dynamically. When cash prices are high, award prices are generally high as well. Conversely, when cash prices are low, award prices are lower. That being said, Delta SkyMiles do not have a fixed value.

Additionally with dynamic pricing, there's no longer an award chart to reference for how many miles you'll need for a flight. This is another major downside. That said, we've compiled an unofficial Delta SkyMiles award chart here.

Based on actual bookings made by AwardWallet members, the average value of each Delta SkyMile is 1.34¢. This captures both short-haul economy awards (average 1.21¢ per SkyMiles) and long-haul premium cabin awards (average 2.41¢ per SkyMiles). Interestingly, even with significant devaluations to premium cabin award pricing over the past few years, redeeming SkyMiles for long-haul business- and first-class awards still offers the best value.

Redeem SkyMiles for Delta or partner airline flights

The best way to use Delta SkyMiles is to redeem them for flights on Delta Air Lines and its partners. Again, there is no chart to reference for pricing with Delta's dynamic pricing model. For its own flights, Delta lets you redeem SkyMiles in any of its cabin classes:

• Basic Economy
• Main Cabin
• Comfort+
• First Class
• Premium Select
• Delta One Business

The Basic Economy fare class uses the same product as Main Cabin but comes with additional fare restrictions. Not all cabin and fare classes are offered to every destination.

Delta has 20+ partner airlines, of which several are SkyTeam alliance members. Later, we'll highlight the observed “best” price for some partner flights. Delta's airline partners offer SkyMiles members an excellent global network for redeeming their SkyMiles, most notably in Europe and Asia. The only area where there is a significant network hole is in Oceania.

You can book the vast majority of partner airlines online at delta.com. Unfortunately, you have to call to book Air Europa and Kenya Airways awards.

How to search for and book Delta SkyMiles award flights

Let's walk through how to search for and book an award flight using SkyMiles. I'm going to use a non-hub airport (the closest major airport to where I live) and a non-SkyTeam hub destination. We'll look at some of the Delta and partner award options. Portugal has been on my travel radar for a while, so San Francisco (SFO) to Lisbon (LIS) it is.

To search for an award flight with Delta SkyMiles, you can use either the Delta website or the mobile app. I prefer the website because you can easily view additional dates with flexible plans. I don't recommend calling Delta Air Lines to book an award unless you have some specific situation requiring it (see partner notes above).

Open the “Advanced Search” option to input your preferred cabin class. This usually defaults to Basic Economy, which you might not want. If you have credits, certificates, or gift cards to use, this is also where you can find a link to do so.

Here, I've input my origin, destination, and travel dates. I've clicked the “Shop with Miles” checkbox and indicated that I'm looking for Main Cabin fares. I've also enabled the “My dates are flexible” box.

Search for Delta SkyMiles award flights at delta.com.

If you don't search flexibly, you'll be taken to the award results for the dates you selected. With flexible dates checked, you'll go to a page showing the cheapest prices on a range of dates around your original search date. We'll cover the flexible calendar in a moment.

I went with departure and return dates I keyed in and was then presented with many different flight options. These included both Delta flights and partner flights. The top three options include the two cheapest, with partner flights (but two connections), plus a higher priced option on strictly Delta. There are plenty more options.

Search results for San Francisco to Lisbon. Credit: Delta.

The pricing for my particular dates is rather high for economy in my book, but this is not unusual for SkyMiles these days. Let's go take a look at the calendar view to see if there is something cheaper.

Use Delta's flexible date view and price calendar

If you enable the flexible date search, Delta will return a chart of prices depending on your departure and return dates. This “Flexible Dates” view is great because it lets you easily find the best price.

Flexible date search view for Delta SkyMiles awards.

Turns out the date combination I picked was currently the cheapest in the general vicinity. Note that you can toggle between nonstop flights and all flights. You can also select between cash and award fares.

