How I Would Spend 2 Million Delta Miles

I came across a Flyertalk thread where a user was asking on how to redeem two million SkyMiles. There were a few jokes in there about 2 million miles being enough for a short-haul domestic flight, along with some serious suggestions. It got me thinking about ways I would spend two million Skymiles. Not that I’d have that many SkyMiles unless I won some giveaway, but I decided to look into it more. Contrary to popular belief, Skymiles aren’t completely useless if you use them for partner flights. Here are some ways I would spend 2 million Delta Miles:

Virgin Atlantic to London in Upper Class

86,000 – 320,000 miles each way

Granted, Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class cabin is a bit dated compared to what other airlines are offering these days, but it’s still a comfortable way to travel to Europe. With two million miles in the bank, I could book these flights at the saver (86,000 miles) or highest redemption levels (320,000 miles) and still have plenty of miles leftover. Those 86,000-mile flights aren’t exactly plentiful, so realistically I’d end up having to redeem 105,000 miles each way. That still means I can book 9 tickets with 2 million Skymiles. Not amazing, but we all know what we’re dealing with here.

KLM Business Class to Amsterdam

75,000 – 320,000 miles each way

I’ve flown a lot of great business and first-class products, but KLM remains my favorite airline. Yes, they did upgrade their business class product fairly recently, but the appeal for me is the food and overall experience on the plane. At 75,000 – 320,000 miles each way, I could put two million Skymiles to good use on multiple trips to Europe. In fact, I might just have enough miles to take my entire family of eight along (parents, siblings, nieces, nephew).

Delta One Suites to Tokyo

90,000 – 360,000 miles each way

Redeeming Alaska miles on JAL business class to Tokyo works out way cheaper at 50,000 miles. And you get a superior flying experience. But if I had two million Delta SkyMiles, I’d gladly save my Alaska miles and redeem 180,000 Skymiles for Delta One Suites instead. You may wonder if it’s realistic to depend on low-level award space, but I’ve checked the 5-week calendar for flights out of SFO year-round and there’s decent availability if you’re flexible and traveling with no more than two additional people.

Garuda Indonesia Business Class Tokyo to Sydney

75,000 miles one way

While in Tokyo, why not hop on a Garuda Indonesia flight to Sydney? It clocks in at 10 hours and costs 75,000 miles one-way in business class. Not to mention, availability is plentiful year-round, making this an easy add-on.

Delta One Suite + Air France to Delhi

135,000 miles each way

I have family in Delhi, though I’ve never visited the city. Or India as a whole. Delta does have decent business class award space (combined with Air France) to Delhi. It clocks in at 135,000 Skymiles each way. With 2 million SkyMiles to spare, it’s worth the splurge.

Those are just some of the ways I’d personally put 2 million Delta SkyMiles to use. Mostly, I’d bring my family along because saving up enough for all nine of us isn’t the easiest task. If I had 2 million SkyMiles just handed to me, I’d also feel less guilty about redeeming them at higher rates, considering how fickle the program is when it comes to redemption rates.

How would you redeem 2 million Delta SkyMiles?

[Image Source: Delta]