It’s hot and sweaty which means only one thing: Time to book my flight home for Christmas. Santa’s only 6 months out!
Well lookie there, Delta wants $786.40!! Homie don’t play dat! (Warning: My objections to high prices are given voice in 27 year old In Living Color references.) That sticker shock makes one not want to travel across the country for some roast beast (and 51 year old Grinch nods).
The answer is to do it with frequent flyer miles. Right now, until July 5th, American Express has increased the bonuses on their Delta cards to 60,000 and 70,000 miles.
Instead of paying $786.40, I booked that same round trip flight for 65,000 miles (+ $11.20 Security fee).
You are correct-a-mundo, Fonzie (42 year old Happy Days salute and 23 year old Pulp Fiction tribute) – that is an unusually large number of miles for a round trip flight in coach – but these dates are the most sought after of the year. It’s also a non-stop flight at a reasonable hour. Homey don’t do red-eyes. Supply and demand. Leaving on the Friday before Christmas and returning the day after Christmas.
How do you make this happen? You have two weeks left to apply. Sooner the better because you want your miles so you can get your flights.
You can find these cards under “Chip’s Favorite Credit Card Offers” at the top right side of this website. Click on “Travel Rewards Credit Cards”. Or click on the Apply Now widgetty thing at the bottom of this post. Email me if you have any questions.
The Gold Delta SkyMiles card
- Earn 60,000 bonus miles if you spend $3,000 on the card in the first 4 months that you have the card.
- You get 2 miles for every dollar spent on Delta. 1 mile for every dollar spent on anything else. So… if you meet the $3,000 spending requirement and don’t even spend anything at Delta, you will have 63,000 Delta SkyMiles (60,000 bonus miles + 3,000 miles for spending $3,000).
- Get a $50 statement credit on your new American Express Delta SkyMiles card if you make a Delta purchase with your new card during those first 4 months. If nothing else, buy yourself a $50 Delta gift card with your new credit card to use at a later date. Your statement will get credited almost instantly – so it’s effectively free!
- The $95 annual fee is waived the first year
- Free checked bag on every Delta flight.
- Your Delta SkyMiles miles never expire – even if you cancel the card later.
Maybe you are like me and have already had the Delta SkyMiles card that I just mentioned. Remember: American Express only lets you get the sign up bonus once in a lifetime per card. So whaddyado? Get a card you haven’t had before. I got this one:
The Platinum Delta SkyMiles card
- Earn 70,000 bonus miles (and 10,000 Medallion Miles) if you spend $4,000 on the card in the first 4 months that you have the card.
- You get 2 miles for every dollar spent on Delta. 1 mile for every dollar spent on anything else. So… if you meet the $4,000 spending requirement and don’t even spend anything at Delta, you will have 74,000 Delta SkyMiles (70,000 bonus miles + 4,000 miles for spending $4,000).
- Get a $100 statement credit on your new American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles card if you make a Delta purchase with you new card during those first 4 months. I bought myself a $100 Delta gift card with my new credit card to use at a later date. I got my statement credit almost instantly – so, again, it’s effectively free!
- The $195 annual fee is NOT waived the first year. So, if i subtract the $100 credit for making a Delta purchase, I can rationalize that it’s really only $95 for the card. I am in effect paying $95 for 70,000 Delta SkyMiles. That was more than enough to pay for my Christmas flight which would have cost me $786.40. Well worth it!
- Free checked bag on every Delta flight.
- Your Delta SkyMiles miles never expire – even if you cancel the card later.
If you need a few more miles, check out: 11 Ways To Meet A Spending Requirement. My favorite is to over pay my electric bill in advance, reload my Amazon Balance with my credit card, or use my credit card to buy a Visa gift card at the grocery or pharmacy. It’s pretty easy!
Shoot me an email if you have any questions. Click on the Apply Now widgetty thing here to find the cards. Fear not, you will be taken to another site where you can apply. At press time, they are the 11th and 13th cards down. Thanks for clicking through, using my links!
