i just zeroed out a delta account by redeeming for a hotel stay via the skymiles marketplace. i really think this is the way to go.

several benefits to redeeming/burnng skymiles for a hotel:

1. unlike using starpoints only for SPG properties, or marriott points only for marriott properties, etc, you can pretty much use your delta skymiles for just about ANY hotel brand (independents included) anywhere in the world. so, just the variability in redemption options makes this a great choice for use of miles.

2. for the most part, the conversion rate comes out to 1 cent/skymile. this may improve in your favor, if you find a hotel option that occasionally has some discounted/promotional redemption rates (ex. 30% off, 1 night free, free breakfast included, etc). will you sometimes find a slightly worse than 1c/mile conversion? probably. but it seemed that for my specific location and dates, a 1c/skymile ratio was typical.

3. you don't have to have the exact amount of skymiiles required in your account to redeem for a hotel. this is what i liked the most! as an example, if a hotel costs 19,478 skymiles, and all you have in your account is 17,321 miles, you can zero out your account of the 17,321 skymiles, and just pay the difference as a cash copayment.

the mininum # of skymiles required to book ANY hotel through the skymiles marketplace hotel portal is 1,000 (+ any applicable cash copayment). but you can decide the exact amount of skymiles you wish to use on any given reservation.

i just burned one account to zero by redeeming 33,389 skymiles for a 2 night hotel reservation that was costing 35,877 skymiles. i paid a total of $13.46 difference out of pocket as a copay. in the end, i finally got rid of all the skymiles in this account at a reasonable rate of ~ 1c/mile, and am looking forward to a very nice hotel stay.

this is the BEST way to completely and finally zero out your skymiles accounts containing obscure mileage balances.