Yesterday I made my best Delta SkyMiles redemption in quite a while… for champagne, natch!
Continue reading: Dom Perignon, My Favorite Use Of Delta SkyMiles!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I used miles for Dom Perignon at the LGA Skyclub the last time I flew DL. Similarly, a lot of people at the bar were surprised it was an option and it stirred a flurry of interest.
I ended up getting one and a half glasses on my second round because the open bottle didn't have enough for one full glass and the bartender wanted to ensure the new bottle had enough for five complete glasses!
I would actually say the LP Rose is a better deal than the Dom, especially now that they're serving the 2010, which is a pretty lackluster vintage.
Lucky - I would recommend looking up wine prices on Wine-Searcher instead of relying on KLWines if you're ever curious about prices. For example, the lowest result that ships to Florida (for you) is $195, which several options at $199.
1) I occasionally redeem SkyMiles for champagne in the SkyClub - more often the half bottle of Moët when I am in there alone. When with my wife I may order a bottle if we have time
2) I accrue a lot not SkyMiles by flying and spending on Delta reserve. I try to keep enough to redeem for two European D1 round trips via the flash sales. But beyond that I redeem in economy, especially when I think I can get upgraded or use an instrument. Just redeeemed D1 transcon round trip for about 32K miles, got a comp upgrade on one leg and used a regional upgrade on another. The original redemption value was about 1.3 cents. Sometimes economy redemptions work out. Plus you get MQM this year on SkyMiles redemptions.
I’ve had some fireside Moët in SLC. Similar to you I don’t value skymiles and would never have enough for a meaningful redemption.
The only reason I haven’t done this in the past is not having a layover long enough to make use of it. (Oh and my wife was 7 months pregnant the last time we flew Delta (and she loves champagne more than Lucky)).
As a loyal Delta flyer, I too find the value of SkyMiles to be non-existent for international travel. But if your dates/times are flexible, I’ve scored plenty of domestic flights for 11,000 miles over the past year
Thanks for this tip though! I’m heading to Europe at the end of the month so I’m definitely going to enjoy some champagne in the SkyClub before we board.
Hah! This is actually the only way I use SkyMiles, a great redemption indeed (sometimes if you slip a $20 to the bartender they'll let you pack the unopened bottle discreetly for you to take away).
Except Moët is generally trash, to be honest, at least for their NV stuff. Pretty terrible champagne but people just buy into the name (same for the standard NV Veuve Clicquot). Those vintage Dom Pérignon are much much better.
My absolute favorite redemption of Skymiles. Redeemed them once for a bottle of Dom at MSP before my Delta One flight to Tokyo. Ahhhh, the days when Japan was open and you could move throughout Asia freely. Good redemption, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
I've seen a lot of folks try the grab and go option, but I've never seen it work for them. The bar staff are required to open the bottle and remind you that it's to be drunk in the club. I guess if you get the right staffer and the right gratuity the rules can be bent.
Agree that SkyMiles aren't terribly valuable and the redemption rates can be eye-popping, but the good news in 2021 and in 2022 is that redemptions count toward status. It makes redeeming an obnoxious amount of miles for a D1 flight to Europe a bit more bearable knowing that it counts toward the $15k Platinum spend threshold.
Cheers! Been years since flown on Delta. Never had any Delta CCs. But I’d love to use sky pesos for Don Champagne 🙂
I’ve been using SkyPesos on domestic USA routes where DL matches or beats WN Rapid Rewards award prices (yes, they actually do this in some markets). When combined with a Gold Medallion status match from Q4 2020 it’s pretty hard to beat an F domestic redemption for 4500 SkyPesos that would actually earn MQM and MQD in 2021/2022.
Unfortunately they don’t serve Dom in a DL F cabin…
Nice to hear about the good family news.
But that plate is a bit of a disgrace to a good bottle of champagne.... 🙂
@Lucky, so what happens if you tip(ped) bartenders using SkyMiles/points? What conversion ratio do they get? =)
One catch, the bottle has to be opened in the club, right? You can not take it "to go"?
@ polarbear -- Yep, that's correct, or else I'd do some champagne shopping in the club. The bartender has to open the bottle.
@ Quo Vadis -- That's a good question. I've been told that SkyMiles used for tip convert at the same rate. However, I'm not 100% convinced of that and I figure the bartender appreciates cash in their pocket, which is why I tipped in cash.
fyi emirates lounge in dubai has a champagne section, everything’s free and bottom less and you have access to the lounge by just being a silver member (not very hard to achieve with a couple of international trips). u.s airlines in general have so much catching up to do
Moët owns Dom Pérignon but for all intents and purposes, they are considered 2 different products and houses (as they should).
Actually, the split of Gruet is an excellent value. Gruet is arguably the best American sparkling wine under $30 per bottle.
