Will I Earn Elite Credits When I Pay with Miles on Delta?
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
TPG reader Daniel sent me a message on Facebook to ask about earning elite credits on Delta:
"Will I earn elite credits when I use Pay with Miles to buy a Delta ticket?"
Award flights generally don't earn miles or elite credits, which is one reason why you may be better off paying cash for airfare when prices are low. However, the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express and other co-branded Delta Amex cards offer a benefit known as Pay with Miles that changes the rules in favor of cardholders.
When Delta introduced this feature back in 2008, Pay with Miles fares were ineligible to earn either redeemable SkyMiles or Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs). In 2013, Delta amended that policy to offer rewards on first- and business-class tickets, though economy fares were left out. However, Delta had another change of heart in December 2014 when the airline announced that it would extend those rewards to all Pay with Miles fares beginning in 2015.
As it stands now, Pay with Miles fares are eligible to accrue SkyMiles, as well as both MQMs and Medallion Qualification Segments (MQSs). You can also earn Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) to help meet your revenue requirements for elite status, but that only applies to the portion of your base fare that is paid for in currency. For example, if you redeem 10,000 SkyMiles to trim $100 from a $200 base fare, you'll earn SkyMiles and MQDs on the remaining $100 balance.
While Pay with Miles doesn't offer great value, the ability to earn rewards makes it somewhat more attractive. The redemption rate works out to a value of 1 cent per mile, but you'll get anywhere from 5%-11% of your redeemed SkyMiles back depending on your Medallion status level. That ups the return to around 1.05-1.1 cents per mile, which isn't too far under my latest valuation.
Note that the rules are different for Delta's Miles + Cash fares. Unlike Pay with Miles, these fares are treated as full award tickets, so they don't earn miles or elite credits of any kind. Miles + Cash awards don't tend to offer good value anyway, so that's just one more reason to avoid them.
For more on how to maximize the Delta SkyMiles program, check out these posts:
- How to Book Award Flights with Delta SkyMiles
- Earning Delta SkyMiles Without Flying
- 5 Redemptions That Show Delta SkyMiles Are Far from Worthless
- How to Earn Delta Medallion Elite Status Without Flying
If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.
TPG featured card
Rewards
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro offer
Annual Fee
Recommended Credit
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
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- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month