The Delta Skymiles loyalty program can be a valuable program for domestic awards and partner redemption.
Not only does the airline have a huge network of routes in big American cities, but it has many different hubs, but there are many different ways to earn Delta Airlines miles where you can redeem your antenna flights. Sometimes Delta even operates reward sales, allowing you to snap up cheap flights.
Delta miles are easy to generate and they never expire. We will show you ways to increase your Skymiles balance, including flying on Delta and its partners, spending on travel rewards credit cards and transferring miles from other programs.
Related: 5 Things to Know About Skymiles in Delta
Earn flights in the Delta
Earning Skymiles from Flying in the Delta depends on several factors, because whether you fly directly with Delta or partner with it, you will make money in different ways. Here’s everything you need to know.
Earn a few miles when flying with the Delta
When flying on Delta and operated flights, you earn miles based on the ticket’s base fare and carrier surcharge (excluding government taxes and fees). For trips on or after October 1, you will spend 5 miles per dollar on classic or refundable fares, while 7 miles per dollar on additional fares. The main base fare won’t earn miles.
The higher the money you make for those with the Delta Medal Elite status – the higher your status, the more miles you make per dollar:
- Silver Medal: 7 miles
- Gold Medal: 8 miles
- Platinum Medal: 9 miles
- Diamond Medal: 11 miles
Earn Skymiles in the Delta while flying with partner airlines
If you book a flight run through a Delta partner, you will get the same mileage as a standard Delta flight. But what happens if you book a partner flight on the partner airline’s website and add your Delta Skymiles number? In this case, you will earn miles based on the distance you fly. However, the exact number of Skymiles you will earn will vary based on partner, fare class, and elite status, so check the relevant Skymiles page for the correct revenue rate.
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Earn Skymiles in Delta with Credit Card
One of the easiest ways to earn a lot of Delta Skymiles is through a common brand of credit cards, including welcome bonuses and daily expense income.
Here are the full suite of Delta Skymiles credit cards from American Express and their current limited-time welcome offers:
Personal Delta Card
Business Delta Card
If you are considering applying for one of these cards, keep in mind the rules that AMEX used to be once a year. This rule limits you to one welcome bonus per card. For example, if you have previously received a welcome bonus for the Delta Skymiles Gold American Express card, you will not be eligible to receive it again if you reapply for the card.
Transfer to Delta Skymiles
If you need to quickly or don’t want to add another credit card to your wallet, you can transfer points from another bonus program. Delta works with American Express membership rewards and Bonvoy Marriott to make it easy for you to lower your balance when you need it.
Transfer membership reward points to Skymiles
Delta Skymiles has a credit card transfer partner: American Express membership rewards.
You can transfer member reward points to Delta Skymiles at a 1:1 ratio. However, to offset federal excise tax, you will pay $0.0006 per mile (up to $99), so the deal will be more expensive.
Purchasing a card earned by earning member reward points often results in more Skymiles than using a Coprand American Express card using Delta. For example, American Express Platinum Card® Earn 5 Membership Reward Points per dollar on flights booked with any airline or through American ExpressTravel® (up to $500,000 per year for purchases, followed by 1 point per dollar). at the same time, American Express® Gold Card Earn $4 membership reward points per dollar per dollar per dollar (up to $50,000 per calendar year for purchases per dollar and then 1 point per dollar) and at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year for purchases per year for purchases per dollar, then 1:1 point per year).
Transfer Marriott Hotel to Skymiles
You can also transfer points from various hotel loyalty programs to your Delta Skymiles account, but most of them have poor transfer rates. In our experience, the only attractive transfer is from Marriott Bonvoy to the Delta at a 3:1 ratio.
That said, we usually recommend redeeming Marriott for hotel accommodation, as you usually get better value. Chase and American Express has issued several Marriott hotel credit cards if you are not enough on Marriott Points.
Transfer Skymiles in Delta between accounts
While you can transfer Skymiles between accounts, we do not recommend this. Delta charges $0.01 per mile and a transaction fee of $30. This is not a lot of things because once you pay the applicable fees, you lose most of the value of your mileage and you can only transfer up to 30,000 miles per transaction.
