Being a Delta SkyMiles Medallion is kind of like playing a twisted game of Whac-A-Mole. Sometimes it’s hard to discern whether you’re the whacker or whackee. Once you believe that you’ve whacked all of Delta’s little SkyMiles moles (upgrades priority, meals, MQDs, E fares, Comfort+… The list is long.), another mole, in the form of a new rule or policy change, pops up.
The most recent labour of moles to pop up (Yes, a group of moles is called a labour, I looked it up) concerns the use of SkyMiles to upgrade from Economy to DeltaOne, Delta’s Business class product. To whack this mole, we need to answer these questions:
- How do we find the upgrades?
- How do we qualify?
- Do they represent good value?
I’m skipping right over the whole upgrade / sidegrade issue involving Economy to Comfort+ because that would be like opening a can of worms right here in our game of Whac-A-Mole. And that’s the last thing we need right now.
What does Delta say?
Starting June 1, 2016 Delta’s policy says:
“You can use your miles for a one-class upgrade for a purchased ticket on most Delta-operated flights and certain Air France/KLM-operated flights. Mileage Upgrade Awards do not apply on all fares. All Awards are subject to availability, and additional taxes and fees may apply.
For all other International markets, Mileage Upgrade Awards on Delta-marketed and operated flights may be used to upgrade on published Main Cabin fares booked in Y, B, M, S, H, Q, or K class.
For flights marketed and/or operated by Air France/KLM, Mileage Upgrade Awards may be used for a one-class upgrade on published fares booked in Y, B, or M class. Contact a SkyMiles representative for more information regarding Air France/KLM mileage upgrades.”
The change that’s worth noting is a big one for Delta elites. Prior to June 1, 2016, you could only upgrade Y, B or M fares with miles. That often meant buying a ticket that was 1.5X-2.5X+ the cost of discounted economy, with the hope of your upgrade clearing sometime before departure. I know TravelZork readers like to gamble, but playing keno might be a wiser choice in this case. By expanding eligibility to S, H, Q and K fares, you can now upgrade from lower priced tickets. As Donald Trump and Paris Hilton would say, “That’s Huuuuuuuge!”
Finding A Mileage Upgrade
The initial search I did is for a ticket from Atlanta (ATL) to Amsterdam (AMS). I selected a direct flight and the Delta search engine came back with the choices shown above. There’s a whopping (whacking?) $7,165.00 difference in fares. It doesn’t take you too long to compare that amount with your common sense and continue looking. Looking at the fare basis for the $1663.66 fare for Main Cabin/Economy, you’ll notice it’s a V fare and that fare is ineligible for an upgrade. So it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
On the advanced search page, I set the fare class to K or higher and made sure Nonstop Flights Only was checked. That should return a fare that is both non-stop and upgradeable.
OK. Now we’ve got something we can work with. The fare basis increased by $800 (nearly 50%) but that’s the price we pay to play the upgrade game with Delta. From the Delta website it’s clear that we have selected an upgradeable fare. We’re good to go, right? Not quite.
Delta’s Details On International Mileage Upgrades
This is when I need to drop out of Internet mode and call Delta on the phone. I got right through to a Delta representative and here’s what I learned:
- The website is wrong. It’s probably trying to say something else. After speaking with another TravelZorker, we believe it is telling me that this fare is not upgrade eligible for a free Medallion upgrade. That makes sense, but it would be much better if it said something like:
- Not eligible for free Medallion upgrades
- Eligible for mileage upgrades at XX miles one way
- Eligible for GUC upgrades
- Per the 1-800 line, this K fare is eligible for a mileage upgrade costing 60,000 miles one way. The same rule applies to S, H, Q and K fares.
- If this was a Y, B or M fare the upgrades would cost 30,000 miles one way.
