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-   -   Skymiles and spouse (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1975848-skymiles-spouse.html)

treblig Jun 27, 2019 7:47 am
Skymiles and spouse
 
I use the delta skymiles american express - I purchased 5 tickets (wife and kids) from the US to USVI, about a 2000 mile trip. My question is, should my wife have a separate skymiles account to get more Skymiles benefit. As it stands now, all purchases and trips are earn skymiles for me, however as I understand it, only the primary traveler gets credit for the actual miles flown. It's all very confusing.

Thanks!

xliioper Jun 27, 2019 8:01 am
Only the person named on each individual ticket will get miles for travel (they do not all go to the primary traveler). This means that your wife and each kid must each have their own Skymiles account. Many of the benefits of the Amex card only apply if the primary cardholder is flying on the reservation. Your wife would need to have her own DL Amex card and account (not just an additional card under your account) in order to get the benefits of the DL Amex card such as priority boarding and free first checked bag.

Jaimito Cartero Jun 27, 2019 8:06 am
Originally Posted by xliioper (Post 31245175)
Only the person named on each individual ticket will get miles for travel (they do not all go to the primary traveler). This means that your wife and each kid must each have their own Skymiles account. Many of the benefits of the Amex card only apply if the primary cardholder is flying on the reservation. Your wife would need to have her own DL Amex card and account (not just an additional card under your account) in order to get the benefits of the DL Amex card such as priority boarding and free first checked bag.
If on the same reservation as the cardholder, don’t up to X (6 or 8 people) get one free bag and maybe priority boarding for domestic flights? To get miles for the flights, each person would certainly need their own Skymiles number.

treblig Jun 27, 2019 8:09 am
I believe that's correct on the bags.... in the past, each gets one free checked.

So it sounds like I could get my wife and kids their own skymiles number, and they would at the least get some benefit?

Jaimito Cartero Jun 27, 2019 8:24 am
Originally Posted by treblig (Post 31245201)
So it sounds like I could get my wife and kids their own skymiles number, and they would at the least get some benefit?
They should get some miles from their tickets. If coach tickets it might not be much, but DL often has some cheap domestic short haul tickets (5-10k each way) that might be of use. If you fly Biz or First, they might accumulate faster.

gooselee Jun 27, 2019 8:35 am
Welcome to FT!

treblig, I can't tell if you are actually travelling with your wife/kids or if wife/kids are travelling on their own without you. It sounds like the Amex is in your name.

So to be clear:
- If you is travelling on the same reservation as wife/kids; the Amex benefits of Zone 1 boarding and free checked bag will extend to wife/kids also.
- If you is NOT travelling; wife/kids will not receive early boarding or free checked bags.
- Wife/kids should each have their own DL SkyMiles account/number, and that number should be applied to their tickets for this trip. Since they are starting from scratch, the only benefit this will really give them is the ability to earn miles, but it doesn't cost anything and the miles don't expire so there's really no reason not to have an account. Miles only credit to the account of the person(s) flying, so if anyone doesn't have their own account, nobody gets the miles.

treblig Jun 27, 2019 8:38 am
I will be on the trip - good info and thanks........I'll be signing them all up for a skymiles##

Marylou Jun 27, 2019 10:00 am
Be sure to add the number to their itinerary as it doesn’t automatically post after the fact.


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