Some people are extreme couponers. I’m an extreme Delta SkyMiles earner. I LOVE finding new ways to earn Delta SkyMiles, especially on things that I’m already purchasing or consuming.
Below, I’m sharing the top 10 ways that I Earn Delta SkyMiles so you can start earning more miles to book flights as well.
Why do I care about SkyMiles so much?
I love to travel, and the more miles I earn, the more miles I have available to pay for flights. Between April 2021 and July 2023, I purchased 5 international flights with SkyMiles - three round-trip flights to Italy and a round-trip flight to France, and another round-trip flight to Switzerland and Italy.
I have had a Delta SkyMiles credit card for years, but in 2021, I upgraded my card to the Delta Skymiles Reserve® American Express card (*referral link).
Reasons I upgraded:
Pros: I love having access to the Delta Sky Club®! It makes my airport experience much more comfortable and enjoyable. During some flight delays, I’ve appreciated having free food and drinks.
Cons: There is a high annual fee of $550. This has been the only negative for me personally, but if you fly frequently and typically eat or drink at the airport, this absolutely pays itself off.
Did you know that you can earn 3-5 miles per dollar at certain restaurants around the US? The Delta SkyMiles Dining program was a game changer for me. Living in Atlanta, I have access to LOTS of participating SkyMiles Dining restaurants. My local neighborhood bar even participates, so I’m always earning bonus miles!
Some of my favorite Delta SkyMiles Restaurants in the Atlanta area:
How It Works
- Go to www.skymilesdining.com to sign up using your Delta SkyMiles number.
- Link any card (debit or credit) when you sign up. You can even add multiple cards and they do NOT have to be an American Express or a SkyMiles card. Any card is accepted.
- Search restaurants in your area (or anywhere you’re visiting) to see which ones participate in the program
- Simply dine and pay with any card that you linked
- Check your email to find that you’ve earned 3 miles for every dollar that you spent on your first 11 visits
- On your 12th visit to a SkyMiles dining restaurant, you’ll reach VIP status and begin to earn 5 miles per dollar (THIS. ADDS. UP.)
- Earn 1,000 bonus miles if you spend $30 at a participating restaurant in your first 30 days (If you’re a SkyMiles Medallion member, you earn an extra 500 miles for a total of 1,500 bonus miles)
- You’ll receive emails that tell you about promotions, such as even more bonus miles specials that month for a specific restaurant
- You’ll receive emails with opportunities to earn bonus miles for completing reviews on the restaurant
What You Should Know
Some restaurants are dine-in only, some are online ordering only, and some are only for take-out. Be sure to check which type of restaurant it is.
Online ordering or takeout: You typically have to click through the link on the Skymiles dining website in order to earn the miles.
Dine-in: If you go to a dine-in restaurant, you’ll see an email almost immediately after paying to confirm that you earned miles.
You can earn miles from shopping online at your favorite stores! If you go to www.skymilesshopping.com you can find all of the stores that participate. Sign up on the Skymiles shopping web page and then there are two ways that you can earn miles:
- 1Click through the Skymiles shopping site every time you want to earn miles before shopping online.
- 2Get the Google Chrome extension on your computer. Every time you go to a store’s website that participates in Skymiles shopping, you’ll receive a pop-up notification asking if you want to activate the number of miles per dollar that they’re offering. When you get to check-out on the store’s website, you’ll receive a pop-up asking if you want to activate coupons and it will apply every current coupon, finding you the best deal.
How Many Miles You'll Earn
Every store offers a different number of miles per dollar and this amount can change every day. Some offer as low as 1 mile/$, while others can offer 2 miles/$ and more. During special holidays, some stores will have deals as high as 8 or 10 miles/$. Make sure you subscribe to their emails so you get these notifications.
Skymiles shopping will often run special offers where you can earn a fixed number of bonus miles if you spend a certain amount during a set period of time. For example, they offered 500 bonus miles for spending a certain amount for Mother’s Day.
Some of my favorite Stores that Currently Participate:
Travel/Accessories Sites that Currently Participate (*miles are accurate as of 10/22/22):
4. Lyft
Link your Skymiles account number to Lyft and get 1 mile/$ for every ride, as well as 2 miles/$ for rides to and from an airport.
6. Airbnb
Start getting SkyMiles when you book Airbnbs by going to www.deltaairbnb.com . If you then book an Airbnb after going through the Delta Airbnb link, you’ll earn miles that will show up in your account after your stay. Currently, all Airbnb booking will earn you 1 mile/$ and these can definitely add up!
***You’ll need to click through this site every time you want to earn miles for booking. It will not count if you go straight to Airbnb.***
7. Late Bags
This might be one of the most “secret” ways to earn miles because SO many people don’t know about it. How many times are you waiting at the baggage carousel while your family members are sitting out in the pickup line or you have to take the next train. Start getting miles for your time.
Delta allows 20 minutes from the aircraft door opening (yes, you heard that right!...literally when the aircraft door opens and you’re sitting waiting to get your bag from the overhead bin…the clock starts) for your bag to get to the carousel. If your bag is not there within that 20 minutes, you can fill out the Late Bags form here.
How many miles do you earn?
2,500 Delta SkyMiles. Yes, you read that correctly!
*This is only available for domestic flights and cannot be submitted later than 3 days after your flight. It also does not count on overweight bags.*
8. Instacart
Sign up for Instacart and link your Delta Skymiles account and you’ll get so many perks! You can also use my referral link and get $20 off your first order here.
- 1.5 miles/$ with an Instacart+ membership
- Platinum and Diamond Medallion members get 12 months free on their Instacart membership
- SkyMiles members as well as Silver and Gold Medallion members get 3 months free on their membership
For my online education business, I have a separate Delta Skymiles® Gold American Express business card (*referral link) that I use. This card gets me 2 miles/$ on US Advertising (including Facebook ads).
If you live in the state of Georgia, you can earn Delta Skymiles by signing up as a new customer with Georgia Natural Gas and start earning miles from every gas bill. The number of miles earned may depend on your plan. I currently earn 2 miles/$.
GNG also often has limited offers where you can earn thousands of bonus miles just for your initial sign up. *As of Oct 2022, they’re running an offer where you can earn 10,000 bonus miles for signing up as a new customer by Nov 4, 2022.
Check out their frequently asked questions.
Leave a comment and let me know if any of these were new to you. If so, how do you plan to earn Delta SkyMiles? Which ones will you be signing up for or beginning to use?
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