How Delta SkyMiles Quietly Became Amex’s Best Transfer Partner

I've got a hot take that I just have to get off my chest: Delta has quietly become the best transfer partner of American Express' Membership Rewards program … or at least entered the conversation. There, I said it. 

Before you start rage-typing and fill the comment section (and my inbox) with all your SkyMiles hate, hear me out.

Can you still get better value (even when flying Delta) by taking advantage of a big transfer bonus to the likes of Air France/KLM Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic? Yes. Can you fly roundtrip business class to Europe for the same price Delta charges (at its absolute best) in one direction with a partner like All Nippon Airways (ANA)? Also, yes. 

But Delta's increasingly common SkyMiles Flash Sales have made them a real must-have currency in the world of points and miles … and arguably, one of Amex's strongest transfer partners. With flights to Europe popping up for under 20,000 miles roundtrip in economy, Asia and back for 25,000 miles, and even discounted Delta One business class flights to Europe for under 100,000 miles each way, SkyMiles are no longer the throw-away currency many claim them to be.  

Here's why I'm earmarking more of my Amex points for transfers to Delta than ever before … and maybe you should, too. 

Related reading: How & Where to Transfer Your Amex Membership Rewards Points

The Current State of Amex Points

American Express Membership Rewards have been among the best points for travelers to earn and redeem … for decades. Thanks to a robust list of transfer partners and rewarding cards like the *amex gold* and the *amex platinum*, I've earned and redeemed more Amex points over the years than any other transferable currency.

But again and again, I'm finding them harder (and more costly) to use when I actually turn to redeem them. In just the last year, Amex has:

• Cut transfer ratios to a couple of airline partners – meaning you need to send even more hard-earned Amex points to get the miles you need
• Dropped another altogether – with one more on the way out the door
• Greatly reduced the once-reliable transfer bonuses to start off the year … while a few transfer bonuses have cropped up recently, they've been much weaker (or shorter-lived) than we're used to

Add it all up, and travelers with Amex points can clearly no longer bank on the same value they've gotten for years. 

As shocking as it may sound, Delta SkyMiles has been the rare bright spot in Amex's stable of transfer partners. Many travelers are quick to write SkyMiles off as worthless – or even use a derogatory term to describe them – but not me. Amid all of Amex's recent changes, I've leaned more heavily on transfers to Delta than any other partner over the past few months. 

Does this say more about Delta SkyMiles changing fortunes or the decreasing value of Amex points? It's unclear, but for now I'm happy to have SkyMiles as an option.

Read more: Have Amex Membership Rewards Points Lost Their Shine?

A Slew of Recent SkyMiles Deals

Big-time bloggers and so-called “experts” have bashed Delta (for years) for its dynamic award pricing, atrociously high rates to fly business class, and unpredictability. And while that’s frustrating, incredible SkyMiles flash sales provide big upside.

With a stash of Amex Membership Rewards points and the flexibility to take advantage of a big sale, Delta SkyMiles have become practically indispensable. In fact, I'd say we've seen some of the best SkyMiles deals ever over the last few weeks.

Some recent stunners include:

• Delta One fares – available nationwide, from airports big and small – to Paris (CDG), Rome (FCO), Venice (VCE), London-Heathrow (LHR), Barcelona (BCN), and beyond in Europe from 97,400 SkyMiles each way … over the peak summer!
• One of our patented Unicorn Alerts flying Delta One Suites to Tokyo, Japan (HND) from 85,000 SkyMiles each way
• London-Heathrow (LHR) from 19,000 Delta SkyMiles roundtrip nonstop from Boston (BOS) and New York City (JFK)
• Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) from 34,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
• Brisbane, Australia (BNE) from 34,000 Delta SkyMiles roundtrip, with dozens of U.S. cities on the list under 50,000 roundtrip.
• Plus, Delta One availability to Brisbane from 102,000 SkyMiles with slightly higher fares from nearly every U.S. airport.
• Roundtrips to Cancún (CUN) and the Bahamas (NAS) for as low as 8,000 SkyMiles roundtrip!
• Hong Kong (HKG) from 37,000 Delta SkyMiles roundtrip – under 60,000 from all cities. 
• Marrakech, Morocco (RAK) from 27,000 SkyMiles roundtrip – under 38,000 from all cities. 
• Delta One Suites to Taipei, Taiwan (TPE) as low as 83,000 SkyMiles each way
• Spain, Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland from 22,000 Delta SkyMiles roundtrip, with more than 100 cities under 39,000 roundtrip! 
• Tokyo-Haneda (HND) from 42,000 SkyMiles roundtrip, with all cities under 68,000 SkyMiles roundtrip. 