If you search for a one-way award, you'll be presented with a week of dates. However, you can select a one-way “Price Calendar” view as well. In turn, this will provide a full five weeks of award prices. The price calendar shows me that I could get a better overall price (based on a review of the one-way price) for this particular trip if I am willing to depart about a week earlier. I like to start my search initially for one-way tickets if I have substantial flexibility.

Delta five-week price calendar.

Booking a Delta SkyMiles award

The rest of the booking process is simple once you settle on the flights you want. For this example booking, I chose a cheaper itinerary found with the aid of the 5-week view, adding a return leg to make it a round-trip flight. To complete the booking, you must enter all passenger info, including applicable SkyMiles numbers and payment info, to cover the taxes and fees. You're also able to select seats (not available for all partners), if desired. Then, the miles will be deducted from your account.

Summary page before purchase.

I will mention that this example flight booking provides rather poor value. At the time of writing, a cash fare for a similar Main Cabin itinerary on SkyTeam airlines is $714, and it includes one fewer stop. Subtracting the award taxes and fees from the ticket price, I'd get less than 0.8 cents per SkyMile.

SkyMiles award routing rules

Delta doesn't have any published routing rules or restrictions. However, you'll notice that some routes are not available (e.g., flying to East Asia via Europe). All Delta says regarding routing rules and prices is this:

“Awards are subject to capacity controls. Awards may require higher prices depending on routing rules and restrictions. Exceptions to these rules may require additional mileage or taxes and fees. Travel to all destinations within region may not be available at lowest price.”

Delta's booking, change, cancellation, and other fees

Delta has gone from one of the worst airlines when it comes to change and cancellation fees to one of the best. Post-COVID-19, Delta has no award change fees and no award cancellation fees for all tickets originating in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean with the exception of Basic Economy. Delta used to charge a phone booking fee as well, but that's also gone.

Finally, Delta selectively passes along fuel and carrier surcharges. Some awards require a significant amount of cash in addition to your SkyMiles, but not all. You'll find that awards departing Europe tend to have higher carrier surcharges. Most awards departing the U.S. do not levy surcharges.

Takeaway: Booking with SkyMiles is worry-free, as long as you avoid Basic Economy.

Related: Airline Programs that Don't Add Fees and Surcharges to Award Flights

Best Delta SkyMiles Sweet Spots

Here's the difficult truth: Delta SkyMiles is not a program where you'll frequently get amazing value. Frustratingly, its dynamic pricing scheme yields an overall low per-mile value. Sure, you can find occasional award sales, and some routes are better in terms of providing available award space at a decent price. Yet Delta has unfortunately continued to raise its award prices again and again, both for its own flights and partner award flights.

That being said, here are some of the best ways to use Delta SkyMiles:

• Domestic Main Cabin awards during award sales: Some of these offer above-average value. However, these tend to coincide with revenue fare sales. For the typical Delta traveler, this is what I'd target.
• Business class to Europe from Southeast Asia: Delta charges 80,000 SkyMiles for these flights, typically on Vietnam Airlines and China Airlines. Fees are minimal, too.
• Business class between Europe and Australia: Starting at 90,000 SkyMiles, this is a solid price for this long trek. Fees are minimal with most airlines.
• Business class within East and Southeast Asia: I'm often seeing Tokyo to Singapore for 40,000 SkyMiles one-way.
• Economy class within East and Southeast Asia: Some routes are a deal on full-service SkyTeam airlines for 22,500 miles versus $350+ one-way.
• Business class between East Asia and South Asia/Middle East: You can find these for 70,000 SkyMiles. Not bad for 7+ hours in Korean Air business class.
• Business class between East Asia and Australia: This can be a deal starting at just 65,000 SkyMiles.
• Business class between Asia and Africa: Not as great at 135,000 SkyMiles for many awards. Plus, the routing isn't always the best.

Unfortunately, you have to fly between regions outside the U.S. to take advantage of the best SkyMiles awards.

What Is Delta Medallion Elite Status and How Do You Earn It?

