Welcome to a weekly feature on the Delta Points blog. Each week this series covers in a “rookie” way either a Delta or travel related theme and attempts to break down to a basic level each topic. You can read up on all the previous posts HERE. Now on to this week’s feature.

A reader asked me to post about all the perks you can get as a Delta SPG CrossoverRewards member and I think this program, with all it’s in’s and out’s deserves a “rookie” look.

The first thing you really need to do, rather than have me just cut-n-paste from the SPG site that has a great description of all the program benefits is to click HERE to read them all (and the Delta.com one is HERE as well). I will summarize real quick the key points and then some of my issues and you can share yours in the comments on the blog below.

All levels of medallion get points but PM & DM get more. They get:

Diamond and Platinum Medallion® members can also enjoy 4pm late checkout, access to the SPG elite check-in line, complimentary in-room Internet access, and upgrades to enhanced rooms at check-in.

So, you get some nice perks that many times cost more money and do give you many of the same perks as a GOLD SPG member and that is sweet (more on this soon).

Then, from the SPG side, GOLD & Platinum SPG qualify, but only Platinum gets all the Delta perks.

SPG Platinum elite member, you are eligible to receive priority check-in, Priority Boarding, and first checked bag free in accordance with the SkyMiles Program Rules and the Crossover Rewards Terms on eligible Delta flights (First checked bag free for the Crossover Rewards Participant and up to 3 additional passengers traveling under the same reservation as the Crossover Rewards Participant.).

So looking in this direction, if you have no status with Delta, you get a bunch of perks that an entry level medallion gets, but noticeably you get NO chances at upgrades that even the lowest medallion (Silver Medallion) does have a chance for. Unlike the Delta AMEX cards (Gold/Platinum/Reserve) that gives you+8 more on the same reservation free bags, this perk only give you+3.

More info to consider. A Silver Medallion with Delta, who only gets 1 free bag now, can get the Delta AMEX and get 2 free bags domestically (50 lbs). But, say you are a Delta Silver and an SPG Platinum, can you then leverage this the same way as with the AMEX card? SPG says:

No Incremental Benefits. A Crossover Rewards Participant who qualifies for elite benefits pursuant to Section 4.2.a and who has Medallion status in the Delta SkyMiles program will not receive incremental benefits. [and]  If you are registered for Crossover Rewards and are an SPG Platinum elite member, you are only entitled to receive one checked bag free.

This also would mean as say a GM or higher you would not then qualify for say 3 bags free from your SPG Platinum status. But what about going the other way, that is, you have say Delta DM status and are an SPG Gold. Do you get more perks since you are already an elite with SPG? Notice what SPG says:

Yes. If you are registered for Crossover Rewards and are a Delta Diamond or Platinum Medallion member, you will receive complimentary in-room Internet during Eligible Stays through Crossover Rewards, so you may choose a different welcome amenity (e.g., 250 bonus Starpoints) as an SPG Gold elite member.

I have had, for the most part, good results with this. I think overall SPG has done a good job. However, some brands do not fully understand the CrossoverRewards program and tend to balk when you ask for more than wifi one perk (I have to tell them I am a CrossoverRewards member and should get both – they relent – but give you “the look” and I hate that)! BTW if a hotel already has free WiFi you do not get to pick more perks:

If an SPG Participating Hotel provides in-room Internet on a complimentary basis, no substitute benefit will be provided to Delta Diamond or Platinum Medallion members who are registered for Crossover Rewards.

Another “gotcha” for those who like to use a booking portal to get extra points. If you do this, you cannot triple dip and get CrossoverRewards. Take a look:

If you make a reservation for a Delta flight through an online travel agency (e.g., priceline.com, expedia.com, booking.com, orbitz.com, elong.com), you are not eligible to receive Crossover Rewards benefits for that flight even if you are registered for Crossover Rewards and are an SPG Platinum elite member. However, if you make a reservation for a Delta flight through a corporate booking tool that is powered by an online travel agency, you may be eligible to receive Crossover Rewards benefits for that flight.

Does this mean others like KAYAK.com would not work? They should be fine as they just scrape data and do not pay extra points. Others, like Travelocity via Ultimate Rewards site and the like maybe readers can comment if they have gotten both those credits and CrossoverRewards (and would be much appreciated btw)!

When it comes to earning SPG points from Delta flights keep in mind that like the Skybonus program  the points are based on the base fare price not the total price of the ticket. Consolidator fares and priceline.com type fares do not qualify. Also it needs to be a Delta code share flight that is have a DL in front of the number (so you could earn on say KLM if a code share flight). For SPG stays, like Delta, tax etc. does not qualify going from SPG to Delta to earn Delta points.