Sometimes, Delta posts these sales publicly on its ongoing list of SkyMiles Deals page, tailored to specific departure cities. The airline will also (occasionally) email flyers with deals, too. But we find far more, better, unadvertised deals and send them to our Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers instantly.

Again, that's just the last few weeks … and virtually none of these deals were advertised by Delta itself online or via email. Unlike many flash sales that last just 48 hours or less, many of these deals remained bookable for five, six, or even seven days or more. 

Put them all together, and it's easily the best run of Delta SkyMiles deals we've seen in almost a decade, maybe more – especially for business class redemptions. Four or more of these could easily go down as the best flight deals of the year.

While the recent string of deals has been pretty unprecedented, we've seen some even better sales over the years. 

Here's just a sliver of the best Delta deals we've ever seen:

• 90,000 SkyMiles to fly Delta One to Japan … roundtrip!
• Or 98,000 SkyMiles to fly almost anywhere to Europe in business class roundtrip
• Roundtrip flights to Alaska starting at just 5,000 SkyMiles!
• A nationwide flash sale to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) from just 20,000 SkyMiles total
• Fly to London-Heathrow (LHR) and back for only 14,000 SkyMiles!
• Taipei, Taiwan (TPE) from 25,000 SkyMiles roundtrip – one of the cheapest Asia fares we've ever seen!
• Domestic flights to Los Angeles (LAX), Denver (DEN), Palm Springs (PSP), Seattle (SEA), and New York City as low as 6,000 SkyMiles roundtrip
• Jamaica for 11,000 SkyMiles roundtrip, too
• Fly from U.S. airports nationwide to Australia for just 70,000 SkyMiles roundtrip!

In every case, these flash sales are deeply, deeply discounted – and not just compared to Delta's normal rates, but also stacked against what you'd pay using other airline miles like American AAdvantage miles or United MileagePlus. 

So, yeah … SkyMiles are far from worthless. 

Yeah, But … 

I'm not going to pretend Delta SkyMiles are perfect – no loyalty program is. 

While you can readily count on a 20% or 30% (or bigger) transfer bonus to programs like Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and others once or twice a year – at least in normal times – we've never seen the bank extend the same courtesy to its closest ally, Delta … at least not in the last decade-plus. This means the published 1:1 transfer ratio is the best you can do and can be a bit of a drawback for those looking to stretch their points further. 

And then there's this: While Delta's frequent flash sales are great, its everyday award rates leave a lot to be desired. Take this roundtrip flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Rome (FCO), for example. Delta is charging a whopping 221,800 SkyMiles … for economy! 

That's the beauty – and pain – of Delta's dynamic award pricing in practice. 

Want to fly up front in the airline's fancy Delta One suites? That'll cost you just shy of 650,000 SkyMiles. Delta's premium economy seat – dubbed Premium Select – is actually the real “bargain” here at only 200,000 SkyMiles roundtrip.

Now, this is a bit of an extreme example, but it's not uncommon to see Delta charging outlandish prices outside its regular flash sales. Having flexibility and letting the deal guide you is key to making SkyMiles work in your favor. 

The other downside to transferring points to Delta? Amex is the only bank to pass on a pesky excise tax when transferring points to its domestic airline partners. Sure, it's a relatively small fee of .06-cent-per-point (capped at no more than $99), but when Delta is suddenly your best partner, it can add up.

Even with all these pitfalls, I still think the SkyMiles juice is worth the squeeze. And for my money – err, points – Delta has quietly climbed the ranks to the top of Amex's list of transfer partners.

Bottom Line

Delta SkyMiles have quietly become one of the most useful ways to redeem Amex Membership Rewards points, thanks to a recent surge of deeply discounted flash sales that can offer exceptional value on flights to Europe, Asia, Australia, and beyond.

While Delta's everyday award pricing isn't great and you can't count on a big transfer bonus from Amex, the frequency and quality of these flash sales make SkyMiles far more valuable than their reputation suggests – and arguably one of Amex's strongest transfer partners right now.