It appears that Delta has quietly increased their mileage upgrade prices for SkyMiles members looking to upgrade to the First or Business Class cabin. As Delta no longer published their award or mileage upgrade charts online, the only way you can find the prices is by calling their Reservations team.
If you’re looking to redeem your credit card points or Delta SkyMiles miles for free flights, we recommend using the Juicy Miles award booking service, who can help you redeem for the lowest amount of miles, as well as using partner airlines.
On an upcoming booking from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles, the cheapest fare available was a K class fare, which I booked. I inquired about using miles to upgrade and was quoted 25,000 miles to upgrade. Previously, this was only 20,000 SkyMiles.
I questioned the agent about the different fare classes and how much to upgrade. She laughed as their wasn’t any availability to upgrade with miles on this route anyways, but shared the following:
- L, U, T fares are now 35,000 (previously 30,000) SkyMiles to upgrade to First/Business
- H, Q, K fares are now 25,000 (previously 20,000)Â SkyMiles to upgrade to First/Business
- Y, B, M fares are now 20,000 (previously 15,000)Â SkyMiles to upgrade to First/Business
Again, these prices are for domestic routes including transcontinental flights between JFK-LAX/SFO as well as regular domestic flights. I wouldn’t be surprised if Delta has increased their mileage upgrade awards for their other markets as well, however as their aren’t award charts, I can’t confirm what the old upgrade prices are.
This increase comes right after Delta Increases Amex MQD Waiver to $250,000 for Diamond Medallion Status
If you’re looking to redeem your credit card points or Delta SkyMiles miles for free flights, we recommend using the Juicy Miles award booking service, who can help you redeem for the lowest amount of miles, as well as using partner airlines.
Have you noticed an increase in SkyMiles needed for upgrading on Delta? Feel free to share your observations in the comments below.Â
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I have 3 JFK-SEA flights in the next 2 months. Shockingly, no availability on any of these…Hmmm…..
In 2015 the pricing of domestic upgrades EXCLUDING JFK-LAX/SFO and Hawaii was:
Y/B/M Fares: 15,000 miles
S/H/Q/K Fares: 20,000 miles
L/U/T Fares: 30,000 miles
I think you’re saying that:
* You’ve been getting premium transcons for this price too, even though Delta said it should have been more expensive
* Now prices have gone up by 5k
* And this applies to domestic flights including premium transcons (ie they’re the same price)
* Which would mean non-premium domestic has risen to the price premium was supposed to be 2 years ago.
Yes?
Gary,
All domestic routes have increased 5K miles, including non regular domestic routes.