What if you have an issue and points do not post right? Here is where most people are upset as it seems from readers that each company is pointing fingers back at the other. SPG says that:

If you are registered for Crossover Rewards and meet the eligible criteria to earn Starpoints and/or Delta miles for your eligible flight or stay: (1) if you are missing Delta miles for an Eligible Stay at an SPG Participating Hotel, contact the SPG Customer Contact Center; (2) if you are missing Starpoints for an eligible Delta flight, contact Delta SkyMiles Customer Support.

This makes it clear (but I have been told it can still be a fight to get credits some times). Either way, there is no question the CrossoverRewards is a very nice perk in a year where we have seen mostly enhancements cuts from Delta. SPG points are each worth 1.2 Delta Skymiles should you choose to send 20,000 over in one block to Delta Skymiles. If you are a Delta elite or an SPG elite be sure you enroll to enjoy the perks you have coming to you! – René

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Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card
from American Express®
25,000 points card

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Starwood Preferred Guest® Business Credit Card
from American Express
25,000 points card

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The “big three” of Skyteam Europe, that is Delta, KLM & AF are a strange group. Delta has their way, and KLM & AF are partners but each like their own toys and ways

Anyway, my Flying Blue “newsletter” arrived the other day and it was more a book than a newsletter. I have read college cliff notes shorter than this puppy.

I thumbed through it and was not really all that impressed other than the update to the bag policy on European flights. This is nothing new as we have seen this change already announced on the web. But, it is a good reminder of why we, as Delta flyers, should all have a free IVORY Flying Blue account. If we ever have to fly on KLM and do not have any status with Delta, then we can at least get one bag for free (we all know with Delta you need to have a GOLD or PLATINUM or RESERVE AMEX card to get a free bag over here unless you are medallion).

Another reason to have an account with KLM that I have blogged about before is the fact that KLM “IT” often will end up awarding you points for KLM flights if you have put in your Flying Blue number on a Delta Skymiles award reservation (business class award that is). Not always, but free points are free points when they are willing to give them to you right? Just a few helpful points & tips today to get more value along the way – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
Click here for more information

Not all too long ago I had a Rookie Wednesday post about just who could get a Skybonus account and what it will take to remain in the program.

For me, most times, I simply redeem my points for Delta Amenity coupons. Personally I like to have a cocktail in the sky when I don’t get an upgrade or a HOOU coupon or to be able to give them away to readers on the blog now and then.

But the other day a reader asked me what I thought was the best value of Skybonus points. I answered that gifting Silver Medallion to a family member or a good friend is one of the best values. Then, the Amenity coupons. But maybe I am missing good values for these points.

So why not help this reader, as well as your fellow readers, with your thoughts of what you think the best redemption is for Skybonus points. You can look at the full list in a PDF HERE and see the point totals for each redemption. In advance – thanks! – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
Click here for more information

Delta has had a real revenue based earnings program for a long time call SkyBonus. It ONLY awards you for the cost of the ticket. No tax, only the real cash that goes to Delta (you do still get credit for flying Skyteam “code share” members). The kool part about this program is that, now with SPG  CrossoverRewards, it is possible to earn “3x” points on all Delta tickets.

Delta also gives bonus points when you register for certain deals and fly from hubs and such but basically it is a program to reward business flyers with even more points and perks.

So who can join this program? The directions say:

Skybonus® is a complimentary business travel rewards program designed specifically for small to mid-sized companies. Skybonus turns your business travel budget into rewards by converting the dollars your company spends for travel on Delta, Air France, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Alitalia, or any of our codeshare partners into Skybonus points.

So just what is a small to mid-sized company? And, can say a sole proprietor join this program? Delta tells us:

Delta reserves the right to determine the eligibility of the Company.

So Delta will decide if you are good enough. But, I did reach out to Delta and was told that YES a sole proprietor can absolutely join. I think most Delta Points reader who run a business could join. But there are more bits you need to know.

While you can get a business credit card and spend and earn just about any amount or even run your company at a loss, this is not the case with Skybonus. Delta wants you to spend money on Delta to be able to remain in the program. Notice one of the important T&C listed:

Participating companies that do not have Delta flown revenue greater than $5,000 USD or the equivalent in other currencies per calendar year may be de-enrolled from the Program.

