Good if you live in the US (Delta Skymiles)

Member Name: markbuk

Product:	Delta Skymiles
Date:	24/12/01 (444 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free

Disadvantages: Limited Offers for Non-US Residents

I've been flying Delta across the Atlantic for around ten years now, sadly not as often as I would like, nor frequently enough to fully benefit from the advantages of the SkyMiles program. Nevertheless, despite never flying more than three times in one year and only ever sitting in Economy class, I have managed to earn 5 free transatlantic fares in that time.

Never managing to grace BusinessElite (as Delta have been calling their merged Business and First Class product for the past couple of years), I can't really comment from personal experience on how beneficial the programme is for these flyers - all I can say is the friends and colleagues who have the experience of BusinessElite have mixed feelings over SkyMiles.

A big gripe for me is that SkyMiles is aimed directly at US citizens - understandable to a certain degree considering the airline's nationality and it's route network, but it seems to almost neglect its European members. The most we get is a European newsletter. Out of the four largest US carriers, Delta is the worst at tailoring its services towards the needs and interests of its non-US clients. For example, United and Continental provide UK biased websites (as they do for other Euro countries) with offers and American offers a mile earning affiliate credit card with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Delta is poor with on-line mile earning opportunities too - I have earned over 5000 miles with United and 3000 with US Airways by filling out on-line surveys and clicking links etc, and I?ve yet to fly with US Airways!

I've not been able to earn one single SkyMile with Delta like that - although it is fair to argue that the whole concept of a frequent flyer scheme is to reward you for your loyalty, not sitting on your backside at home!!

All in all, a reasonable if not fantastic programme!

Summary: