If you hold an American Express co-branded Delta SkyMiles credit card, you can use the exclusive Pay with Miles benefit toward all or a portion of a Delta marketed flight. This is a great benefit because it gives SkyMiles members flexibility when booking a ticket where award space is limited or high priced relative to cash purchase amount as well as having no blackout dates or seat restrictions.

When using the Pay with Miles benefit, Delta SkyMiles have a conversion rate of one cent to one SkyMile and are applied to a ticket price in $50 increments (5,000 SkyMiles)

To use the benefit, first login to your Delta SkyMiles account before beginning your flight search. After you have logged in, begin a search as you would for a cash ticket. On the results page, you will notice the phrase “Pay with Miles eligible†below the ticket price. Select which flight and cabin experience you would like for the trip.

Next on the checkout screen, you will see the option on the right-hand side below the ticket price to Pay with Miles in a drop down. For this example, because the ticket price is $117.25, there are three options with the last one exceeding the cost of the ticket (15,000 SkyMiles = $150 in ticket price). Either select the $50 or $100 and then pay the additional $17.25 with a credit card. (If you select 15,000 SkyMiles, you will not be getting anything for the $32.75 difference)

After you select the Pay with Miles amount, the screen will refresh to update the new amount owed as well as make changes to how many SkyMiles and Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) you will earn from the purchase. (Since the base fare on this example is less than Pay with Miles amount, the ticket earns $0 MQDs and 0 SkyMiles).

Fill out the passenger information (the ticket can be purchased for a passenger who is not the owner of the SkyMiles account). For the payment section, even if the amount owed for the ticket price is $0, you are still required to provide a credit card. Additionally, this payment method must be an American Express credit card. You can’t not use any other payment methods such as eCredits when using Pay with Miles.

In summary, Pay with Miles is a great option to have. Thanks to recent enhancements from Delta, elite medallion members are now able to use upgrade instruments like Regional Upgrade Certificates and Global Upgrade Certificates when using the Pay with Miles benefit. Additionally, all Medallion members still earn MQMs toward elite status when using this method. If you have earn lots of SkyMiles and find redeeming them not convenient, this option is a great alternative.

Have you used Delta’s Pay with Miles feature before? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.