What's Going On With Delta Skymiles?
 

I know Delta is doing poorly but why is it so difficult to find a SkySaver flight? Seems they've made all the good flights SkyChoice flights, which require double the mileage.

If I can't find a flight, why bother to collect SkyMiles?

You've got to hunt and be flexible. Consider alternative airports.

Call the partner desk and have them check NW and CO flights for you as well. And before doing that, you can even go onto NW or CO's website and check for award availability. Skymiles usually (but not always) get the same seat inventories as NW/CO's FF members.

If flying internationally, then it's even more important to check partner airlines. DL is a member of the Skyteam alliance and there are lot of airlines you can fly on with Skymiles.

I just cashed in 25K miles for a roundtrip Houston to Edmonton this weekend.

But if your travel plans aren't flexible, then please don't expect to use your miles at 25K level.

This is nothing new, unfortunately. All the airlines restrict the heck out of seats, esp. since they seem to be running 75-80% load factors (and still losing $)!

I fly Continental. It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a seat on many routes. They even say how much the ticket costs when you're searching, hoping you'll get frustrated and fork over dollars rather than use miles!

Are you trying to book 330 days ahead? On most airlines that's the best way to get the free flights you want.

I was able to get 2 SkySaver tix from Neward to Anchorage without much issue (booked them last month for a trip in September). The only complicating factor was that I could only find the Saver tix online for the outbound leg and not the return.

I ended up calling Delta and they were able to find me a flight without any problems.

Another thing is to check the flights daily (same on Continental), they seems to change availability frequently.

Delta is really screwy. I found nonstop flights often were listed as Skysaver and the flights with changes were Skychoice. Go figure.

In any case, I'm using mine up as fast as I can.

Yawn_boring - I don't see that as screwy. It cost an airline more (and take out more of their available seats for sale) by flying you on a one-stop.

It's different from tickets for sale. Airlines can command a premium from passengers for non-stop flights, especially when there's no competition, because people are willing to pay more for non-stops.

Is there a way to book Skymiles award flights with partner airlines online or do I need to call? Or do something else entirely?

I recently attempted to book with Delta using my Delta frequent flyer miles. I booked the 330 days in advance for travel from Anchorage,AK to Dallas, TX - nothing but Skychoice seats. Out of curiosity I checked other dates & other locations. Out of probably 20 searchs I found one flight that had Skysaver seats available. What I did I used my Delta frequent flyer miles for an Alaska Airlines flight - one of Delta's partners. Instead of costing me 50,000 miles I got an excellent itinerary for 30,000 miles. I am willing to bet that astein12 is flying Alaska Airlines from Newark, NJ to Anchorage since that is one of Alaska Airlines routes. I also emailed Delta asking why no availability of Skysaver seats. I got the usual answer of got to book early & be flexible. Also I was informed only a few seats are available using frequent flyer miles (info I already knew-thats why I booked early). In this case I booked as early as I was allowed & there was only Skychoice seating so its an indication that no Skysaver seats were ever assigned for those flights. The best bet is fly on their partners using your Delta miles & use them up as I don't think Delta is going to survive.

al - You need to call. And do your homework prior - see which partner airlines have flights on that route. That will help the phone agent and yourself a great deal.

al,
You'll need to call and speak with a partner award desk agent. They're the most knowledgeable and can check availability on all partner airlines.

You have to be ultra flexible with not only your dates, but also routing/connections, carrier, origin/destination, etc. Consider flying out of or into a nearby airport if that's an option. If you don't have this flexibility, then don't expect to be able to redeem your miles at the standard award level with any ff program and stop collecting them (just means more seats for me :D )

330/331 days in advance is just the first date that you can start checking availability. That doesn't mean award seats have been allocated on every flight. Availability fluctuates continuously up until the day of departure.

I've redeemed close to 2 million Delta Skymiles (almost half a million of those have been in the last 12 months) and have never once had to resort to using a Skychoice award nor have I ever booked an award 11 months in advance. There are seats and you have to be flexible. Knowing where to look for availability helps too. Like rrkwan mentioned, do your homework and familiarize yourself with all of the options available to you. There are destinations which are inherently difficult (but not impossible) like Europe in the summer or Hawaii anytime.

