Last Reviewed: 7/15/2011

Like many loyalty programs (especially airline programs), you need to channel your inner Isaac Newton to understand and master all of the angles and rules of the program. The Delta Skymiles program is no exception.

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Since the federal approval in October, 2008 of the merger between Northwest Airlines and Delta, the two airlines have made strong progress in integration. Of particular interest to PlasticIQ is the fact that their frequent flyer mileage schedules are now identical in terms of miles required to travel to specific regions.

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At a high level, estimating the value of Delta Skymiles is a 3-step process:

• First, obtain the miles redemption schedule from Delta…easily done.
• Next, make some assumptions around what portion of travel will be done during periods of low, moderate and high demand, as the Delta Skymiles program charges different amounts of points for each of these tiers.
• Finally, tie in PlasticIQ’s estimates of typical “market rate” ticket prices, making sure to back out out-of-pocket taxes and fees which miles never cover.  This will enable us to calculate the dollar value per Skymile.

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