Good luck finding such a ticket. DL's Skymiles program is equivilant to garbage. Sure, it's worth money if you let it rot and then turn the methane gas into profits somehow. They don't post mileage charts for their partner airlines, and I recently tried to price our a business class ticket from the US to asia, which was offered to me at 380,000 miles!!!!! More than TRIPLE the published maximum! What a joke!

Maybe I'm missing something in the post, but the website says that I need to spend $3000 within 3 months on the card. Have your experiences been that the miles post immediately or only after you've spent $3000?

Thanks.

The thread title is pretty misleading IMHO and should be amended. @:-)

After you spend the required amount. even then the T&C usually allow for 6-8 weeks for miles to post to account.

does american airlines have a pay-with miles feature associated wiht their credit card like delta? I don't think so. That is the benefit and loophole of this deal.

I'm not saying the availability of what you can book for low season is much... but you can fly business using V Australia for 150k which is a great deal.

Last May I flew
Kansas City -> London
Amsterdam -> CDG -> Dublin
Dublin -> Kansas City

All in first/business on one award redemption for 100k skymiles.

All I know is that I've been able to get some great redemption, though it hasn't been easy. I just value skymiles more than 1 cent per mile. Don't know why you would sign up for the card only to get a 450 e-cert when you could have signed up for an AA card and gotten a better deal.

No requirements to get one or the other.

If you have 10 points extra on your credit score, get both.

Or the two cards that you think have the most value.

If you are a Gold Medallion or better with Delta, you know how to work around the annoying award calendar to find Medallion award inventory, and you have a bit of flexibility and are looking to fly wholly within the 48 contiguous states, the ~50K miles you'll have after spending the minimum can get you two tickets that are worth *much* more than $450, especially if you snag the free upgrades. If you are PM+, you can book just days out, and even cancel/change if you don't get your upgrades. It's not a feasible strategy for everyone, but I'm just pointing out that upper elites on Delta who know how to use their miles efficiently can get a heck of a lot more than $450 worth out of the miles.

While I agree that this method is not for everyone, I know a lot of people who will put it to use. Many frequent flyers do not redeem miles for their own personal travel because of the importance of MQMs. This allows these travellers to put their skypesos to use.

Great deal! Wanted to book a ticket to HNL...horrible value if booked as award. Not bad if I do it this way, though. Plus, I'll still get MQMs...makes it a sweet deal for me. Anyone know how long to get e-cert once refundable ticket is cancelled? Thanks!

Agreed. But it is an interesting thread.

As an avid skymiles customer I dont think this is a good offer. DEVALUES skymiles compared to international travel value. So basically this converts 50k skymiles to $500. Thats a horrible value, delta sells 60k skymiles for almost $1800. Dont do it, at the least redeem for a saver roundtrip domestic award for 25k miles per ticket.

I stated above, this will not be for everyone.

Many people can't find 25K awards to places they'd like to go, at least not without double connects.

If Delta's award availability was better, I'm not sure I would have posted.

However, I guarantee no one should buy 60K miles for $1800. Now, that IS a horrible value.

I wouldn't do this deal on any other alliance, but think it makes sense on Delta, especially for a non-elite account.

Well I guess, I do see your point. I think this benifits someone who wants to 'cash in' their skymiles for some monetary value if they feel they would not use them or if they are going to expire I guess.

For many people, the reason to do this is the chance to earn RDMs and MQMs on what would otherwise be a reward ticket which earns nothing. Turned into a mileage run or two, a skilled person could come out almost even or possibly ahead, miles-wise.