I just ticketed 2 business class awards to East Africa last week for 120K miles each for November. There was no availabililty to fly back from Nairobi, so I had to book an open jaw and fly back from Kilimanjaro instead. I look at it as an opportunity to spend some time in Tanzania now. If I had to purchase my tickets, they would have cost me at least $10K.

A couple of months ago, I booked two 1st class Skysaver seats for a Jan/Feb roundtrip BOS to DEN with no problem although the flight out of BOS is earlier than we'd like but we'll get to our destination at a decent time. Start way ahead for the best choices.

Thank you all.

I have found that I have better luck on last minute flights than when I plan way ahead. Don't know why but it has been the case several times recently. Problem is one usually can't do things at the last minute. Hope you find something that works.

we had some issues this year booking a sky saver flight to maui. We started the day that the tickets would have been available. We are going with a large group of people, and some of them got tickets out, but my husband and I didn't. We ended up using skychoice to get one ticket and purchased the other. Not what we originally wanted to do, but it works i guess. These days there aren't many perks when it comes to frequent flyer miles. Gone are the days of picking a great flight and going. But, when it is free...you can't complain.

I have been platinum for 3 years now on Delta. I have had nothing but problems booking flights on Delta and/or their partners. Like some of you said, on many flights there are NO Skysaver seats allocated for the flight. I was told this by a Delta Representative. And to respond to the post by RKKWAN, seems to have the same mentality as Delta. These are not "free" seats. I spent a lot of money on tickets for the past several years that I considered that seat paid for. I was trying to book 2 tickets to Africa this fall. I called Delta in March and told them that I was willing to travel from any USA city to any city in Eastern or Southern Africa and I wanted Business/First class tickets. After holding for over 45 minutes I was told that they could only get me one seat on a partner airlines. She said that's all the partner airline would release. I then asked for 2 coach seats and they had no seats available. Delta has pretty much eliminated their SkySaver seats and pathetically offer them on minor routes to keep "dangling the carrot in front of our nose". If you don't believe me, call Delta yourself and ask them for 2 First/Business class tickets from any city in the USA to any city in Africa and see what they tell you. I'm switching to United Airlines. They offer many more seats then Delta.

I've been having generally very good luck with booking on Delta using the SkySaver option. Recently booked two coach non-stop RT Atlanta/Paris without difficulty, and in the past three years have booked numerous domestic and transatlantic seats, all SkySaver.

I do opt for SkyChoice if the flight's particularly advantageous (and generally expensive) and I know demand is high. It's still better than paying for the ticket.

I will point out that living in Atlanta certainly gives me an advantage.

I have had the same problem. To get best value, use a partner air line. I did, and I didn't have to be the least bit flexible in my flight time preferences. After I use my 54,000 SkyMiles, I'm through with SkyMiles--not Delta, but SkyMiles.

<If you don't believe me, call Delta yourself and ask them for 2 First/Business class tickets from any city in the USA to any city in Africa and see what they tell you.>

My husband and I traveled to East Africa twice this year using Skymiles award tickets, both times in business class. In January we flew LAX-CDG(stopover)-AMS-NBO-AMS-CVG-LAX, and in November we flew LAX-ATL-AMS-NBO(openjaw)-JRO-AMS-CDG-LAX on a combination of KLM/Air France/Delta. I redeemed the first set of tickets 3 months in advance and the second set 5 months in advance, so the seats are there.