If you decide to go this route, both accounts must be open for at least 10 days and earn at least 1 mile. You can receive up to 300,000 Skymiles per year and transfer up to 150,000 Skymiles per year.
Earn Skymiles in Delta by shopping and dining
You can also get Delta Skymiles through several everyday Delta partners. These methods are easier than ever to do what you have done, such as eating and shopping online.
Make money with Skymiles Shopping Portal
Delta has an online shopping portal: Delta Skymiles Shopping. This site allows you to earn extra Skymiles when shopping online, in addition to rewards earned with your credit card.
To use the portal, sign up for a Delta Skymiles shopping account, find your businessman on the site, and click on the link. Every dollar spent by each merchant offers a different number of Skymiles, and these prices fluctuate especially around the holidays. Also, if you spend a certain amount, the portal sometimes offers bonuses. If you are making a purchase anyway, shopping through Delta’s portal means earning serious bonus miles.
Earn money while eating with Skymiles
The Delta Skymiles Dining Plan allows you to earn extra miles when dining out. Simply register an account, link a credit card and dine at a participating restaurant, cafe or bar. When you refresh your registration card at these venues, you can also get additional Skymiles in addition to the miles you have earned with your credit card. Make sure to link a card that earns bonuses or miles in the restaurant and watch the rewards add up.
Earn Delta Skymiles for your business
Delta’s business plan, Skymiles for Business, is open to all companies regardless of size and annual revenue.
Earn Delta Skymiles with Travel Partners
You can also earn reward miles when you book other types of trips, such as car rental, Lyft rides and hotel accommodation. This is all your travel earning options.
Book with Uber
When you connect your Delta and Uber account, you can earn Delta miles on Uber rides and Uber Eats orders. You can earn up to 3 miles per dollar (1 mile to the airport on Uberx, 2 miles of premium rides, 3 miles on Uber Reserve). You can also make 1 mile of money per dollar for more than $40 for qualified Uber Eats orders.
Remember, if you are a Delta American Express cardholder, pay with your Delta brand Amex network, spending a mile per dollar on all qualified rides and Uber Eats orders.
Make money on vacation in Delta
Here is the income from a travel package you can earn through Delta Vacations:
- 1,000 Skymiles bookings for major passengers up to $4,999
- 5,000 Skymiles major passengers, booking $5,000 to $9,999
- $10,000 or more bookings are 10,000 Skymiles
You can also earn more miles from the flight portion of the vacation package.
Earn Skymiles on a cruise
With Delta Cruises, you can earn 2 miles for every dollar you will be on your next voyage. The platform also offers limited-time bonuses at certain times of the year, allowing you to bring home more miles.
To earn Skymiles on your next cruise, book on cruises.delta.com or call 800-820-3244 using your Skymiles number.
Earn Skymiles on Airbnb Stay
You can earn Skymiles on qualified Airbnb accommodation. Simply head to this page, enter your Skymiles number, and click on the link before booking. You will earn 1 mile per dollar on Airbnb purchases (excluding taxes and fees) without limits – so more expensive travel can accumulate a lot of Skymiles.
Earn Skymiles when booking a hotel
Earn extra miles by booking accommodation in the Delta (usually 2 miles per dollar, sometimes more in promotions) or selecting airline miles through a featured hotel program.
Earn Skymiles when renting a car
You can also earn Skymiles (revenue varies from partner to partner) when you rent a car through Delta car rental or one of Delta’s partners.
Buy Delta Skymiles
If you need crunched Skymiles, you can buy it directly from Delta. The airline charges as much as 3.5 cents per mile, significantly higher than TPG’s September 2025 valuation of 1.15 cents per mile. You have to buy mileage in 2,000 increments and you can purchase up to 60,000 Skymiles per year.
Delta often discounts Skymiles by offering reward miles or miles purchased. Buying Skymiles is only worth doing if you use them right away. Otherwise, speculative buying of mileage is often a bad idea because they can depreciate at any time.
Bottom line
Whether it’s through flights, credit cards, transfer points and miles, or one of Delta’s many partners, there are many ways to earn Delta Skymiles.
better? Skymiles is one of the few loyal currencies that never expire. With the myriad of income opportunities outlined above, you will have no shortage of Skymiles next time you plan to travel.
