Delta Skymiles - does it offer great value?

Frequent Flyer Programs
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Hey all,

I need some advice as to what I should do with some upcoming flights… First Ill just explain my situation.

I have always collected QFF points (for the last 5 years), and after discovering this site about 12 months ago, I have been a lot more aggressive with my ‘point hacking’. This has enabled me to book an nice return classic reward redemption to the USA for my wife and I, travelling on Cathay in business. Very excited as this will be our first long haul business class trip. We still collect QFF points, but have also branched out and started to earn Velocity points (through BP fuel, and Energy Australia). I have also got myself a Plat Edge Amex which I funnel spending through. This website has been a wealth of knowledge, and I thank you for providing this information. I am becoming a lot more savvy with point earning as a result. So this brings me to my question…

We have booked a bunch of paid domestic fares in The States. Ill list them below

Virgin America LAX - LAS one way in First (crediting to Velocity)
Delta LAX - PDX return in First (crediting to Velocity)
Delta LAX - JFK one way in Delta One (business/first - also crediting to Velocity)
Delta JFK - CLT one way in Delta comfort + (crediting to Velocity)

We also have a paid one way ticket booked with Vietnam Airlines (SkyTeam) early next year in Business from BKK - MEL. Which I think I can credit to Delta SkyMiles - and unfortunately not Velocity.

Basically, Im wanting to know if it would be worth my wife and I creating a Delta SkyMiles account, and instead of crediting these USA domestic fares to Velocity, instead credit them to Delta SkyMiles. Obviously with the Vietnam Airlines paid oneway business fare from BKK to MEL, we could be missing out on some decent point earn if I don’t…
Do Delta sell miles like AA and Alaska do? I haven’t seen any posts on this site about Delta SkyMiles, and about if they offer great value - like AA do for OneWorld redemptions.
Or are we better off crediting these points to Velocity - as they are a transfer partner of Amex in Australia.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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You can buy delta skymiles

Delta has recently been through some massive devaluations in award pricing. Which has made it less appealing, History shows it used to be a good program until recently it has since had devaluation after devaluation.

Don’t let the above article dishearten you there is still value in Skymiles

Crediting to Velocity is a good choice due to the easy availability of earning points in Aus and being able to transfer to Krisflyer.

But in your instance seeing you are clocking up quite a few
You might be best off researching how many miles you’ll earn with your Delta flights and your Vietnam Airline flights and see what sum of Skymiles you would end up with and compare that to the redeem miles chart to find an award fare most applicable, You will be able to buy miles to reach the total amount

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles.html
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/earn-miles-with-partners/airlines.html

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Thank you contract3

ill sit down and do a little research. That article has scared me off Skymiles a bit!!

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