• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
Home » Delta SkyMiles » How Delta SkyMiles Could Instantly Become A Leading Loyalty Program
Award BookingsDelta Air LinesDelta SkyMilesSkyTeam

How Delta SkyMiles Could Instantly Become A Leading Loyalty Program

Matthew Klint Posted onAugust 21, 2018November 14, 2023 10 Comments

Two words: first class.

You can now book China Eastern First Class awards using your Delta miles. The value is not great, but it is fair…especially compared to how much Delta asks for some of its own flights.

This marks the first time you can use your Delta miles for three-cabin first class since the good old days of booking Singapore Airlines First Class (that dates me, I know…).

And while China Eastern is fine if you don’t mind inedible food and smoking, imagine the possibility if Delta started offering partner first class awards on all SkyTeam carriers that offer first class. That would include:

  • Air France
  • China Eastern
  • Garuda Indonesia
  • Korean Air
  • China Southern
  • Saudia
  • Xiamen Airlines

a seat in a planeKorean Air First Class

a close-up of a planeGaruda Indonesia First Class

a blue and white cabin with a tvChina Southern First Class

a room with a bed and a deskChina Eastern First Class

Saudia First ClassSaudia First Class

Currently, Air France first class award space can only be booked with Air France, Garuda Indonesia first class award space can only be booked with Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air first class award space can only be booked Korean Air, and the same with China Southern and Xiamen. China Eastern first class space can be booked with Korean Air SkyPass and now Delta SkyMiles. Saudia first class space can also be booked with Korean Air. In short, it is very difficult to book partner first class awards on SkyTeam.

Imagine if Delta had access to award space for each of these carriers in first class. Even if Delta charged obscene amounts like 300-400K one-way for these flights, it would at least be an option…an option that I know many would be willing to pay (not that I would…).

But imagine further if Delta actually made these rates competitive. Not cheap, but competitive. Say in the 150K one-way range. What a game-changer this would be for the SkyMiles program. It would even cause me to start more aggressively racking up Delta miles.

CONCLUSION

There are so many components that make a loyalty program valuable. But just one small change could quickly make Delta a leading loyalty program.

Would you invest more time in Delta if you could redeem your miles for first class awards?

Get Daily Updates

Join our mailing list for a daily summary of posts! We never sell your info.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Previous Article A Mysterious New Luxury Airline in Taiwan
Next Article The Economics of Lie-Flat Beds on 737s

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • JetBlue Madrid

    The JetBlue Mosaic Challenge And Why I Can’t Pass It Up

    June 22, 2025
  • Delta orlando

    Delta’s Play In Orlando—New Focus City Strategy Emerging?

    June 1, 2025
  • united credit card

    United’s Answer To Failing Credit Cards Is Coupons, Fees

    March 30, 2025

10 Comments

  1. Christian Reply
    August 21, 2018 at 12:50 pm

    Delta isn’t big on competitive award pricing in premium cabins.

  2. Geoff Reply
    August 21, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Have you seen the 900,000+ SkyMiles r/t on their ATL-JNB route in D1??
    Now, if Virgin could see that space at THEIR Upper Class levels(with myriad partners), then we’d be talking.

  3. Sam Reply
    August 21, 2018 at 1:31 pm

    Care to share how much such a redemption costs?

    • Matthew Reply
      August 21, 2018 at 1:48 pm

      That’s the question. These are no available now — the key is how much Delta would price these awards at.

    • Danny Reply
      August 21, 2018 at 3:40 pm

      It cost me 170,000 miles for a one-way JFK-PVG first class on China Eastern. Reservation confirmed and seat selected. Now the challenge is China Eastern all of sudden stopped releasing first class award space.

  4. Bill Reply
    August 21, 2018 at 7:00 pm

    But try finding an award seat in the new premium economy on the A350… DTW to AMS is crazy high mileage now. Flagship comes at a very high cost.

  5. Dave Reply
    August 21, 2018 at 8:50 pm

    I’ve seen nothing but higher and higher milage costs over the past several years, while I, the entity that DL and the rest point to as their highest cost, weight equating to fuel consumption, has been constant (<160lbs) and even heading down. So why is it that the well-earned label of SkyPeso's cost continued to go up? Greed? Because they can? US to Europe has doubled in the past couple years alone. I went to JNB not that many years ago for 160k miles, which wouldn't even get a cattle car seat today.

  6. Joyce Reply
    August 22, 2018 at 1:33 am

    We did a First Class around the world trip using skymiles in 2015 and Delta booked us First Class on an Air France international flight. Of course, the flights within Europe on KLM etc were the hockey pretend first class.

  7. Errol Reply
    August 23, 2018 at 12:41 pm

    Delta, although my favorite domestic carrier, also needs to become more competitive with its “Lifetime” awards which recognize Delta’s most frequent and loyal travelers over the years. My 2,000,000+ lifetime UA miles aceorded me UA’s “Lifetime Platinum” status while my 1,000,000 AA miles was awarded with the carrier’s “Lifetime Gold” status. However, my over 3,800,000 Delta actual miles only qualified me for Delta’s “Lifetime Gold” status; same as only 1,000,000 miles on both UA & AA. And, even before they started counting miles, I was a Delta “Flying Colonel.” After all these years of heavy travel, I have sort of “aged out” and don’t get to travel all that much anymore. Still, getting that higher level recognition from Delta as its way of letting me (and other long time loyal flyers) know that our business was appreciated over the years would really be a nice and a “no cost” gesture.

  8. Quest Fanning Reply
    August 23, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    I could see Air France & Garuda unbundling the ground service end if any 1st award space were offered.

Leave a Reply to Sam Cancel reply

Search

Hot Deals for July

Note: Please see my Advertiser Disclosure

Capital One Venture X Business Card
Earn 150,000 Miles Sign Up Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 100,000 Points
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles!
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Earn 75,000 Miles
Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Earn $750 Cash Back
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Earn 120,000 Membership Reward® Points

Recent Posts

  • Delta Basic Business Class
    Delta Moves To Unbundle Business Class, Tests “Basic” Premium Cabin Fares July 11, 2025
  • American Airlines Landline Bus
    United Airlines Ends Landline Bus Service As American Airlines Exapnds It July 11, 2025
  • several airplanes in a hangar
    Portugal Moves To Sell 49.9% Stake in TAP Air Portugal — Who Will Buy? July 11, 2025
  • an airplane parked on a runway
    Delta Air Lines Q2 2025 Earnings Beat Estimates, Stock Surges On Restored Guidance July 10, 2025

Categories

Popular Posts

  • Favorite Airline Commercials
    My 10 Favorite Airline Commercials June 15, 2025
  • a blue passport on a black surface
    All The Patriotic Quotes In Your U.S. Passport July 4, 2025
  • Qantas Lounge Review Hong Kong
    Review: Qantas Lounge Hong Kong (HKG) June 14, 2025
  • a row of seats in an airplane
    If You Abuse Company Travel Policy, Expect To Be Fired! June 16, 2025

Archives

July 2025
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Jun    

As seen on:

facebook twitter instagram rss
Privacy Policy © Live and Let's Fly All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Live and Let's Fly with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.