Earn SkyMiles with Delta
How to Earn Miles
Earning Miles With Delta
Discover all the ways you can earn miles toward your next trip, upgrade and more.
Earn When You Fly
As a SkyMiles Member, you’ll earn 5 miles for every dollar spent on Delta flights*. So when you pay a higher price, you’re rewarded with more miles — up to 75,000 miles per ticket.
How to Earn on Flights:
- When you book a flight, enter your SkyMiles number - it’s that easy
- Or after you’ve already booked, enter your SkyMiles number in My Trips
- On Delta-marketed flights, earn 5 miles for each $1 spent on your ticket*. Members who achieve Medallion Status earn even more – up to 11 miles per $1 spent*
- On certain exception fares, you’ll earn miles differently
*Ticket price eligible to earn miles includes base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges, but excludes government-imposed taxes and fees.
- No miles are earned for Award Travel.
- Members who purchase an upgrade through the seat map after booking will be eligible for mileage accrual based on the total amount spent in USD.
- Miles are always earned by the Member who is flying (whose name and SkyMiles number are listed on the ticket) regardless of who purchased the flight.
How do I know if a flight is marketed, operated, or ticketed by Delta or a partner?
- The marketing carrier is determined by the two letter airline code in the flight number. For example, DL2368 is marketed by Delta and VS18 is marketed by Virgin Atlantic.
- A Delta-ticketed flight features a ticket number that begins with “006”. Any flight purchased through delta.com is ticketed by Delta. Other airlines have their own unique ticket numbers – for example, Virgin Atlantic-ticketed flights feature ticket numbers that begin 932.
- The operating carrier for a flight indicates which airline flies the plane. For example, a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight means the flight will be on a Virgin Atlantic aircraft and flown by Virgin Atlantic crew members. The operating carrier will always be disclosed in the flight listing, if it differs from the marketing carrier.
Any partner flight that is not Delta-marketed or Delta-ticketed will earn miles according to the partner airline rules.
Earn More with Medallion Status
You deserve to be rewarded for your loyalty, so Members earn more miles at each Medallion Tier. The amount you’ll earn is based on your program Status at the time of travel.
Miles you’ll earn at each Tier on Delta-marketed or – ticketed flights:*
- General SkyMiles Members: 5 miles for every $1
- Silver Medallion Members: 7 miles for every $1
- Gold Medallion Members: 8 miles for every $1
- Platinum Medallion Members: 9 miles for every $1
- Diamond Medallion Members: 11 miles for every $1
*Ticket price eligible to earn miles includes base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges, but excludes government-imposed taxes and fees.
Earn with Delta SkyMiles Credit Cards
At home or away, earn even more miles with a Delta SkyMiles Credit Card.
HOW TO EARN MILES WITH THE DELTA SKYMILES CREDIT CARD FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS*
- Earn 2 miles per eligible dollar spent on Delta purchases‡
- Earn 1 mile per eligible dollar spent on everyday purchases‡
- No cap on the amount of miles you can earn‡
*Product only issued to residents for the U.S. and its territories. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more about credit cards for residents outside the U.S. and its territories.
Earn MQMs, MQSs and MQDs on Delta Flights
Check out the charts below as a reminder of how many Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs), Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs) and Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) you earn on Delta flights to qualify for Medallion Status:
Fare Classes on Delta, Delta Shuttle, or Delta Connection-Marketed Flights |
MQMs(1) (percentage of distance flown(2)) |
MQSs |
MQDs(3) |
|---|---|---|---|
First: F |
200% |
|
|
Business: J |
200% |
|
|
Discounted First/Delta Premium Select: P, A, G |
150% |
|
|
Business and Discounted Business: C, D, I, Z |
150% |
|
|
Economy: Y,B |
150% |
|
|
Delta Comfort+®: W, S |
100% |
|
|
Economy, Discounted and Deeply Discounted Economy: M, S, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X, V, E |
100% |
|
|
Award Travel: R, S, O, N |
No MQMs earned |
No MQSs earned |
No MQDs earned |
(1) Flights and itineraries eligible for MQMs will earn a minimum of 500 MQMs per segment.
(2) “Distance flown” means the calculated distance between the origin and destination, as determined by Delta in its sole discretion, regardless of the actual distance traveled on any individual flight.
(3) Some exception fares will earn MQDs based on a percentage of distance flown and fare class paid. Learn More.