Does that mean you will be kicked out automatically if you say spend $3000 or $4000 one year? Probably not, but you will be on notice I bet. Delta wants those who spend money on Delta tickets and to reward them with more perks. What kind of perks? Most of the Skybonus site you cannot access unless you are a member. You can peak at the full list at THIS PDF of the rewards.

As you can see, the rewards take a bunch of points and the fact that you earn them at a much lower rate than Skymiles means that it will take a while. There have been HUGE new user bonus point deals in the past so I would wait for a new one to come along before you join unless you have a bunch of employees flying all over and waiting will cost you.

Also, there are ways to clean up on this but with some warnings. All your employees, when they fly Delta, can earn YOU Skybonus points by adding your SkyBonus number to their Skymiles account (go to “My Delta” then click “View My Profile” then lastly “Flight Preferences”).

But, say you are a sole proprietor, adding your mom and dad and brother is a really dumb idea as you are a sole proprietor. Now, say you run an LLC or a small business and employ your dad and mom and brother, then YES do add them and enjoy the points when they fly for you!

So that is the basics in a Rookie fashion. You need to take advantage of this program if you can as it is just silly to leave points on the table Delta will give you for free – René
 

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
Click here for more information

This has been a unique week. Has it been fun? Yes. Was it work? Yes. What it hard work? No. Would I do it again? (Well since I have a few more of these runs booked) Yes! Would I book this again next year? Maybe!

How is that for an intro? I know DeltaPoints readers are at all levels of travel experience so I will try to keep this simple but some of this will come across as, “what? why? how?”. I also will toss in some personal psychological musings now and then that hit me during the run.

Let’s start with some of the technical stuff first as I have had many questions on that. This one was an add-on after the $137 killer deal that I booked the other runs with. It was still a good price but I totally get the argument that compared to getting the AMEX Reserve card this was a waste of time since it also gets you 10,000 MQM’s with your first dollar spent (to be fair I plan to do that too so I still needed/wanted this).

I booked PIT-ATL-LAX-ATL-PIT but thanks to the mighty schedule change rule, and calling and asking for a change to SBN, was told, NO, but pick any airport in Ohio (I loved that response btw). So, I picked the closest one, Cleveland. I did two days back to back. The total cost for the AIR part was $338.40 so my net for the 10,000 MQM’s was 3.39 CPM. My gas/toll/parking price added almost $100 to the bill but I also netted 12,504 RDM’s so that has value too of at least $125 (I value my Skymiles at 2-3 cents each for Sweden trips in business class). I also will net some nice Skybonus points on top of all this. My next runs were cheaper and I used a $400 ETV so my real cost will be MUCH lower for those. While we are talking about cost, I parked at the Marriott CLE and you can just park anywhere in their lot, walk in, tell them you want to park-n-fly, and it costs just $5/day. I did tip the driver $2 so all-in $6/day cost! They give you a business card and you call the moment you land and they are then waiting to pick you up. Great service!

I have been struggling how to cover all the points and not make this post ridiculously long. Today I will cover the journey and tomorrow some things I thought I knew, but now have confirmed by my experience and also confirmed with my Delta corporate contact regarding Delta’s selling of upgrades etc.

This may come as shock to many of you but I dropped down to Silver status at the end of March, not February, this year (I will give a free amenity coupon to the first one to correctly guess how this happened). My wife is Platinum now and I always want one of us to have that level of status each year. So, next year is my turn. In 1 month I will move from Silver to Gold to Platinum with flights and my next 15,000 AMEX Reserve dump of MQM’s. Thus, my upgrades were just about what I expected. I scored 2 of 8. One of them was in the 1 day upgrade window (the last leg of the trip – thank you Delta) one was battlefield upgrade. I was “told” over the PA I would get one more but it was an “oopsee” so the rep gave me my own row of economy comfort to make up for it and the FA’s were also very nice to me after they found out what happened. I was totally fine with it and really it was funny. I did not expect any on the ATL-LAX or LAX-ATL and on one of the segments I was 80th of 84 with 1 seat open for battlefield upgrade. My guess is I was basically 4 ahead of all the other T-class FO’s with no AMEX Reserve card!

On to my seats. For anyone who thinks FO is worthless I laugh in your face. Here is why. IMO, if you want leg room (WAY MORE THAN 1st class on this aircraft), then I had the best seat on the 767-300 domestic product hands down. I mean look a the photo above and below here.

As a Silver I picked row 26 each trip. 25 AB & FG is not bad bulkhead legroom but 26 AB & FG are the best as full recline (slider seat) and both a seat back tray table AND an armrest one. IFE, GoGo WiFi, USB power in the seats, near lav – just wow! I would pick these over EC seats if you want legroom. The only negative is they are a bit hard on the tushy! SeatGuru says the middle bulkhead is good too. I would say NO and not just for the reason below.