ttt

It appears to me that the Delta Skymiles (Skysaver) program is a bit of a scam. Last fall the following scenario also happened, but I will speak only about the current situation this spring. I have 50,000+ skymiles (THEORETICALLY enough to get to Europe). Delta is unable to offer even ONE Skysaver Skymile seat on ANY of their, nor their code-sharing partner flights between Salt Lake City and Rome, Italy. Not ONE seat from the first of June thru September on any flight (I am retired and totally flexible on dates and times-still not ONE seat). And get this, I am seeking reservations in mid-March (3 to 6 months in advance) for travel over a 4 month period. I was told in order to increase my chances, I really need to book 330/331 in advance. Get this, even when I attempt this online 330 days out there is NO Skysaver seats available. This is like next February in the dead of winter - not ONE seat. Delta tells me, however, there is Skymiles-Skychoice availabilty for 100,000 skymiles. And I can, of course, purchase up to 30,000 skymiles for $825.00+. Clearly Delta's marketing is not honest when they say you can redeem skymiles for award tickets and there is no availabilty even 330 days out. The degree of advertising and encouragement in the media and in the mail to earn more and more Delta skymiles is a setup for foolish people. The word needs to get out that accumulating skymiles with Delta is clearly a farce when there is so little or no availabilty particularly on international travel unless you are really really LUCKY like some of the posts indicate. Successfully redeeming Delta skymiles that are heavily marketed as easily redeemable should not be a matter of luck, but instead honestly available as a benefit of honestly participating in the program. When I spoke with a reservation supervisor, she could give me no explanation for why this is the situation. She said, however, I could "send a letter to corporate." I am instead writing this to alert potential Delta victims instead.

Having seen a similar discussion in Hawaii tripadvisor -- it seems that many recommend using the FF for first class upgrades on long flights. I know for myself I am pickey about flying non-stops -- and at certain times during the day/night when I want to go and like many of the posters alluded to -- FF seats are seldom there when you want to use them. So that's was I chose to do -- take the low cost coach fare and upgrade to FC using your milage upgrade option.

<Get this, even when I attempt this online 330 days out there is NO Skysaver seats available. This is like next February in the dead of winter - not ONE seat>

delta.com doesn't list all award flight options. Call the partner award desk instead. I'm finding plenty of availability to Europe in November and I suspect next February would be similar.

Summer award seats to Europe are very limited and usually booked far in advance.

"The word needs to get out that accumulating skymiles with Delta is clearly a farce when there is so little or no availabilty particularly on international travel unless you are really really LUCKY like some of the posts indicate."

It's not a farce, and my success at redeeming SkyMiles for SkySaver seats likely has little to do with luck, as it's unlikely that I could be so lucky so many times.

One thing to consider is that customers with Medallion status (like me) have better access to these seats.

Also note that being able to use SkyChoice is actually a great option for those of us who accumulate miles quickly.

Therese -

The majority of us Delta customers who don't have preferred Medallion status and don't accumulate miles quickly are not comforted and consoled by your success in getting Skysaver seats.

I don't begrudge your success, but to us, it's still aggrevation when turned down for FF seats. ((#))

Casual travelers who don't qualify for Medallion/Elite levels really shouldn't expect to get award tickets when they want to travel, period. Regardless of airlines.

You can call the programs whatever you like, and I don't object to that; but afterall, these are called <b>frequent</b> flyer programs. If you don't fly frequent enough to collect 25K EQM on a single program, then don't expect to get anything out of them. Instead, just buy the cheapest airfare on whatever airline each time.

Whatever the programs are called, there are millions of 'casual travelers' who have been promised free flights if they collect enough points. If they get the required amount, whatever it is, then the airlines should keep their promise.

Saying that only 'Medallion/Elite' fliers should get award tickets is high-hat and boggles the mind. ((#))

I am not using my AMEX delta skymiles anymore...Delta is going down the tubes. I use Capitol One no hassle and I pick the airline!!!

From the very start, airlines have said there's limited availability to award tickets and that they can terminate a FF program anytime. And today, you can still get an award anytime with or without Medallion level - just use double miles.

Hey, I'm not saying the airlines aren't misleading the consumers, because they probably are. But savvy customers should understand what they're getting into. Just like car commercials showing maneuvers that are &quot;by stunt drivers&quot; on &quot;non-public roads&quot;.

I am the first one to tell everybody that do not play the FF game unless you know what you're getting into.

