Extended: This Amazing Delta Promo Just Doubled the Value of Your SkyMiles

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Delta Vacations has just announced a pretty incredible promotion that allows you to redeem your SkyMiles at a rate of two cents each. When you redeem miles toward a flight and hotel package with at least a two-night stay, you'll get double the usual value. 50,000 miles will thus get you $1,000 toward these packages rather than just $500. Under the terms of the promo, you have the ability to redeem up to 999,999 miles — worth $19,999.98.

The best part? This promo, which was originally scheduled to run through Saturday Aug. 30, has now been extended to Friday Sept. 6.

TPG values SkyMiles at 1.2 cents each, so with this promotion you're getting nearly double what we value the miles at and 100% of what Delta normally offers when redeeming them towards a vacation package.

A few quick searches show that the promotion is already live and simple to use. I looked for a three-night vacation package for flights and hotel from Atlanta (ATL) to Nassau (NAS) in January of 2020. Round-trip flights from Atlanta and three nights at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar for two adults would cost me $2,355.12. I only have 31,583 SkyMiles in my account, but that would give me $631.66 worth of credit, dropping the price of the three-night trip for two adults to just $1,723.46 out of pocket:

Fellow TPG staff members came across numerous instances where prices for Delta Vacations were actually better than booking flights and hotels separately. As an example, this Atlanta to Las Vegas (LAS) trip — including a three-night stay at the Aria Resort & Casino — is pricing at $1,641.14 for two adults, or 82,057 miles in the current promotion:

Award flights alone for these same dates are pricing out at 35,500 miles per person, meaning that for an additional 11,057 miles, you can have the flights plus three nights at the Aria. Simply put, that's spectacular.

There are a few additional items to note. First, even when using miles to subsidize your vacation cost in this promotion, your tickets will book into paid fare classes, and you'll receive both redeemable SkyMiles and Medallion Qualification Miles for your Delta flights. This can be a great way to use miles to get closer to the next tier of Delta Medallion status. And of course, you could always transfer in American Express Membership Rewards points to top off your account and cover even more of the trip, and given the value of SkyMiles in this promotion, it's something I am already considering.

Related: Choosing the Best Credit Card for Delta Flyers

That being said, make sure to price out your hotel and flights separately to ensure you are getting a good deal on the vacation package. My results thus far show this a great promotion, but we have seen examples of the opposite — where booking separately could actually save you money. In addition, you may not be eligible to earn points or elite credits for your hotels booked in this fashion, so don't fret if you can't find a property that doesn't participate in a major loyalty program.

The only exclusions for the promotion are listed in the fine print and include gift cards, Ski packages, Dive packages, Globus family of brands (including Globus, Cosmos, Monograms, and Avalon), other discounts or special status fares (such as companion, agency/industry discount, web fares, senior fares child rates) or for groups of 10 or more.

Bottom Line

Incredibly, if you use your SkyMiles through this promotion, they are more valuable than Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards when redeemed for paid travel — even for holders of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express with the 35% Pay with Points rebate (up to 500,000 points per calendar year). In fact, it's probably the easiest and most consistent way to get the most value out of your SkyMiles right now — perhaps that I've ever seen.

I would definitely recommend looking up flights and hotels to see what kind of deal you can score, but be sure to do it soon, as this is only available through September 6.

This post has been updated to reflect an extended promotion date.