I spent a lot of time in Skyclubs. I went straight for the new F concourse Skyclub for my showers as it is all new and nice.

One big gripe was that I could not find a hair dryer in the room. In LAX they have them on the wall just like hotels but not in the F. What is up with that Delta?

It was fun, after 1.5 days of running, to look up and see all these people, each and every one of them on a phone, tablet, PC and the like. I saw only ONE person reading a real, paper magazine. Times have changed.

One day I went to Chili’s on the upper level of concourse A, right next to the Skyclub that no one seems to know about, and had a killer lunch of the appetizer sampler menu and a priceless view of the airport. Each bite was better than the next and I cannot wait to have it again.

But I will stick to water and have my beer in the Skyclub as over $8.00 for a beer? C’mon Chili’s give me a break!

I also mentioned money well spent. Since I got such a good deal, and my back was a bit sore from so much time in coach, I splurged on a table massage at the XpresSpa just below the Chili’s and Skyclub in “A”. It was amazing and took away all the pain. I will always plan for 3-4 hour layovers for this 45/min treatment when running from now on and really should add that into my CPM but maybe that is just silly as I would have one at home anyway even when not flying. I digress – sorry!

I also wanted to talk bumps for just a second. Delta does not have a “give up your seat” that can be put in for the total trip. You must ask at the gate and sometimes if you use the kiosk at check-in or throughout the airport you will get the bid for giving up your seat (that just means offer $400 and you will be on the list maybe). Both my LAX flights were VERY oversold. I was promised I would be needed – 100% – by the agent on trip one but at the last second put on the plane. Result was my laptop was no where near my seat (I have a complaint in to Delta about this). The second time, I again offered and came to the gate 1 hr before flight. The lady in front of me (grrrrrrr) had a party of 4 and they all got $400 each. (grrrrrr). I know I have publicly said I will only take cash from now on, and I stand by that, except for when running as a rebook to “Y” will just about guarantee an upgrade for me and that alone is worth the bump! So if you want to bump, be sure to get to the gate EARLY and be first in line!

There was also a reason for this trip other than just points and miles as I did meet a friend in LAX but will keep that private until a later date. I promise to tell you about that one day, just not now. How do I feel after a total of 6hrs driving and 24 hrs flying? Tired. Exhausted? No. Was it fun? You bet. The funny thing to me was I had planned to get a TON of work done in Skyclubs and on the 5 hr transcon segments. Even the CLE-ATL was 1+hr long. The reality was it went by so fast that I got almost nothing done I wanted. I only had time for one film and most of the time in the Skyclub I relaxed and did a few e-mails and such.

So what do you think. Would you try one of these 2 day runs? Be nice in your comments but am I crazy? Leave any kind of comment – ON THE BLOG – for a chance to win 1 of 4 Delta Points luggage tags and a Delta amenity coupons (I will use random.org tomorrow some time)! – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
Click here for more information

Join the 1500+ Delta Points daily e-mail subscribers

I love Skybonus. Delta not only gives GM+ double Skymiles, but if you have a business and a Skybonus account you are getting even more than that. Tell me another airline that rewards business as much as Delta! I have blogged about Skybonus before HERE and you can read all about it.

So take a look at the current bonus that is going on till the end of this year. You can download a PDF of the promotion HERE for the full T&C. The bottom line is you need to sign up for a new Skybonus account by using this link HERE. Then, you will need to fly within 60 days of enrollment with the code!

While the Skybonus points are not as valuable as Skymiles I tend to use mine for Skyclub passes (takes 30k) or for 10 pack of amenity / drink coupons (takes just 10k). Enjoy – Rene

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
from American Express®
Click here for more information

Join the 1000+ Delta Points daily e-mail subscribers

I have been getting a flood of emails from readers about SkyBonus surveys. They are TARGETED so I cannot put up mine or any of the others readers have sent in as the code in the email can track back to me/them.

If you have not had a chance to look at SkyBonus you are missing out on “bonus” points from Delta each time you fly or even a friend or family member who is “part” of your small or large business.

To learn more about Skybonus look at these posts:
HERE  &  HERE  &  HERE!

PS – as you will soon see from ALL the bloggers – if you do not have a
Chase Sapphire card,
now maybe a good time to get it!- René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
American Express – RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
Click here for more information

Join the 1000+ Delta Points daily e-mail subscribers

Having been gone for a while I have been playing catch-up with my real job and clients. I have had so many little things I wanted to blog about and my fellow Boarding Area “crew” have done a great job of covering many of these topics but not all.