Further research uncovered this information:
For travel between the US and Europe (one way):
- Mileage upgrade from Y, B or M fares – 30,000 miles
- Mileage upgrades from S, H, Q and K fares – 60,000 miles
For travel between the US and North Asia – China, Japan (one way):
- Mileage upgrade from Y, B or M fares – 30,000 miles
- Mileage upgrades from S, H, Q and K fares – 60,000 miles
For travel between the US and South Asia / South Pacific (one way):
- Mileage upgrade from Y, B or M fares – 35,000 miles
- Mileage upgrades from S, H, Q and K fares – 80,000 miles
Are Mileage Upgrades Worth It?
Delta SkyMiles are worth somewhere between 1 and 1.3 cents a piece depending on whose research you read. Delta clearly values them at 1 cent. If you purchase a ticket and use the Pay with Miles option that’s the value they assign. Pay with Miles is never a good value, unless you have no other option in purchasing your ticket. At this valuation, the upgrade would cost you around 640,000 SkyMiles!!
The standard Mileage Upgrade option would work out to 120,000 miles round trip from a S, H, Q or K fare. Delta values those miles at $1,200 but based on the ticket we’re looking at we jumped from a $2,500 fare to an $8,800 fare, a difference of $6,300 dollars. That values SkyMiles at 5.25 cents each – a Huuuuuge difference.
These calculations don’t take all of the factors into consideration. Is a DeltaOne ticket from Atlanta – Amsterdam – Atlanta worth $8,800? Probably not, but that’s the price that Delta has available for those dates. What did it cost to actually acquire the miles? In this case, there’s some potential profit or arbitrage that applies. You could buy those miles from Delta at their crazy inflated price of 3.5 cents per mile and come out ahead on the transaction, but you still paid a small fortune to acquire the miles. At the other end of the spectrum, you might have just gotten a brand new American Express credit card with a bonus of 50,000 – 100,000 miles as a sign up bonus. Those come after you’ve spent $3,000 – $4,000 and are in addition to the points normally awarded. They’re not quite free, but they are cheap.
Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card from American Express
[Bonus Rewards : Earn 30,000 bonus miles after you make $1,000 in purchases on your new Card within your first 3 months and a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months.]
Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card from American Express OPEN
[Bonus Rewards : Make business travel more rewarding. Earn 30,000 bonus miles after you make $1,000 in purchases on your new Card within your first 3 months. Additionally, earn a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months. Pay no foreign transaction fees when you spend overseas.]
Bottom Line: Mileage upgrades, when available, are often a good value. It all depends on your fare basis, the number of miles required and the difference between the upgrade eligible fare and the cheapest DeltaOne fare available on the flights you select. When you’re researching your flights, check eligibility closely, have a calculator handy and be prepared to spend a little time on the phone sorting out the details.
Images: delta.com
More about Delta :
Delta US Domestic Upgrades (Medallion and non-Medallion)
Delta Airlines | Learning The Mileage Game
Getting Started With Delta SkyMiles
Delta Basic Economy Expands To International Markets: What You Need To Know
Delta Comfort Plus Product Changes For Customers
Delta Delays Growth Plans And Jet Delivery
Delta Announces Ed Bastian as Retiring CEO Richard Anderson’s Replacement
Delta | Could Medallion Upgrades Potentially be Shifting to Delta Comfort+
BUMP! | A Talk About Airline Denied Boarding Including a Delta Experience | VDB & IDB
Delta Same Day Travel Changes | Amazing Flexibility for Premium Class Travelers
Delta Style | Amenity kits get refresh | “Delta One customers: What’s in your TUMI?”
Delta Style | Zac Posen | “TO BRING MODERN AMERICAN GLAMOUR TO FLYING”
Steve has spent the last 35 years traveling around the world for both business and pleasure. He is a Delta Three Million Miler and has earned top tier elite status with multiple Airline and Hotel Programs. One year after a very long mileage run to Japan to qualify for Delta status, he decided to get serious about finding the best way to travel better for less and started building a portfolio of travel hacking tools and techniques. If there's good travel, hotels, food, wine, spirits and company to be had, there's a way to have it for less.
