What is the “fastest” way to get a bunch of SkyMiles to book an award ticket?

One of the common questions I get either as a comment on the blog or via e-mail is how to quickly get some LARGE number of SkyMiles to be able to book some kind of award trip (especially in light of all the award changes going on with Delta this year).

I mean, take a look at the graphic above. Even a smaller airline like Hawaiian, not only has SIMPLE, published award charts, but even has a tab where you can set an “award goal”! Can you even dream of Delta doing something like this?

But back to the question, that is, getting a big chunk of SkyMiles QUICKLY! The best and simplest choice is a transfer from an AMEX Membership Rewards card like;

• American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card

• The Platinum Card® from American Express

I hold BOTH of these cards (note my Platinum card is the business version of the card). All the points from both cards “funnel”, if you will, to the same AMEX membership rewards account. Should I wish to I can transfer them to Delta and they move over almost instantly.

You could literally do this while you were on the phone with a Delta rep to get a booking done. What about sending these points to other folks? That was simple in the past – not so much now. Yes, if you are willing to do all this, you can add an authorized card user to your credit card and next transfer points to them and finally they transfer over to Delta. Now I get that you need to HAVE the membership rewards points to accomplish this, but both of these cards, after minimum spend, get you a nice points total to transfer and are good cards to have and hold (especially the Platinum card for all the perks it gives you).

But what are your other choices for “fast” points? Again, if you need a large amount of points, turn to two of the three Delta co-branded credit cards. I would look at either the:

• Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

• Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

Like the first two cards talked about, both of these come with a LARGE amount of bonus points after spend requirements. How fast can you get these points? As long as you meet the spend quickly, they should post 1-3 days after your statement closes (or even faster).

Now is a possible 30-ish days from application, approval and spend “fast”? To me it is! Then again, I plan my award trips as far out as I can and always look for LEVEL 1 awards and almost always in business class.

So there you are. I will be adding this to the “Essentials Tab” as once again this is a question I get each and every week and these really are some of the fastest ways to get a large amount of SkyMiles to top off your totals to book that award trip you want! – René
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Editorial Note: This content is not provided by American Express. 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 American Express.