If I have 160k miles and my wife has 60k miles, and we want to take a round trip to Ireland that costs 200k miles (100k each), is there a way to combine our miles?

Vince

There is no cost effective way to combine miles. The best that you will be able to do here is to purchase one round-trip ticket using one account. Generally one way tickets two and from Europe are more than double the price of a round-trip ticket. However, you may want to consider three different scenarios:
1. Purchase one-way tickets from each of the accounts for the other person.
2. Consider one round-trip cash only ticket
3. Compare with the cost of combining miles, understanding that there are substantial fees that negate any �freeness� you get from the miles.

See: https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/how-to-use-miles/buy-gift-transfer-donate-miles

Thanks Emma.

I considered #1, buying a separate cash ticket, but will look into your other options, thanks.

I do recall buying separate legs possibly adds to the miles and airport fees, but I'll compare.

This trip isn't until Sept 2025, but we like to book 11 months prior to traveling.

Vince

This adds in option 4: get a(nother) credit card. Either a DL branded one giving you the miles you need, or a generic Amex with a good membership rewards signup bonus.

The cheapest award levels to EU almost always require a roundtrip booking. They also vary between markets, seasons, and can vary based on day of travel. As an example, the cheapest Main awards on JFK-DUB this Sep start at 70K roundtrip, while cheapest one-way awards on JFK-DUB start at 52K for Main. While Main awards in Sep on DTW-DUB start at 104K roundtrip (this award level also requires mid-week travel), and 90K miles one-way. You can get a 15% mileage discount on awards with a DL Amex Gold (or higher) card. No way of knowing if you will similar award levels for Sep 2025 compared to Sep 2024.

Thanks Emma,

I noticed the 15% discount on miles and possibly a $150.00 cash credit if you apply and receive a Gold card. Do you know if I have to do this before I book or at the end of checkout?

Also, does, the 15% Miles discount include both bookings, i.e, myself and my wife, or just for one person?

(I previously had an AMEX Gold card so I am not eligible for the 65K Miles offer)..

Btw, we would be leaving from either Oakland, CA or San Francisco to Dublin.

Thanks,

Vince P

The discount applies for all passengers booked using miles from your account as long as all segments are DL operated. So even if you book a separate ticket for your wife but use miles from your account and you have a qualifying DL-branded AmEx, you will get the 15% discount.

You could also consider the Delta Platinum AmEx which is more expensive but comes with additional benefits that can offset the annual fee, including the companion certificate. Or you could consider a standard AmEx Plat and points can be transferred at 1:1 to DL for Skymiles but of course carries a steep annual fee.

Other options:
-Pay to transfer points at $0.01/mile. So transferring the 40K points you need would be $400 plus the $30 transaction fee. Whether that's worth it or not is a matter of debate but it is an option.
-Transfer hotel points or other rewards program points to DL miles. Usually not the best value but if you have any rewards program points that are otherwise sitting there that you are unlikely to use, at least you could get some value out of them
-Open a no-fee Delta Blue AmEx - you will get the "Pay With Miles" benefit and you could use "Pay With Miles" for your flights (on any ticket that is DL-marketed & DL-operated - not available on any itinerary that has partner-operated segments). Pay With Miles allows you to take $100 off the ticket price for each 10,000 miles on a cash ticket and you can apply across both tickets. So with the 160K miles you have in your account, you could take $1600 off the total purchase price.

Thank you very much Emma for all your help. You have great info. Sorry to keep bugging you.....but I am sure I will have more Qs, lol.

Since we will need to be in Ireland the days of Sept 13-15, 2025, I'm assuming we cannot book our flights until October 16 of this year - is that the 330 day rule???

I am leaning towards using the "Pay with Miles" option since I do have the (free) Blue Amex card and I *think* they also offer $150 + 15%/15K miles, if you Upgrade to the Gold card upon checkout.

Thanks,
Vince

You're not bugging at all! Digging through all the nuances is what FT is all about.

9/20 10/15 is your "magic" date since it's based on your return flight. 15% off does not work with Pay With Miles... PWM is essentially a cash-equivalent. If you do PWM, there's no benefit to booking early since the fares will drop over time (generally) until 3-6 months out (or a fare sale).

I don't think the credit card offer at checkout is for an upgrade... it's for a new card. If you've only had one DL card, nothing is keeping you from getting other DL cards (beyond credit worthiness, and all the other usual stuff).

Thanks also to XLIIOPER and ATOBTTR (didn't realize others helping me too, which I appreciate).

If I wish to stay in Ireland until September 15, 2025 before I return to Oakland/SF/Sacramento area, don't I have to wait until October 15, 2025 to book?

I always though there was a 335 day rule or something to that affect.

Thanks,
Vince P

That is correct. If you want to book a roundtrip ticket, which is likely cheaper than two one ways, you have to wait until both legs are available.

And also note hat even though the flight may be available for booking at about T-335 (sometimes takes a day or two more), that doesn't mean you'll get the best ticket prices either. That used to be true years ago, but now DL seldomly loads initial inventory with low fare buckets.

If you're going to get a new DL AMEX card, definitely APPLY for it. Don't upgrade your existing AMEX card.
To qualify for whatever bonus offers are available including bonus Skymiles, you must Apply.
Go to the American Express website to see the ever-changing offers.
You might get enough bonus Skymiles to get that second free ticket.
Upgrade will get you nothing.
You can then cancel your existing card if you feel you no longer need it.

You can basically tell if you are getting lowest currently available Main level on a route if it books into NV award class as DL duplicates their revenue classes with award classes. Highest priced to lowest inventory/award Main Cabin classes are NY/NB/NM/NH/NQ/NK/NL/NU/NT/NX/NV (which duplicates Y/B/M/H/Q/K/L/U/T/X/V Main Cabin revenue classes). DL currently looks to have slightly lower fares and awards from SMF vs. SJC/OAK/SFO to DUB for early Fall 2024 Main awards which start at 74.8K miles roundtrip with Amex 15% discount out of SMF vs. 81.6K out of SJC/OAK/SFO. No way to know if this will also apply to Fall 2025 travel at this point, but it is probably worth comparison shopping between them.




In addition to having a roundtrip booking requirement, these award levels have day of week travel requirements -- Sun to Wed outbound travel and Tue to Fri return travel. Traveling on other days of the week will result in slightly higher award levels applying to flights.

Great info everyone - really appreciate it all. And thanks for clarifying booking time frames Emma/Rylan/Adam.

Supertravel: I will APPLY for the Delta Gold card. I previously had one a few years ago and because I wasn't using it that much, I cancelled it. When I went to re-apply last week the App said I can have it but NOT the 65K Award because I had a similar bonus given a few years ago. So I didn't confirm the App.

Xliioper: Thanks for the info. Last week I played around with some dates and came across some Main Cabin Mile Awards where Sacramento was much less than say, SFO. In some cases even 67% less, Miles/Pay, Have no idea why and since both SFO/SAC are equidistant to my home (an hour drive), I would obviously use Sacramento.

Question: I see you have a card that allows the 15% Miles discount based on your perfect sample. Should I get the card when I book or is it necessary to have the Gold card prior to booking?

ps: I'm still trying to figure out what State "NQ" is:-)

Thanks,
Vince