You Don’t Have to Be a Points Expert to Use the Delta AMEX Bonuses for (Nearly) Free Flights

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Planning travel to Paris, New York, or San Francisco?  The best-ever intro bonuses on a couple of the AMEX Delta personal cards can get you nearly free flights to these destinations and many others!

Through April 3, 2019, there are increased AMEX Delta card offers!  Here’s a look at the current deals:

• Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express – 60,000 Delta miles after after spending $2,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express – 75,000 Delta miles after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening (All-time high public offer)
• Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express – 75,000 Delta miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening (All-time high public offer)

Booking an award flight doesn’t have to be complicated.  And as an AMEX Delta cardholder, you’ll also get access to Pay With Miles, which makes redeeming Delta miles a breeze!

Easily Redeem Your Delta Miles to Save Money on Flights

These are just a few of the many ways you can redeem an intro bonus from one of the personal AMEX Delta cards to save on flights!

1.   Easily Save $600 to $750 Using Delta Pay With Miles

If you don’t have flexibility with your travel dates or want to avoid spending time searching for award flights, AMEX Delta cardholders can quickly redeem miles using Pay With Miles.  Using this feature, you can pay for flights with your miles at a rate of 1 cent per mile.

For example, I found round-trip coach flights from Atlanta to New York in Fall 2019 for ~$159.  With the 75,000-mile welcome bonus on the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, you’d be able to cover $750 in flights.  That’s enough for 4 passengers (almost 5!) using Pay With Miles and you’ll have no additional out-of-pocket expense!

Remember, you can use Pay With Miles to fully or partially pay for a ticket.  And because these are paid (NOT award) tickets, you’ll earn miles and elite qualifying miles & dollars for your flight, too!

2.   It’s Super Easy to Redeem Miles for Award Flights

Even though Delta no longer publishes an award chart, booking an award flight isn’t difficult.  Here’s a post with helpful tips for searching for Delta award flights.

And there are some perks to booking Delta award flights, like:

• You can book round-trip OR one-way flights
• Delta does NOT charge last-minute booking fees
• Delta does not charge a telephone booking fee, so call 800-221-1212 if you need help booking your tickets!

So you could plan a last-minute weekend trip to destinations like San Francisco and quickly redeem Delta miles to book your flight!

I found plenty of available award seats on flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  You can book a round-trip award flight on this route for 11,000 to 23,000 Delta miles and ~$11 in taxes and fees.

If you’re interested in booking lots of short-haul award flights, Delta miles can get the job done.

3.   One Bonus Could Get You a Round-Trip Flight to Europe

Are you looking to fly to Europe?  These increased Delta offers can get you there cheaply.

For example, I found many coach award seats available on round-trip flights from Salt Lake City to Paris in September 2019.  There are also seats available on flights departing from lots of other US cities.

For the cheapest award flights, you’ll pay 50,000 to 65,000 Delta miles and ~$80 in taxes and fees for a ticket.

Also, remember that it’s easy to travel around Europe on budget airlines or by train.  So you can use Delta miles to travel to one destination in Europe (like Paris) and continue on to your final destination cheaply.  For example, Million Mile Secrets team member Harlan took the high-speed Thalys train from Brussels to Amsterdam!

Bottom Line

Even if you’ve never earned a bonus with a rewards credit card, you can quickly and easily save money on flights with these increased Delta card offers:

• Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express – 60,000 miles after meeting minimum spending requirements
• Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express – 75,000 miles after meeting minimum spending requirements (all-time high public offer)
• Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express – 75,000 miles after meeting minimum spending requirements (all-time high public offer)

The simplest way for AMEX Delta cardholders to redeem miles is using Pay With Miles.  With it, these bonuses can save you $600 to $750 off Delta flights.  This could cover 4 round-trip flights from Atlanta to New York!  Or consider booking Delta award flights to get even more value from the limited-time welcome bonuses (they end on April 3, 2019).

For example, you can redeem miles for short-haul award flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Or even book a round-trip award flight to Europe!

How would you use Delta miles with the current increased AMEX Delta card offers?  Let me know in the comments!

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