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Our pick for earning Delta SkyMiles: Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card
40,000-mile
Welcome offer after spending $1,000 in first 3 months
Earning enough Delta SkyMiles to get award flights can seem daunting. Fortunately, you’ll find many ways to earn those miles beyond spending on Delta flights. For example, you can earn SkyMiles by flying with Delta partners or by dining out and joining SkyMiles dining.
Just join Delta SkyMiles — it’s free. As a basic member, you earn five miles per dollar spent on eligible Delta and Delta partner flights.
You can earn status in Delta’s elite system by becoming a Medallion Member. As a Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond Member, you earn more miles per eligible flight.
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | Diamond |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7x miles | 8x miles | 9x miles | 11x miles |
With Delta SkyMiles credit cards, you can earn SkyMiles in a few ways:
The beginner’s guide to Delta Airlines SkyMiles
With all Delta credit cards, you earn 2x or 3x miles on Delta purchases and 1x miles on all other purchases. Certain spend categories — such as hotels, restaurants and US supermarkets — may also pay bonus rewards. The difference between the cards is the additional perks offered, such as priority boarding, free checked bag, lounge access, Status Boost, companion certificates and travel credits.
While you won’t directly earn SkyMiles using partner programs, you can transfer your earned miles to SkyMiles. Look for American Express cards that offer Membership Rewards points. You can convert these points to SkyMiles at a 1:1 ratio. Using cobranded hotel cards, you can also convert points from certain hotel programs into SkyMiles.
The mile-earning difference between Delta cards is minimal, so we’ll use the Delta SkyMiles Platinum in our example because this card offers the best bang for the buck.
| Annual spending | Miles earned | |
|---|---|---|
| Delta purchases | $3,000 | 9,000 |
| Hotels | $3,000 | 9,000 |
| Restaurants | $4,000 | 8,000 |
| Supermarkets | $5,000 | 10,000 |
| All other purchases | $4,000 | 4,000 |
| Total | $19,000 | 40,000 |
Depending on your elite status tier, you can earn even more miles on Delta purchases. For example, your $3,000 can earn an additional:
If you often dine out, consider registering your credit or debit card account to SkyMiles Dining for free to earn additional SkyMiles at participating restaurants, clubs and bars.
You can earn 3,000 bonus miles for your first three restaurant visits within the first 30 days of signing up for SkyMiles Dining.
This is a generous program where you can earn up to 5x SkyMiles on purchases, including tax and tip, at participating locations. But the exact number of SkyMiles you earn depends on your membership level.
| Membership type | Rewards rate | How to join |
|---|---|---|
| Basic member | 1 SkyMiles per $2 spent | Register for a SkyMiles Dining account |
| Select member | 3 SkyMiles per $1 spent | Register for a SkyMiles Dining account and opt in for marketing emails |
| VIP member | 5 SkyMiles per $1 spent | Opt in for marketing emails and dine 11 times at participating restaurants by the end of the calendar year |
Register for SkyMiles Shopping with your SkyMiles account number to earn SkyMiles when you spend at certain retailers.
There are hundreds of eligible partners in categories, such as apparel, jewelry, beauty and health, home, magazines, sports and travel.
You can find many one-time mile bonuses while shopping. For example, you can earn up to a few thousand miles for joining a partner program. However, most retail partners offer 2x or 1x miles when you spend with them. Sometimes, you’ll find partners who offer up to 20x miles.
Download the SkyMiles Shopping button for Google Chrome to earn SkyMiles without going through the SkyMiles Shopping portal. The plugin notifies you when you’re on a participating retailer’s website. Then just activate your rewards and shop as normal.
Here are the rewards rates for qualifying charges with eligible Airbnb properties and hotels where you can earn SkyMiles.
| Airbnb | 1x miles |
|---|---|
| Delta.com Hotels | At least 1x miles |
| Marriott Bonvoy | 1x–2x miles |
| IHG | 1x–2x miles |
| Radisson | 250–500 miles per eligible stay |
| Accor Hotels | 2.5x–12.5 miles |
| Hyatt | 500 miles per eligible stay |
| Langham Hospitality Group | 250–500 miles a night |
| Millennium Hotels and Resorts | 250–500 miles per eligible stays |
| Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts | 1500 miles per eligible stay |
| Worldhotels | 500 miles per eligible stay |
Earn up to 7,500 SkyMiles per person on your itinerary when you book a Delta flight and hotel package through Delta using your SkyMiles number.
| Bonus miles per person for vacations in US contiguous 48 states, Alaska and Canada | Bonus miles per person for international destinations and Hawaii | |
|---|---|---|
| Luxury Vacations | 3,000 | 7,500 |
| Gold Preferred Pick hotels | 750 | 3,000 |
| Silver Preferred Pick hotels | 500 | 2,000 |
| Bronze Preferred Pick hotels | 375 | 1,500 |
| All other hotels | 250 | 1,000 |
You earn more SkyMiles when you add an eligible car rental through National or Alamo. As the primary driver, you earn an extra 500 bonus miles. And with a Delta SkyMiles credit card, you earn double miles per eligible dollar.
Back to topIf you’re setting out on the seas, consider booking your trip through SkyMiles Cruises. Here are the miles you can earn:
| Trip length | Miles earned for interior/oceanview | Miles earned for balcony/suite |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 nights | 1,500 miles | 4,500 miles |
| 6-8 nights | 3,000 miles | 9,000 miles |
| 9-12 nights | 5,000 miles | 15,000 miles |
| 13+ nights | 10,000 miles | 30,000 miles |
You’ll find around 30 SkyMiles Cruises partners, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Disney Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Viking River Cruises.
Back to topLyft is Delta’s ridesharing partner. You’ll also find a bevy of car-rental partners.
| Lyft | 1x miles |
|---|---|
| Hertz | 500–1,250 base miles per eligible rental |
| Dollar Car Rental | 500 miles per qualifying rental |
| Thrifty Car Rental | 500 miles per qualifying rental |
| Alamo | 500 miles per qualifying rental |
| Enterprise | 500 miles per qualifying rental |
| National Car Rental | 500 miles per qualifying rental |
| Europcar | 60 miles per day |
| ExecuCar | 150 miles per direction |
| Carmel | Up to 2x miles |
| Sixt | 500 miles per car rental; 1,000 miles per chauffeur service |
| SuperShuttle | 50 miles per direction |
Buying SkyMiles is an option at a cost of 0.035 cents each. This is a poor rate considering SkyMiles are worth 1.4 cents each according to our August 2021 valuation.
That said, buying miles could be a good option if you only need a few more for an award flight.
| Minimum miles per transaction | 2,000 |
|---|---|
| Maximum miles per transaction | 60,000 |
| Cost per mile | $0.035 |
You can deposit a maximum of 60,000 miles to your account each year.
Back to topYou can earn SkyMiles faster than you think by spending through Delta and Delta partners. Use a combination of credit cards and spending through Delta portals.
Compare Delta cards to find the right one for you, or consider general travel cards that may offer valuable perks and rewards. And once you’ve collected enough miles, compare your redemption options to find out which offer the best overall value.
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