&quot;Whatever the programs are called, there are millions of 'casual travelers' who have been promised free flights if they collect enough points. If they get the required amount, whatever it is, then the airlines should keep their promise.&quot;

Nobody's been promised free flights to any specific destination. SkySaver seats on transatlantic flights are by no means a sure bet even for Medallion customers on Delta, particularly during the summer months. I prefer traveling to Europe in off-peak seasons and so have a much better chance of redeeming my points for transatlantic flights.

The same 50,000 miles that it takes to travel RT to Europe will buy two RT tickets in the continental U.S. Those seats are considerably easier to obtain, and the dollar value may actually be higher.

My husband does not have Medallion status, and yet still manages to redeem his miles, usually (though not always) for SkySaver domestic seats.

ttt

Jed – you are the only one who got what I was saying
Judyrem – I am also preparing to shred my AMEX card


I am talking about bogus and overblown marketing by Delta. I just received my January Delta SkyMiles Insider newsletter and statement that includes my current SkyMiles activity. As many of you may know, your SkyMiles activity used to be sent to you monthly as a simple statement. About two years ago Delta began ‘conveniently’ imbedding your SkyMiles activity statement in a lovely marketing brochure. The headline on this issue: “Enjoy Award Travel With Only 25,000 Miles.” And the publication is just chock full of ways for you to accumulate “more miles, more often”: open up more credit card accounts; buy phones and walkie-talkies; open some stock investment accounts; double miles for this and double miles for that, hotels, rental cars, home equity accounts, restaurants, magazines, and even flowers. It just makes me giddy. The sky’s the limit and it is SO easy – except for when it comes to redeeming those skymiles. It’s then you learn about limited or no availability on MANY flights; or you learn that you need to book nearly a year in advance and be really, really lucky at that; or learn how to wheedle some benefit out of this morass per some posters’ suggestions:
Call code-sharing airlines yourself and see what you can get out of them;
Aim for accumulating double or triple skymiles to reach Medallion status or Skychoice seat availability;
Pay for coach and use your skymiles to upgrade to first class;
Realize realistically that you can only count on the possibility of domestic flights, not international;
Realize that you are just one of those unlucky schmucks (not savvy) who got fooled by the hype.

So I took the time to examine the fine print of the Terms and Conditions on my statement this time: “Delta may also limit the seats available for Award Travel to any or all destinations (including, but not limited to, allocating no Award seats on certain flights).”

Well that explains it now, doesn’t it, except the Terms and Conditions of this SkyMiles program really need to be the headline, and the benefits of ‘Award Travel’ needs to be the fine print.
I STILL SAY BOGUS, DISHONEST MARKETING!!

“Delta may also limit the seats available for Award Travel to any or all destinations (including, but not limited to, allocating no Award seats on certain flights).”

This is no different than any other airline frequent flyer program. My suggestion since you seem to be primarily interested in economy awards is to get a cash rebate card instead. With that rebate you'll have cash in hand to purchase any ticket on any airline with a schedule most convenient for you.

Personally, I'm happy with the Skymiles program and with some flexibility have been able to get the tickets I needed. I do tend to travel in the off season and redeem my miles for international premium class travel where I get the most value out of them. I rarely use my miles for domestic travel unless it's a last minute trip where the ticket cost would be very high. I've been doing this for over 12 years and have yet to use a Skychoice (double miles) award and never booked an award 331 days in advance. But I realize that everyone's travel needs are different and what works for me may not work for you.

Patty-

'I've redeemed close to 2 million Delta Skymiles'

Do you have a preferred status?

Patty-

&lt;My suggestion since you seem to be primarily interested in economy awards is to get a cash rebate card instead...Personally, I'm happy with the Skymiles program and with some flexibility have been able to get the tickets I needed.&gt;

If I wanted to use a cash rebate card, or some other form of award travel, I certainly could. What I am simply driving at here is Delta is not coming thru with what they offer specifically in their SkyMiles SkySaver &quot;economy award&quot; program (this does not include Medallion, SkyChoice, or some other form of preferred status from which possibly you benefit?). This is a program that is heavily marketed toward your average Joe.