Delta rewards loyal flyers through its Medallion program. If you fly enough with Delta to earn any of the four tiers, you'll enjoy various benefits on Delta flights. While the perks can be great, it takes a lot to earn Delta Medallion status. In 2023, Delta increased the Medallion status requirements, making it even more difficult to reach the upper tiers. You can find some shortcuts, though, which we'll cover, along with all the benefits Medallion status can provide.

The Delta Sky Club in Kansas City (MCI) airport. Credit: Delta

Delta Medallion status qualification requirements

As of 2024, the only metric that matters is Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs). You no longer need to track the number of flights, distance, or anything else. You earn 1 MQD for every $1 in base fare that you spend with Delta. Base fare is the cost of the ticket excluding taxes and fees. Therefore, you'll always earn fewer MQDs than what you pay for a Delta ticket. One major bummer is that Delta does not award MQDs for incidental expenses like checked bag fees or in-flight purchases.

The Delta Medallion elite status requirements for 2024 (qualifying for status year 2025) are the following:

• Silver Medallion: $5,000 MQDs
• Gold Medallion: $10,000 MQDs
• Platinum Medallion: $15,000 MQDs
• Diamond Medallion: $28,000 MQDs

All fares earn MQDs with the exception of Basic Economy. You can track your progress toward Delta Medallion status on the new Delta SkyMiles Dashboard.

Once you earn Delta Medallion status, or achieve a higher tier, you'll keep it through the following program year. The Delta Medallion program year runs through the end of January of the following calendar year, while the qualification year is the calendar year. If you qualify for Delta Silver Medallion in December 2024, your status would last from the day you earn it through January 31, 2026 (end of the 2025 program year).

Related: How To Status Match to Delta for Elite Perks

Earn Delta elite status with credit cards

Delta's Platinum- and Reserve-level cards provide a MQD Headstart perk. Cardmembers receive an initial jump of $2,500 bonus MQDs to start each year, and this applies per card type. Since there are four total cards with this perk (two personal, two business), you could start with $10,000 MQDs each year by holding all four. This would immediately jump you up to Gold status.

Additionally, both the Platinum Delta Amex and Delta Business Platinum Amex award 1 MQD for each $20 spent on your card with their MQD Boost. An even better MQD Boost rate comes with the Delta Reserve and Business Delta Reserve, awarding 1 MQD for each $10 spent on purchases.

Benefits of Delta Medallion status

If you do earn Delta Medallion status, expect to be rewarded with various perks depending on which level you attain. The benefits include free checked bags, complimentary upgrades, bonus SkyMiles, and more. If you hit either Platinum or Diamond Medallion, you'll unlock the Choice Rewards benefits.

Here is what you can expect as a Delta Silver Medallion:

• Earn seven SkyMiles per $1
• Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Comfort+ or First Class (starting 24 hours in advance)
• Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Delta One within the U.S. (day of departure)
• Complimentary preferred seats
• One free checked bag (or one additional bag beyond allowance)
• Priority waitlist status
• Priority check-in
• Zone 5 boarding
• Dedicated phone line
• SkyTeam Elite status
• Hertz Five Star status

As a Delta Gold Medallion, you'll enjoy all the benefits of Silver, plus:

• Earn a total of eight SkyMiles per $1
• Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Comfort+ or First Class (beginning 72 hours before departure)
• Total of two free checked bags (or one additional bag beyond allowance)
• Zone 4 boarding
• Four drink vouchers
• Expedited baggage service
• Priority security line access (where available)
• Waived same-day confirmed fees
• SkyTeam Elite Plus status

With Delta Platinum Medallion status, you'll enjoy all the benefits of Gold, plus:

• Earn a total of nine SkyMiles per $1
• Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Comfort+ (shortly after ticketing)
• Unlimited complimentary upgrades to First Class (beginning 120 hours before departure)
• Total of three free checked bags (or one additional bag beyond allowance)
• One Platinum Choice Benefit
• Four additional drink vouchers
• Hertz President's Circle status (instead of Five Star)

As a Delta Diamond Medallion, you'll enjoy all the benefits of Platinum, plus:

• Earn a total of 11 SkyMiles per $1
• Unlimited complimentary upgrades to Comfort+ or First Class (beginning 120 hours before departure — highest priority)
• Zone 2 boarding
• Three Diamond Choice Benefits
• Four additional drink vouchers
• VIP phone line
• Complimentary CLEAR^® Plus membership

In addition, Delta has an exclusive, invitation-only tier above Diamond called Delta 360. However, this is only offered to a small fraction of Diamond Medallion members.

