Delta Skymiles

[Liz]

I have been looking at Skymiles for a couple of weeks now and trying to figure out how to best use the miles we have. We have enough for two to fly free, possibly three depending on how I want to use them. The flights I've been looking at have all required 25,000 miles. This morning I went to actually schedule something and our preferred return flights are now 32,500. I swear they know someone has been looking at those flights and raised them! Does anyone know if they ever lower them back down? I suppose someone else could have scheduled those flights and used the available seats. We may have to wait and fly out the following morning although I'd rather not.

 

[DebbieB]

I have been looking at Skymiles for a couple of weeks now and trying to figure out how to best use the miles we have. We have enough for two to fly free, possibly three depending on how I want to use them. The flights I've been looking at have all required 25,000 miles. This morning I went to actually schedule something and our preferred return flights are now 32,500. I swear they know someone has been looking at those flights and raised them! Does anyone know if they ever lower them back down? I suppose someone else could have scheduled those flights and used the available seats. We may have to wait and fly out the following morning although I'd rather not.

When you originally looked, did you put in 1 person? If you change the number of passengers, it can change availability. You might be able to get 1 ticket for 25,000.

 

[Liz]

It won't let me get even one ticket for 25,000 now (for late afternoon/early evening departure). I can get a very early departure for 25,000 which is why I'm considering just staying overnight one more day.

 

[DebbieB]

It won't let me get even one ticket for 25,000 now (for late afternoon/early evening departure). I can get a very early departure for 25,000 which is why I'm considering just staying overnight one more day.

They do go up and down. When is your trip? The last 2 times I booked FF tickets with Delta I didn't get the flights I wanted for 25,000 but there was a schedule change so I called and got the flights I really wanted for no extra miles. Delta changes flights often, I gambled and it worked. For example, I wanted a late afternoon return, I could only get 12:30pm as the latest. There was a schedule change and that flight changed to 11:30am. I called and said we had a breakfast reservation and that flight was too early, I was able to switch to a 6:30pm.

 

[Liz]

I'm glad that worked out for you!

We are traveling November 11-19 (or 20th if we have to stay the extra night). I'm waiting for Southwest to open it's November dates for the tickets we have to buy so maybe I'll hold off till making any decision with Delta till I see what Southwest offers.

We're flying into Jacksonville, by the way, because my mom is there and then going to Disney from the 15th-19th. Going back to Jacksonville to fly out because I couldn't find anything that would work for 25,000 miles if we did the multi-city thing.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I'm glad that worked out for you!

We are traveling November 11-19 (or 20th if we have to stay the extra night). I'm waiting for Southwest to open it's November dates for the tickets we have to buy so maybe I'll hold off till making any decision with Delta till I see what Southwest offers.

We're flying into Jacksonville, by the way, because my mom is there and then going to Disney from the 15th-19th. Going back to Jacksonville to fly out because I couldn't find anything that would work for 25,000 miles if we did the multi-city thing.

The longer you wait the less likely you are to get the low mileage flights.

There are not many tickets on any one flight or route so...

 

[Liz]

And our vacation is getting close to Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel times of the year!

Does anyone know if I schedule flights with miles is there a penalty to make a change? I know Delta LOVES fees.

 

[DebbieB]

And our vacation is getting close to Thanksgiving, one of the busiest travel times of the year!

Does anyone know if I schedule flights with miles is there a penalty to make a change? I know Delta LOVES fees.

Change fee is $150.

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/support/faqs/skymiles/skymiles-faqs.html

Can I change an Award Ticket?

Yes. Members can make changes to an Award Ticket up to 72 hours prior to the original departure time (outbound or return). All taxes and fees associated with that ticket will apply. The fee for reissues is $150 USD. The fee is waived for Diamond and Platinum Medallion members, provided the member makes changes at least 72 hours prior to the original flight departure time. Miles for Award Travel are nonrefundable for flights canceled or changed within 72 hours of the original flight departure time. See Award Travel for full terms and conditions.

 

[Liz]

Thanks, Debbie. So I better be good and sure before I make any arrangements. I'm so used to Southwest and their easier policies with changes.

 

[Greysword]

First, clear your cookies or use a different computer, as Delta IT does increase prices with repeated looks.

Next, you may be able to find lower prices seats, but it is work on delta. Check out #E7 on the blog DeltaPoints. Rene talks about it in detail.

Third, Debbie had some good advice on flights. Delta's policy states if a flight changes more than an hour, you are able to rebook to another, more convenient, flight at no charge, and Delta changes their scheduled times frequently. As such if you get a flight that is close and will work for 25k SkyMiles, keep an eye on it and you can get any available seat on the flight you truly want. Again, DeltaPoints blog talks about this, and Rene usually books a flight with a lot of needless legs, since one usually times out.

Good luck!!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Well I booked a Frequent flyer business class ticket to London today

First look was 200,000 miles, 2nd was 150,000 miles and I just booked at 130,000 miles


So much for repeated looking raises the rate

 

[squirrel4569]

One thing I did last year because I had the Delta Amex card was partial pay with miles. I didn't have enough for a single ticket, but I had enough to take $100 off of 4 tickets. You have to use the Amex card to pay for the rest though. Bonus with the Amex card is you get your first checked bag per person for free.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

One thing I did last year because I had the Delta Amex card was partial pay with miles. I didn't have enough for a single ticket, but I had enough to take $100 off of 4 tickets. You have to use the Amex card to pay for the rest though. Bonus with the Amex card is you get your first checked bag per person for free.

Actually it's better to use the pay with miles for one or two tickets and pay for the rest. You don't 'earn' miles on the pay with miles ticket.

So in your case what you do is just the miles to buy tickets for folks who don't have their own FF account or at least a credit card to earn miles and pay for your ticket so you can earn more miles.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . booked a Frequent flyer business class ticket to London today . . . First look was 200,000 miles, 2nd was 150,000 miles and I just booked at 130,000 miles . . .

. . . same for us
. . . we booked one trip Orlando-to-London in August biz-class
. . . we booked another to Orlando-to-Budapest in October biz-class

. . . been looking at have all required 25,000 miles. This morning I went to actually schedule something and our preferred return flights are now 32,500 . . .

. . . Delta changes point-cost based upon season as well as available capacity
. . . they can go up or down, but down infrequently unless flight isn't filling up
. . . the other method is to look for 2-3 stops, versus non-stop or 1-stop

 

[Liz]

Thanks for all the help!!!

I tried using a different computer and clearing cookies - unfortunately that didn't help, but I appreciate the suggestion. And the link was helpful to make me think outside the box! Ultimately I decided to just leave it alone for a few days.

Today I went back to look and my original, desired flights. The ones that went from 25K to 32,500K have gone back down to 25K. Oddly enough, in those few days where I left it alone I thought and thought about this and decided going the next morning and arriving home about 10:30 AM was preferable to my original plan of leaving late and arriving at midnight. So this morning I booked three of our five flights (two with miles). Holding off on the other two till I see what Southwest's prices are.

Thanks again for the moral support and help!!!

 

[sam_gordon]

One thing I did last year because I had the Delta Amex card was partial pay with miles. I didn't have enough for a single ticket, but I had enough to take $100 off of 4 tickets. You have to use the Amex card to pay for the rest though. Bonus with the Amex card is you get your first checked bag per person for free.

You do not have to pay for the flight with the AmEx card to get the free baggage. You just have to have one associated with your Delta Skymiles #.