Perhaps you didn't read my first post. I am totally flexible. Regarding Italy, I can go any time, any flight, any date, etc. as far out as can be booked. With your 12 years of success, perhaps you can find a SkySaver seat as far out as you can book from Salt Lake City to Rome, or even JFK to Rome (any time, any day in the next year would be fine). Try it - I think you might find the results interesting.

LOT - Problem seems to be FCO. Try other airports in Europe, like CDG or London. Then get a low-cost airline to Rome.

LOT,
Did you call Delta's partner award desk and ask about flight availability from Salt Lake City to Rome for the next 11 months? What did they say? I'd be surprised if they couldn't find anything.

Is this for 1 person in economy class? How long would you like to stay? Would you be willing to take more than one connection? That's part of what I mean by flexibility, not just dates but flight connections/routing. If you're willing to make multiple connections, I'm positive I can find you flights some time over the next 11 months to go to Rome.

Jed,
Nope. I'm working with the same inventory as everyone else. And because I often travel to destinations that Delta doesn't serve, the majority of the flights that I redeem are on partner airlines where having or not having Medallion status makes no difference at all.

I do spend a great deal of time researching flight availability, routing, etc. and I think that's one of the keys to being successful. For those who don't have the time or inclination to do so, I still think a cash rebate card is a better/easier option. But for me, it's fun, it's a challenge. These award tickets have afforded me the opportunity to take many trips over the years that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to take.

I just wanted to add, that for my trip to Marseille, I had 330 day date marked on my calendar and called at 9am that day. How could they not have had an opening hmmm,,,,could not do a return flight so waited till the valid day came and sucessfully booked my return trip. It is a game with these airlines IMO. As I stated before, I am worried about Delta's viability..and have been rethinking an alternate airline for Provence.

LOT,
In my spare time this morning, I found some flights for you for late Nov/early Dec (I searched for one seat in economy class).

The following flight combination is available for departure on Nov 26, 27, or 29 -

Delta 344 SLC-ATL 10:10am-4:05pm
Delta 70 ATL-FCO 5:20pm-8:50am+1

If you'd feel more comfortable with a longer layover at ATL, there's also Delta 410 SLC-ATL 8:30am-2:15pm or Delta 398 SLC-ATL 7:00am-12:45pm on the same days.

I didn't know how long you wanted to stay, but assuming a week to 10 days, coming home you have these options -

KLM 1596 FCO-AMS 5:50am-8:35am
KLM 621 AMS-ATL 10:20am-2:20pm
Delta 520 ATL-SLC 5:45pm-7:54pm

The above flight combination is available on Dec 6, 7, 9, or 10.

If that flight out of FCO is too early for you, you can also take -

Air France 1405 FCO-CDG 11:55am-2:05pm
Air France 304 CDG-ATL 3:55pm-7:35pm
Delta 577 9:30pm-11:30pm

If you want a longer layover at CDG, there's Air France 1205 FCO-CDG 10:20am-12:30pm. You may also be presented with the option of taking Air France 1505 FCO-CDG 1:00pm-3:10pm, but I would NOT advise such a short connection in CDG.

Those flights are available on Dec 6, 7, 8, and 10.

I only checked a limited set of dates and only flight availability on Delta, Continental, KLM and Air France. For KLM and Air France, I only checked connections via Atlanta.

There are other possibilities involving different connections and carriers that I didn't check. In addition to ATL, KLM operates flights to/from Amsterdam and Boston, Newark, Dulles, Houston, JFK, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami, and Air France flies to/from CDG and Boston, Detroit, Cinncinati, Houston, Miami, Houston, Dulles, JFK, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco. I probably left out a few cities. I didn't check Northwest, Alitalia, or Czech Air at all.

My point is there are endless combinations of carriers and routing and partner awards would be able to look into these other options and reserve them for you. If you're completely open as far as dates and routing, there shouldn't be any reason why you can't get to Rome using 50,000 Skymiles within the next year.

An excellent primer on obtaining a Skyteam award to Europe is available on flyertalk - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ferrerid=18562

For anyone having trouble booking award flights using Delta Skymiles, particularly to Europe but the same advice applies to many other destinations, PLEASE read through that flyertalk thread.