No Result
View All Result
Eye of the Flyer
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Rookie Wednesday: What are the best points to spend on a Delta ticket?

René by René
May 7, 2014
in Rookie
3

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

 

RenesPoints Rookie

Welcome to a weekly feature on the Renés 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.

Delta 747 jet in Atlanta delta points blog

This one is kinda an amalgamation of a few of the reader requests from my 125 reader comments about what they want to see on rookie Wednesdays. The question is on the point of what are the best points to use to buy delta tickets.

This really is a good question. When it comes to buying a ticket you really have an amazing amount of choices and what is “best” is not a one word answer. It really depends on a number of factors so let’s break it down and look at the choices.

1) Buy with card that pays max points. What card to use? AMEX Premiere Rewards Gold travel card for 3x, or Delta AMEX for 2x and meet spend toward MQD exempt are my go to choices.

2) Buy with card, pay yourself back with points. Choices are Barclay’s Arrival or Capital One type cards so after the ticket posts you can pay for it with points to net out as no cost.

3) Pay with points card that is non-AMEX one. You can pick ones that let you buy a ticket with like FlexPerks points, Ultimate Rewards, AMEX Membership rewards or Citi Thank You points so you never really pay for the ticket upfront at all (there can be tax and other fees).

4) Pay with Miles from Delta. This is a perk of the Delta AMEX airline travel cards that lets you get 1 cent per Skymile in value to buy any ticket you want.

5) Skymiles at the award level you find for the flights and times you want.

These are the main 5 ways and there really is a dizzying amount of ways to buy a ticket when you think about it. What choice really depends on so much like your goal for the flight and what you want at the back end, that is after the flight is over. Let’s break it down.

1) The first one really is simple at face value, but look again. You are just buying the ticket. But, you need to look at the goal for the purchase. Are you trying to get as many points back as possible for the purchase or are you trying to not only get max points but also knock out part of the $25,000 per year on a Delta AMEX to be exempt from the MQD requirement for your status level? If you are NOT into manufacturing spending, foregoing extra points may be well worth it to help meet spend for the year.

2) This one has it’s pros and cons. If you pay with your Arrival or C1 points to buy a ticket then you can not use these points to pay for say a car rental or a hotel etc. later on. You need to weigh whether the points you are earning from the Delta flight are more important to you than getting a free car rental or a free hotel stay? Especially if you have to pay out of pocket then for the other options. One to think about before you just say I will pay myself back for this flight.

3) This payment option can be really good. Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, FlexPerks and Thanks You points all earn when you fly Delta so this can be a good use of points to earn you Delta points, both Skymiles & MQMs. Plus they do all count toward MQD spending levels. Membership Rewards from AMEX you always need to be VERY careful with as you run the risk of ending up in a consolidator fare class and earn either nothing or only a small percent of what you expected. Plus, the chance to get perhaps even greater value sending MR points to a partner. All goes into the math grinder for your personal value at the other end.

4) Pay with Miles. This one can be so good and so bad. The good is you can say buy a ticket to match up with other already booked flights either with points or even via a connecting city on a trip. Real value with flexibility. Downside is so many restrictions like no upgrades, will not earn ANY points for trip and on and on. Having said that, booking in 1st class does earn points so this can really be a sweet spot at the right price. Just be careful not to over spend with this option.

5) Just redeeming Skymiles. Shocking but this is after all the goal most times. To find a good as cheap as possible with points redemption in either coach or business class. I have spent recently 32,500 to fly out of SBN soon for my wife and I on Delta points. Not as good as 25,000 but considering the price of the tickets to buy them this is a good deal to me since buying the two tickets today would cost me almost $1300 so I am getting a good CPM value for my miles. I can live with that.

So to wrap up – you have a ton of choices. The key points are what are your spending and earning goals. Do you want to earn for your flight and yet not pay for it or are you sitting on a big pile of other points and would rather burn them to earn compared to using them for other things or transfer partners. Is the price so good it is worth just paying with points. Lastly is this the time to spend your points to save real money? Sometimes after all it is all about the trip itself not just earning for another trip down the road! – René
.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.

➲ Barclaycard Arrival™
World MasterCard®
Earn 2x miles
on All Purchases

a close-up of a number

. .

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Tags: Rookie
Previous Post

ALERT: New York to Oakland $274 & 7306MQMs at 3.8CPM – weekday delta mileage run

Next Post

Will you help my fellow blogger Ben fly in the best 1st class seat EVER?

René

René

René de Lambert is a contributing writer for EyeoftheFlyer.com - He is an avid Delta and SkyTeam flyer who has held Delta’s top Diamond Medallion status for many years and flown millions of miles.

Next Post

Will you help my fellow blogger Ben fly in the best 1st class seat EVER?

Comments 3

  1. PointFlier says:
    11 years ago

    In#4, Pay With Miles, you state “Having said that, booking in 1st class does earn points so this can really be a sweet spot at the right price. “. What do you mean by that? How do I earn miles when booking ticket with miles? Thx

    Reply
    • Delta Points says:
      11 years ago

      @PointFlier – as you can see from the screen grab from Delta.com, when you book business class with Skymiles you EARN points for that trip.

      Reply
  2. Pingback: Rookie Wednesday: A look back on what we have covered so far (and beyond)! - Delta Points - Delta Points

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

➤ Search Eye of the Flyer

No Result
View All Result

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our NewsletterJoin our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

GREAT Travel and Cash Back Card Offers for Spring 2025!

Eye of the Flyer may receive a commission from the links below. See our Privacy Policy

See some of the biggest and best offers now!
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card CardBIGGEST EVER OFFER! Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 in purchases within three (3) months of being approved for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card! (Learn here how to apply. All information about the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card was gathered independently by Eye of the Flyer. It was neither provided nor reviewed by the card issuer.)
Capital One Venture X Business
Capital One Venture X Business: Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 on eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Then, earn an additional 200,000 miles after you spend a total of $200,000 within the first six (6) months. That's a total of 350,000 miles. Learn here how to apply.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn 185,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on the card within six (6) months of being approved for card membership. (Terms Apply. This offer expires on May 14, 2025.). Read more and learn here how to apply.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Plus, receive a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit in your first cardholder year. Learn more here.

 

American Express® Business Gold Card

American Express® Business Gold Card: Earn 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Plus, enjoy a 0% introductory APR for the first six (6) months from the date of account opening on purchases eligible for Pay Over Time, then a 18.49% to 27.49% variable APR. (See Rates & Fees) Terms apply.. Learn more here.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 150,000 bonus American Express® Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases on the card within the first three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Plus, earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel with your Business Platinum Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You can earn one or both of these offers. This offer expires on June 30, 2025. Terms apply.. Plus, enjoy select airport lounge access, statement credit opportunities galore, and more! Read here why we love this card.

 

Eye of the Flyer partner offer!CardMatch™CardMatch™
Offers may not be available to all users.

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 Eye of the Flyer with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our NewsletterJoin our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Resources

  • ✍ Editors Disclaimer
  • 💰 Advertiser Disclosure
  • 🔒 Privacy Policy
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉

Copyright © 2025 Eye of the Flyer. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉

Copyright © 2025 Eye of the Flyer. All Rights Reserved.

Cleantalk Pixel
No Result
View All Result
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉

Copyright © 2025 Eye of the Flyer. All Rights Reserved.