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What do you consider good redemption value?

What do you consider good redemption value?

Old Feb 15, 2019, 11:58 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by jinglish
Redemption value has been a big adjustment for me coming from AS; I was able to get CX J redemptions at 6.5 cpm in some cases. Granted, the alternative for me was buying a cheap coach fare instead of actually paying $3k+ for a one-way transpac J fare, but DL's redemption values have still paled in comparison given how high their international J rates are. My one DL award booking so far was a domestic F redemption at 1.5 cpm, and I don't expect to get much better than that.
The 128K summer D1 deal I mentioned above is about 2.5 - 3 CPM compared to Z fares from most cities. If you don't understand the nuances of Skymiles program (like advance purchase and RT requirements on many of the better deals -- listed in the fare rules) and simply treat it like other programs, then yes, you will be lucky to find anything better than 1.5CPM.
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Old Feb 15, 2019, 1:15 pm
  #17  
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The 128K summer D1 deal I mentioned above is about 2.5 - 3 CPM compared to Z fares from most cities. If you don't understand the nuances of Skymiles program (like advance purchase and RT requirements on many of the better deals -- listed in the fare rules) and simply treat it like other programs, then yes, you will be lucky to find anything better than 1.5CPM.
I'm not sure this is a ringing endorsement, given that earning rates are similar with DL to other programs. I do think the Delta product is good, but they definitely pay people less (in flight awards) to use it.
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Old Feb 15, 2019, 7:48 pm
  #18  
 
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I'm very happy with 1.5 cpm, Do I like to do better? Sure. Do I occasionally get 1.2 cpm? Yes.

I'm essentially buying miles for ~1 cpm. Everything above that is a positive ROI. All the earned SkyMiles are just gravy.
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Old Feb 16, 2019, 9:00 am
  #19  
 
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I took advantage of the 99K round trip delta one sale last year so me and my SO are headed to Paris next week. That certainly hits a ~4cpm so if you catch it right, you can max value when flexible.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 8:44 am
  #20  
 
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Given that Citibank (and I believe others) has a no fee credit card that give 2% cash back and that Chase Prime Reserve offers 3 points per dollar for restaurants and travel, albeit with a hefty annual fee, it seems an airline credit card that offers miles worth less than 2 cents per mile, is not going to get used much for general purposes, unless someone needs an EQM bonus by using the card.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 9:56 am
  #21  
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Originally Posted by jonsail
Given that Citibank (and I believe others) has a no fee credit card that give 2% cash back and that Chase Prime Reserve offers 3 points per dollar for restaurants and travel, albeit with a hefty annual fee, it seems an airline credit card that offers miles worth less than 2 cents per mile, is not going to get used much for general purposes, unless someone needs an EQM bonus by using the card.
The Plat/Reserve MQM Boosts also include an equal amount RDM boost (10K RDM for Plat for each $25K spend, and 15K RDM for each $30K spend on Reserve). Then there are the other benefits you didn't mention (MQD waiver, companion cert, lounge access with Reserve card, etc.). For someone who has a DL Amex Gold card and doesn't care about status, yeah, there are clearly better places to put your spend. For other flyers, the calculus gets more complicated.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 12:50 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by jonsail
Given that Citibank (and I believe others) has a no fee credit card that give 2% cash back and that Chase Prime Reserve offers 3 points per dollar for restaurants and travel, albeit with a hefty annual fee, it seems an airline credit card that offers miles worth less than 2 cents per mile, is not going to get used much for general purposes, unless someone needs an EQM bonus by using the card.
This is why I don't think they'll ever go completely to 1 mile = 1 cent. Credit card miles make up too many miles for them to go that route when there are no fee 2% cards easily available.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 1:56 pm
  #23  
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Originally Posted by LBJ
The Plat/Reserve MQM Boosts also include an equal amount RDM boost (10K RDM for Plat for each $25K spend, and 15K RDM for each $30K spend on Reserve). Then there are the other benefits you didn't mention (MQD waiver, companion cert, lounge access with Reserve card, etc.). For someone who has a DL Amex Gold card and doesn't care about status, yeah, there are clearly better places to put your spend. For other flyers, the calculus gets more complicated.
One gets the companion cert and lounge access regardless of how much spend they put on the card. I personally think the companion cert offers enough value to completely offset the annual fee, and then with lounge access on top it if you get the Reserve, I don't know why anyone wouldn't get at least a DL Platinum AmEx over the DL Gold - the difference in annual fee from the Gold to Platinum more than pays for itself with the companion cert.

But I do agree that the calculus becomes more complicated for those who pursue the MQD Waiver and MQM bonuses with spend on the DL card - I fit into this boat. Beginning January 1 I put all my spend that I can on the DL Reserve AmEx until I hit the $30K spend threshold for the MQM bonus. Since I don't spend enough to get the second bonus, after I cross $30K, I then transfer all spend over to another card where the spend then becomes worth more in rewards.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 2:11 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by LBJ
The Plat/Reserve MQM Boosts also include an equal amount RDM boost (10K RDM for Plat for each $25K spend, and 15K RDM for each $30K spend on Reserve). Then there are the other benefits you didn't mention (MQD waiver, companion cert, lounge access with Reserve card, etc.). For someone who has a DL Amex Gold card and doesn't care about status, yeah, there are clearly better places to put your spend. For other flyers, the calculus gets more complicated.
As @ATOBTTR mentioned, the companion cert, lounge access, and upgrade priority (which to me is the single most important perk of the card) comes regardless of the amount of spend.

