I fly around 175,000 miles a year but instead of giving my business to one airline I fly whatever is cheapest. Therefore, I’m not super elite on one airline but I do have at least the lowest level elite frequent flier status on three: American, Delta and United. Each of those are members of the three airline alliances: Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star.
What’s nice is that I get perks on all of their partner airlines and I can pretty much book a mileage ticket to anywhere in the world. I’m constantly pricing out award tickets since a good deal of my travel is at a moment’s notice and it’s the best way to save money.
To be honest, I can’t remember the last time I used Delta miles because they have the absolute worst value out of all the major airlines. The points they require are two to three times higher than the other airlines and they don’t even offer a discount for one-way tickets.
My go-to airlines are American and United and to give you an idea of how ridiculous Delta is I priced out two different trips on all three airlines and included screenshots. The first was a roundtrip ticket from Toronto to London leaving Christmas Day and returning New Year’s Eve. The second is a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to New York on January 5th.
Toronto to London departing December 25 and returning December 31:
American Airline’s lowest price was 80,000 miles and $474.60 and one of the segments would be on their partner airline British Airways. What’s amazing is that the outbound flight would cost me just 20,000 miles but the return was 60,000.
United wanted 85,000 miles and $294.80. One of the segments would be on their Star Alliance partner Lufthansa. What’s interesting is that United also offered an alternative to purchase the reservation using all cash. Economy would be $1,803.10 and first class is $7,203.50. BTW: A first class ticket going over and returning in business class was available for 117,500 Miles and $386.50.
Delta’s price for a mileage ticket was a whopping 155,000 miles and $261.60 and that’s for economy. Their price for business class was 325,000 miles and $361.50.
Test 2: One-way Los Angeles to New York on January 5th
American Airlines didn’t have any flights available to JFK but they did offer a reasonable alternative to Newark. The nonstop flight was 12,500 miles and $2.50.
United didn’t have any nonstops but they did have seats available on their partner US Airways through Charlotte for 12,500 miles and $30. Again they showed the price if I just wanted to pay cash: $277.10 for economy and $1,512.10 for first/business.
Delta had nonstop flights available to JFK but the price … 40,000 miles and $2.50. Is that just a rip off or what?! That’s more than three times the miles as American and United wanted.
So there you have it! Please let me know (below in our comments section) if you agree or disagree that Delta has the worst frequent flyer program when it comes to redeeming award tickets.
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You hit the nail on the head, when I was much younger, American Express seemed like the card to have. Yes, a superficial decision made by someone barely old enough drink.
I have since learned to regret that decision. I don’t fly that often, but I do put all my expenses on my Amex, hoping for that great trip one day. Boy was I surprised when I had 100,000 and wanted to take my fiancee to Florida for her birthday. I’m not familiar with other miles programs, but Delta limited to me to a specific number of miles I could use. I was not going on any major holiday and I booked about six weeks in advance, yet it still cost me 80,000 miles for round trip tickets. Since then I have tried to use my miles to fly to Denver and Detroit, and the options and cost nearly knocked me out of my chair.
Johnny, could you comment at all on how far other miles programs go with non-airline purchases? I have a significant amount of Skymiles, tried booking a hotel for a few days. Delta limited me to very unappealing hotels, and I could barely book three nights for nearly the entire balance of my skymiles.
Thank you for this write up, I’ll definitely be exploring other mile programs after reading this article. I tried an international flight before, and laughed that my miles were completely used up on the flight over with none to be used for the flight back. For each of my experiences, I had a balance of at least 80,000 miles. Anyone reading this, please consider another miles program.
I agree. I am DL’s Platinum, but when I priced out for my trip to Maldives, it was 4 times more than Star Alliance. I booked Star Alliance business class with less than half of Delta’s economy. I wonder if Delta knows about this and take it seriously for royal customers.
May 2014, which is a better program/alliance..Delta or United. I am trying to decide. I use One World for my main alliance but I want to build miles in another, but not all 3. I don’t think a beginner should try to build in all 3 but I could be wrong about that. I know Chase Sapphire can transfer to United so that’s one thing to think about before deciding…Delta’s hub in Atlanta is close to my home airport Nashville but Judging by the comments on this post I would say Delta is horrible but something could have changed recently so I would appreciate any feedback! Thank you!
Delta has a good product — just a horrible FF program if you don’t spend a lot $$$ on tickets. I would say Star Alliance if you want to redeem miles
Thanks for this story, Johnny. I’ve avoided Delta like the plague since I learned what my 27,000 miles with them are worth. I just tried to transfer those miles to my wife so we could at least burn them on a flight from San Francisco to Bozeman. The catch? Turns out its $270 just to transfer the miles. Some deal! I can only hope there are tens of thousands of others choosing not to fly Delta knowing how little they value their frequent flyers.
Avoid at all cost eh automated system. they removed the menu with dates and mileage needed to a set destination. instead for a LAX to CDG will ONL:Y offer Delta metal via CVG, ATL SLC or else. Just call Delta and ask for the Air France Non Stop ( on the A380 ) oh surprise with some flexibility, 100000 miles Bizz class tickets on the A380 non stop flights are available.. just booked mine.
For the pacific sector the same 100000 miles got me a r/t coach ticket to Tahiti. chose the AF flight numbers instead of Air Tahiti nui ( even if one segment is flown on ATN, result : $ 53 tax per person instead of the $ 400 + tax and fuel surcharges requested for the same flights on ATN flight numbers….
I also had a Delta American Express and used up my mileage and cancelled my AX card…This is the worst mileage program out there..British Airways is also a BAD choice…I booked a business class from JFK to London and they wanted $1192.00 for fuel surcharge and Taxes, and almost never mileage flights available…So far United is the best program…
I just booked a ticket on Delta and flying tomorrow. Booked it a couple of months ago. Cost me 40K miles and $10 for a RT cross country flight. They may not be the best but doesn’t mean you can’t get some deals with them.
It’s all in the yield (revenue) management, where Delta may be more clever. Comparing these three carriers without knowing how many seats were available on arguably two odd travel dates (Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve) is a bit unfair.
I totally agree with the comments above. I am trying to book flights one year in advance( well actually 331 days which is the most in advance the airlines will allow) and while there ARE low mileage seats available in business from UA and AA, there are none or only one ( sneaky sneaky) from Delta. Unfortunately, besides the mileage in all of my FF accounts, I have 500,000 miles in my AMEX account and both AA and UA removed themselves from the AMEX program….it is a shame….i am very depressed about this…..
I am not in any way a fan of Delta, but I have to say their mileage program came through for me three times in the last two months when I needed to fly relatives for a medical emergency. While the other airlines wanted 50K miles @ and were charging for last minute booking, I got three tickets, from different places on different days for 25K @ on Delta. One of these tickets would have cost $800!
I’ve said it over and over in the last few years… There is no trick or tip that’s going to tell you how to get the best airline deals. Of course, it pays to be flexible, but the it all comes down to one simple fact — it’s too expensive to fly an empty plane. If the seats aren’t selling, the airline is going to drop prices and make more FF seats available,
Marcia
John, when I first read your header, I thought to myself, He’s wrong; they’re all equally God-awful. But you’ve presented an ironclad case, so now I’m convinced you’re right. One almost have to admire Delta: It isn’t easy to win mention as having the worst frequent flyer program in a field that includes American, United, and other bad actors who fiercely compete for the Worst Frequent Flyer award.
I quit flying Delta years ago–even though I live in the largest hub–ATL– because I could NEVER find a 25000 mile FF ticket. If there was a way to “search the world”, I wonder if could find ANY ticket to anywhere at any time of the year at the lowest redemption level!