In this article
Is that the best I could do for a title? Probably not.
But while many of you know that SkyMiles frustrate me on a good day (no award charts, stealth devaluations, no International First Class awards, and revenue based Delta pricing are *some* of the reasons), there’s still no reason to use them for between 1 and 1.1 cents per mile – unless you are equally happy setting them on fire. And yet, based on the screenshots I’ve been sent, Delta is offering you the chance, within the app, to upgrade flights (booked with cash or miles) for approximately 1.07 cents a mile. (If you are seeing different, please let me know!)
I currently value Delta miles at 1.25 cents because it’s relatively easy to still get at least that much value just by comparing cash vs miles prices and using SkyMiles when you best that, for example, by getting a flight worth no less than $500 for 40,000 SkyMiles. You can still get 2 cents a mile and more by saving for premium cabin awards on partner airlines, like Air France, Aeromexico, China Eastern, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia and more.
So why would anyone want to upgrade using miles for ~1 cent per SkyMile? Well, probably lots of people…. the same people that are happy to redeem for awards at a flat 1 cent per mile using Pay With Miles.
But I urge you to… fight the urge.
If all you can or should expect to get is 1 cent per mile, this hobby would be a lot less fun.
But happily, it’s not. And you can still get 1.5 cents or more in value just by being selective about how you redeem your miles. And if you don’t know how, hop on over to the MilesTalk Facebook Group and we’ll sort you….
Many people spend all their time trying to earn more miles without really thinking about how to spend them … so I am here to remind you that if you spend more time optimizing how you spend them, it’s the same as earning more 🙂
Friends don’t let Friends Spend Miles for 1.07 Cents Each.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available now.