First, there are a bunch of new Skybonus deals you can register for. I had many I had not yet clicked on for possible bonus points.

Next, you can try for 500 free Skymiles from ACCOR hotels with this link.

There is a good Flyer Talk thread about a low cost ($423 all in) trip to Dublin from NYC but there are low cost seats from Chicago and other cities as well if you search around with Matrix.

And lastly blog reader and blogger Kathy, aka “WillrunForMiles”, has a good post on service animals and Delta HERE!

Have a good and safe weekend everyone! – René

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
American Express – RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
Click here for more information

Sometimes my brain hurts. I would love to know if it is just me that does this. What? Simply this: there is so much I assume everyone else knows. My wife sure tells me enough times that I need to tell her what is in my head. The latest question a reader sent me was:  “where (on the blog) are all the ways to get maximum Delta Skymiles if one wanted to” (say in one year)?

So here, once again, is a post I should have had up for a long time. Some caveats and a request not to flame me in comments. I am not saying that all these ways are the best use of the points. There are often transfer bonus deals that could result in more value for the points. This is to show all the ways to score MAX Delta Skymiles in just one year. All the cards below have no first year annual fee other than the Platinum business card, $450, but you do get up to $300 in credits back in incidentals and GOES rebate and you get Skyclub access free as well. Many of the cards have $5000 in spend needed to get the bonus points so keep that in mind too.

If you over one year applied for these cards you would get almost 200,000 Skymiles.

Application round one in January

Delta Gold Skymiles card  HERE
AMEX Platinum business card HERE
Earn 60,500 miles after spend

Application round two in April

SPG AMEX personal card HERE
SPG Business card HERE
Earn 60,000 points after spend that can be sent to Delta to earn 75,000 (SPG give you 5,000 bonus Skymiles when you send 20,000. You would want to send 3 batches of 20,000 points each ) Note your spend requirement is $5000 per card so you could switch for the Delta Gold Business below and do the SPG business card next round.

Application round three in August

AMEX Gold Premier personal card HERE
Delta Gold Business card HERE
Earn 57,500 points after spend

The net all in result is 60,500+75,000+57,500 = 193,000 Skymiles in less than one year! Also note this leaves you just 7,000 Skymiles shy of 2 free low level tickets to Europe in Business class. There are many many ways talked about in the blog to pick up those few points missing to make this happen all in just one year to take your next European vacation in style! – Rene

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
American Express – RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
Click here for more information

Choice is good. It is amazing to me how many choices we have with the Delta branded AMEX cards.

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
American Express – RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
Click here for more information

The GOLD personal card is good for the 30k points, low spend needed, Zone 1 boarding, 9 free bags and for the 20% discount on food / drinks on-board.

Some look at the non-waived $150 fee  and 20,000 (25,000 if you add 2 free users) Skymiles bonus for the Platinum card as a reason NOT to go for this card over the Gold. But in addition to the 5,000 MQM’s, one of the great benefits of the Platinum card is the free coach companion ticket while the Gold does not.

To get to it you must go to DELTA.com and then go to: skymiles / manage my account

Then click on Manage Profile then at last Certificates & eCredits! Then you will see the list of all the certificates of any kind you have including the one from your AMEX card.

You then simply click the box to select it and pick where you want to go.

Now some good info about these. As you can see below, if I want to use mine to go on a ski trip, I as primary will earn MQM and RDM’s ( medallion qualifying miles and redeemable (ie Skymiles) miles ) but my bride will not! We will NOT be able to get upgrades but other medallion benefits are extended to us.

Now another kool thing is if you do not plan to use it, you can buy a ticket for two of your friends to use as you can see below ( note your friends  DO NOT  get your medallion benefits or free bags ):

Per the T&C, you MUST pay for the ticket with your AMEX card but friend #1 will earn miles and friend #2 will not. Also, if YOU are part of the SKYBONUS program I talked about here, as you can see from the photo above, YOU will earn Skybouns points for their trip!

So do not let these things go to the trash if you don’t use them. Either  “give”  your friends them or provide a great gift to someone you love! And if you are thinking about a Delta AMEX card, be sure you keep the value of free companion ticket in mind before you pick the card that is right for you! – Rene

[PS - the Reserve  AMEX  card gives the same coupon that can be used for coach or business class]

▲Delta▲ SkyMiles® Credit Card
American Express – RESERVE/PLATINUM/GOLD
Click here for more information