Rundown of Delta Air Lines’ SkyMiles for Canadians (updated April 13, 2017)

Delta Air Lines has a fair amount of flights coming into Canada. Of course I would like to see more, to help with the competition. Today’s post is a rundown on how Canadians can utilize Delta’s rewards program called SkyMiles.

Note that Delta Air Lines is a member of SkyTeam. Personally, I rarely fly with SkyTeam, but if I do, I bank my miles to Delta because of its expiry policy.

Expiry Policy

Even though Delta gets a lot of flake for having expensive reward redemption, they make it up with a no miles expiry policy. Or the reverse can be said, because their miles never expire, they have to make up the costs elsewhere. Either way, this policy works well for someone like me who rarely flies with SkyTeam. But when I do, I have a program where I can bank my miles to and not miss out!

Earning Miles

Unfortunately, there are currently no more co-branded Delta SkyMiles credit cards in Canada, since they discontinued their partnership with Capital One. They do offer a partnership with American Express.

American Express Membership Rewards

SkyMiles is a transfer partner of the American Express Membership Rewards program. You need to transfer a minimum of 1,000 Membership Rewards to receive 750 Delta SkyMiles. Unfortunately, I have never seen a transfer bonus to Delta before.

This may not be the best return, compared to Aeroplan or Executive Club, but if you ever need to top up your SkyMiles account for a specific upcoming reward flight, this is a great option to have.

Airline Alliance 

As mentioned earlier, being a member of SkyTeam, means that whenever you fly with any of its other members, you can bank your miles directly with Delta SkyMiles. Below is a list of SkyTeam members:

• Aeroflot
• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Aeroméxico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• Alitalia
• China Airlines
• China Eastern Airlines
• China Southern Airlines
• Czech Airlines
• Garuda Indonesia
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• Saudi
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Xiamen Airlines

Code Share Partners

Aside from airline alliance members, Delta also partners up with other airlines:

• Alaska Airlines (partnership ends May 1, 2017)
• Gol Transportes Aéreos
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Jet Airways
• Seaborne Airlines
• Transavia
• Virgin Atlantic
• Virgin Australia
• WestJet

Car Rentals

When renting a car, instead of earning car rental points, you can earn SkyMiles directly instead, with the follow partners:

• Alamo Rent A Car
• Carmel Car and Limousine Service
• Enterprise
• Europcar
• ExecuCar
• Hertz
• National Car Rental
• Sixt rent a car
• SuperShuttle

Remember to always watch for bonus offers.

Hotels

Same goes for hotel stays. If you rather not earn hotel points, you can choose the option of earning SkyMiles directly instead, with the following partners:

• Accor Hotels
• Carlson Rezidor
• Hilton
• Hyatt Hotels & Resorts
• InterContinental Hotel Group
• Langham Hospitality Group
• Maritim Hotels
• Marriott International
• Millennium Hotels and Resorts
• Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts (along with Crossover Rewards)
• Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces
• Worldhotels

Other Partners

You can also book hotel stays or accommodations with the following two companies and continue to earn SkyMiles:

• Airbnb
• Agoda

Direct Destinations Departing from Canadian Airports

As mentioned at the beginning of the post, Delta Air Lines has a fair presence across Canada, but there is always room for more flights. Below is an updated list, from last time, of Delta Air Lines flights that depart from Canadian airports (recent changes are in brackets or struck-through):

Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)

• Delta Air Lines: Atlanta, Salt Lake City
• Delta Air Lines (Seasonal): Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul (added), New York-JFK (added)
• Delta Connection: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK

Vancouver International Airport (YVR)

• Delta Air Lines (Seasonal): Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles (added), Minneapolis/St Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City
• Delta Connection: Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul (switched to Seasonal), Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma
• Delta Connection (Seasonal): Minneapolis/St. Paul (switched from permanent)

Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL)

• Delta Air Lines: Atlanta
• Delta Air Lines (Seasonal): Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Delta Connection: Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia

Calgary International Airport (YYC)

• Delta Air Lines (Seasonal): Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Delta Connection: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City, Seattle/Tacoma

Edmonton International Airport (YEG)

• Delta Air Lines (Seasonal): Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Delta Connection: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Seattle/Tacoma

Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport (YOW)

• Delta Connection: Detroit, New York-LaGuardia (added)
• Delta Connection (Seasonal): Atlanta

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (YWG)

• Delta Air Lines: Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Delta Connection: Minneapolis/St. Paul

Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ)

• Delta Connection: New York-LaGuardia

Victoria International Airport (YYJ)

• Delta Connection: Seattle/Tacoma (added)

Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB)

• Delta Connection: New York-JFK

Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport (YXE)

• Delta Air Lines (Seasonal): Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Delta Connection: Minneapolis/St. Paul

Regina International Airport (YQR)

• Delta Connection: Minneapolis/St. Paul

What I would like to see Going Forward

Delta SkyMiles definitely has a lot of room for improvement. Let’s start with hoping that they decide to partner back with a Canadian credit card company.

I would also like to see American Express Membership Rewards increase their transfer ratio to 1:1. Or at the very least, offer some bonus transfer offers.

Unlike United Airlines and American Airlines, who seem to be shrinking their presence in Canada, Delta Air Lines seem to be holding strong. I hope that they keep it that way or continue to expand their services.