The outdoor seating area at the Delta SkyClub New York-JFK. Credit Max Prosperi/AwardWallet

Delta Medallion Choice Benefits

You can choose one benefit upon qualifying for Platinum and three benefits upon qualification for Diamond. You need to choose your benefit by January 31 of the following year after qualifying for a benefit.

Starting in 2025, members who earn Platinum Medallion will have these benefit choices:

• 4 Regional Upgrade Certificates
• $400 Delta Amex statement credit
• 6,000 Starbucks stars
• $1,000 MQD boost
• $300 Delta travel voucher
• $400 Delta Vacations eCertificate
• 30,000 Bonus Sky Miles
• Ability to gift Medallion status (2 Silver)
• Sustainable aviation fuel contribution of $250
• $1,500 Wheels Up flight credit

Diamond Medallions have these choices:

• 4 Global OR 8 Regional OR 2 Global AND 4 Regional upgrade certificates
• $700 Delta Amex statement credit
• 6,000 Starbucks stars
• Delta Sky Club Individual Membership (requires two Choice Benefits)
• Delta Sky Club Executive Membership (requires three Choice Benefits)
• $2,000  MQD boost
• $350 Delta travel voucher
• $400 Delta Vacations eCertificate
• 35,000 bonus Sky Miles
• Ability to gift Medallion status (2 Gold)
• Sustainable aviation fuel contribution of $250
• $2,000 Wheels Up flight credit

The lists above reflect the adjustments to Delta Choice Benefits for 2025. The Global Upgrade certificates are a longstanding favorite among Delta elites. These can upgrade you from Delta Main Cabin into Delta Premium Select or from Premium Select to Delta One business on long-haul flights. These also can be applied to some partner flights, including Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic.

Delta Air Lines Million Miler status

Delta offers a lifetime status program called Million Miler. It is comprised of several tiers, with the first milestone at one million miles flown. Here's what Delta grants you at each million:

• 1 million miles: Gold Medallion
• 2 million miles: Platinum Medallion
• 3, 4 million miles: Diamond Medallion
• 5+ million miles: Delta 360^o

You also receive a gift at each million miles, including intermediate levels between lifetime status tiers.

Delta SkyMiles Million Miler Status isn't quite as good as other programs. However, it is easier to achieve, as partner earnings are counted towards the total. However, earnings from co-branded Delta American Express cards no longer count toward the total. You can find your Million Miler status within your profile.

Bottom Line

No matter what, Delta SkyMiles is still a great program for many. While it has some downsides, I still regularly earn SkyMiles and enjoy flying with the carrier. SkyMiles are easy to accumulate; you just need a lot of them for many awards. Delta has a strong elite program as well, rewarding its most loyal members with an excellent array of perks.

One of my biggest wins with SkyMiles was using 85,000 SkyMiles per person to fly China Airlines business class with my son to Taipei. It remains one of my favorite business-class experiences. Additionally, I learned the ropes of how to get an excellent return from selectively crediting partner flights to SkyMiles. In fact, a $375 round-trip ticket to London once earned me over 10,000 SkyMiles, due to partner-earning idiosyncrasies!

AwardWallet Tip of The Day

Did you know you can filter the accounts in your AwardWallet account dashboard? Use the Accounts Filter search field at the top right of the dashboard to view only a particular program or a subset of your loyalty accounts tracked by AwardWallet.
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