The reality is that - for spending - the Delta Reserve card is a pretty crummy deal unless you need the MQM and/or MQD waiver (which I don't). I plan to put precisely $0 on the card this year for this reason.

There are other cards - the CSR card being the obvious one - that just provides such better return for one's spend. Chase UR points are worth a least 1.5 cents each (and that's a floor - I personally value then at 2 cents each given the flexibility they offer across a breadth of programs). Given that CSR gives you 3 points per dollar spent on travel and restaurants, it's a no-brainer for those categories - it's 4.5-6 cents per dollar spend basically.

One could argue that if you can put precisely $30K a year in non-travel spend to the Delta card, it turns into an okay deal (1.5 SkyMiles per dollar spent - which gets you to maybe 2 cents per dollar given the low value of SkyMiles - or roughly equal to that of the CSR on regular spend) - but I've looked at my spend and the reality is that I don't have $30K in non-travel, non-restaurant, non-Amazon (which I put on the Amazon card for 5% back), non-Costco (which no longer accepts Amex) spend that I can put on the card in a year (without resorting to manufactured spend at least). I could maybe swing $15K-$18K organically. Obviously this is very much a 'your mileage may vary' situation, but for me it's a pretty crappy deal.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 2:30 pm
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by jonsail
Given that Citibank (and I believe others) has a no fee credit card that give 2% cash back and that Chase Prime Reserve offers 3 points per dollar for restaurants and travel, albeit with a hefty annual fee, it seems an airline credit card that offers miles worth less than 2 cents per mile, is not going to get used much for general purposes, unless someone needs an EQM bonus by using the card.
really good point. I use my delta plat to get the mqm bonus then switch to unbraided Amex plat for the (more valuable to me) Amex points.
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Old Feb 18, 2019, 7:09 pm
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by whicuz
With the current roster of partners and dynamic pricing, what does everyone consider to be a "good" redemption value for SkyMiles, especially if you have transferable points available. I feel like with other rewards programs I can easily get cash value of more than 2c per point, but maybe with Delta I should aim for more like 1.4?
I consider getting anything over 1.4 cents a mile to be a good deal on DL. Anything over 2 cents is an exceptional deal.
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Old Feb 26, 2019, 1:53 pm
  #27  
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How are you guys calculating these values?

The way TPG calculates them?

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/calcu...mption-values/

What is a good redemption value for international J awards?

For instance, the lowest TATL J awards I see on Delta for late summer early fall is 150k miles.

On AF, there are a lotto 72k each way J awards and some 57k awards. But you have to pay $500-600 in fees for a round-trip TATL.

On VS, you can get TATL J awards for 144k on DL metal. But I believe the fees on those awards are about $100 higher than awards on DL.
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Old Feb 27, 2019, 7:32 am
  #28  
 
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I agree with others that the best value is on refundable domestic itineraries that may change, although Delta is about to gut that benefit to the core with basic economy award tickets.

Partner mileage upgrade awards are also a decent value sometimes, but again, rumored to be disappearing.

At this point, were reaching a place where Im just going to redeem all my miles for Dom Perignon in the Sky Club. Most award tickets I look at fail the is this worth 87 glasses of Dom test these days. If we ever get wind the sky club bar option is going away, Im just going to redeem for a bathtub full of Dom: for the 2800 ounces to fill a typical tub, assuming 6 ounce pours, youre only looking at 800,000 miles or so. Now thats redemption value!
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Old Feb 27, 2019, 8:16 am
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by Troppy


really good point. I use my delta plat to get the mqm bonus then switch to unbraided Amex plat for the (more valuable to me) Amex points.
I do something similar; once Ive maxed out the bonuses on my DL Reserve, I switch all that spend to the CSR. My sons school accepts AmEx for tuition, so I have no problem maxing out the bonuses quickly.

AmEx points are clearly more valuable than SkyMiles, as you always have the option to convert them to SkyMiles if you wish. I use the AmEx plat for all airfare purchases for the 5x bonus. I use the CSR for hotels, taxis, restaurants, etc, as well as for general expenses after Ive maxed out the DL Reserve bonuses, since the points have a min guaranteed value of 1.5 cents if redeemed for travel.
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Old Feb 27, 2019, 9:36 am
  #30  
 
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Since I'm unfamiliar with things, I'm just curious as to why Delta is seeming to "gut" the Skymiles redemptions.

Upgrade with miles is about $0.01/point (yes?)
Mileage Upgrade awards are gone apparently (although this seemed to be a YMMV as to whether it was better/worse than the $0.01/point), yes?

It seems Skymiles aren't nearly as easy to get/churn (at least via CC bonuses) as compared to UA/AA due to Amex one-in-a-lifetime limit. So does Delta just have a huge "outstanding" number of Skymiles that people have not redeemed and they're just trying to get them off the books? Although I'd think with lowering the redemption rates wouldn't cause people to redeem them, unless perhaps they're going to devalue further?

I know you could use Amex MR (and possibly MSR) to get tons of MR points, but that wouldn't seem prudent to transfer to Skymiles.

Although I don't really want to redeem my Skymiles for domestic coach/economy tickets (which apparently is where the "good deals" are) as I can do that easily enough with a churnable SW Chase card, I'd rather redeem for Business/First on international (or Hawaii) fares, which seems to require a huge amount of points (compared to AA/UA).
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