Double down on your points earnings

If you’re a small bunsiness owner, or an aspiring small business owner, this post is for you. One of the biggest areas I see overlooked by frequent flyers and points people is business rewards programs, which allow for earnings on top of your individual frequent flyer earnings.

Armed with that knowledge, here are 6 reasons Delta FFs need to be SkyBonus members:

1. It’s Free.

Need I say more? You’re earning free points that can be redeemed for tickets, upgrades, SkyClub passes, and even status (granted, only Silver, but still…).

2. Massive revenue-based earn rates.

Business fares (outlined below) earn 10 points per dollar in/out of ATL, CVG, DTW, MEM, MSP, and SLC, and 30 points per dollar in/out of every other airport. I just booked a $1,562 Z fare to JFK from SEA, where not only am I getting double MQMs out of Seattle, but I earned 46,860 SkyBonus points. More on what that means below. All other fare classes earn 3 points/dollar out of the airports listed above, and 6 points/dollar out of all others – still almost better than the 2015 mileage earn rates!

Here’s what DL counts as a business fare: Delta: F, P, A, G, J, C, D, I, Z, W, Y and B classes of service; Air France: P, F, J, C, D, I, Z, W, S, A, Y, B, and M classes of service; KLM: J, C, D, I, Z, X, S, Y, B, and M classes of service; Alitalia: J, E, D, I, P, A, Y, and B classes of service. No surprises there, except maybe the Y/B/M classes, but those are almost equivalent to J or discount F/A anyway…

3. Totally decent awards, considering the earn rates.

Check out the image below for the various ways you can spend SkyBonus points. In the example used above, by simply booking a flight I otherwise would have booked, I earned a one-way domestic upgrade with points left over for a drink coupon (which might be the worst redemption in this chart…).

The SkyBonus award chart in all its glory. (click to view full size)

4. Anyone who is traveling for your company can use it.

Flying to meetings with other people from your company? Have them use your code and rack up even more SkyBonus points.

5. Redeem points on DL, AF, KL, and AZ.

Sure, like regular mileage redemptions you’re out of AF F award tickets, but business class is fair game on all of the airlines listed above. This is good because you’re basically double-dipping on your points, so if you book a few flights a year on DL then you’re looking good. 525,000 points may sound like a lot for a TATL J award, but that equals $17,500 worth of spend on Business tickets, on which you could potentially be earning 100,000 miles anyway, which is also a TATL J award ticket itself…

6. Double down with MR and crossover rewards.

SkyBonus points are earned on top of all other points. Let’s use my example above: $1,562 fare = 10,894 miles as a Diamond Medallion + 4,686 MR points via the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card 3x on travel + 1,562 SPG points for DL/SPG crossover rewards + 46,860 SkyBonus points. You could also swap out the Amex Gold for a Delta Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred and earn either 2x or 3x points depending on how you do it. At the end of the day, based on the redemption options available through those programs, this ticket is nearly free for me. That of course requires some creativity and flexibility on my part, but it’s free nonetheless.

So there you have it: joining SkyBonus is a no-brainer for Delta Medallion members and business owners. Let me know below if you plan on joining SkyBonus, or if you have any success stories using the program!

The verdict

Reviewed by

Seatlink

Date

2014-12-18

Airline/cabin

Delta SkyBonus

Rating

4