Agreed. Gruet is great!
With Dom, you're mostly just paying for the name (like Rolex and many other luxury consumer brands). I suspect the vast majority of those who buy bottles of Dom would be unable to pick it out in a blind tasting of decent quality sparkling wines.
At those prices, the Dom is a much better value. I like LP Rose, but can easily find it for $70/bottle, or less by the case.
Never thought of that, but thank you. You got me thinking of of a Carbanet Sauvignon Silver Oak next time at LGA or JFK.
And now every bougie influencer will start humble bragging pictures of Dom in the SkyLounge on InstaSnap. But in all seriousness, this is a good value of points, as this is in line with Costco pricing.
Huh? You can find that LP Rose for $70 very easily. So almost a 60% markup versus essentially zero markup for the Dom.
Seeing they want $120 (not $110 as I thought I had seen) for the LP -- so an even worse value than I suggested.
You shouldn't evaluate everything by retail prices although I get why people do. The LP rose has a higher QPR IMHO.
LOL commenters
In Europe you can go to a pinxto bar or restaurant and get great champagne for 'retail' with little / no markup
LOL, You and I visited a whole different Europe, unless your definition of 'great' champagne retails for less than 20 Euros.
@ben schlappig Can you try BRIBING the bartender in cash to NOT open the bottle, ideally give him an empty bag to put it in?
Vintage matters a lot.
2008 and 2012 for recent vintages.
Many less expensive 2008s and 2012s are better than Dom 09 or 10 but Dom 08 is close to the top.
As far as I know a regular champagne should be consumed within two years, a vintage champagne should be consumed within 5-10 years. It is important that the champagne is stored correctly: no sunlight, consistent temperature at 50-59 Fahrenheit, 70-85% humidity, storage on its side - I am not sure, if Delta SkyClub can ensure that.
Thus, when ordering a 2010 Dom Perignon and pouring it down, one or the other SkyClub customer reveals himself more as a braggart and less as a champagne connoisseur.
Tastes are known to be different. As long as the champagne tastes good or you imagine that it tastes good and you're happy, it's only good if SkyClub gets rid of its remaining stocks.
It does not indicate vintage on the menu but in the photo it says Dom Perignon 2010. That’s a good deal. Even better if you don’t open the bottle and take it with you. It will be $500+ a bottle in a few years.
Also there’s no Bordeaux or burgundy wines on the list. Mostly CA. That’s weak.
At retail prices, I totally agree about the QPR. But not to the extent of this LP markup.
I did this same redemption at the JFK sky club a couple of years ago, and I told the server to leave the bottle alone because I wanted to be the one to open the bottle and hear that pop. He smiled and walked away, Naturally, that bottle was in my backpack when I strolled out of the lounge and onto my flight to Brasil.
Too bad there is no portal for you to redeem your skymiles for alcohol at that price for delivery. I am it's too bad it is only available in the skyclub.
I took my 16 year old daughter to Germany in 2019, and on the way back we had a layover at CDG and spent some time at the AF lounge in the Int'l departures terminal. They had a tub of open bottles of V/C NV.... I grabbed a glass and sat down, kid asked if she could try some. I told her to get her own, so she went and grabbed a glass and 3 chocolate croissants. After her first sip she asked if that was how it was supposed to taste. I said "pretty much", and she wondered what all the fuss was over it.... then ate all 3 croissants.....
Dom Perignon isn’t that expensive at wholesale. Before Moet Hennessy announced a price increase for Q1,2022 if you ordered 500 cases the b.c. Was around $140 thru Southern glazers wine and spirits(which is pretty much the exclusive distributor for moet and Hennessy wine and spirits in most of the 48.) what’s funny that a lot of people don’t realize is that Any liquor store could order 5 cases of Krug, and that bottle cost was 130. Krug is actually cheaper at wholesale than Dom Perignon, but the latter is run on a thin or negative margin at major retailers (Costco, TotalWine, BevMo!) Enjoy the Dom because prices of dom are about to go up (at wholesale they went up 20$) And Due to liquor laws list price is actually the price retailers pay, larger ones are just set up on a discount schedule which in CA if available for one must be available for all.
The best prices for Dom are at Costco. I just bought a bottle of 2012 the other day for $168 pre tax.
2010 is not a great year. It won't increase much over the next 5-10 years. It's not the 2008
Yikes, you're right. I didn't realize they marked up all the other champagnes as well. LP Rose used to 4,000 Skymiles and a pretty good value at that price. Not a buy at double that many miles. In fact, looking at this list, I wouldn't say any of them are great values compared to before.
I still stand by my comment re 2010 Dom though.
Great mix of condescension and ignorance. Champagne is very ageable. A lot of 2002 vintage bottles are really just hitting their peak drinking period now.
Coming from someone who lives in Europe, I have to (regrettably) agree more with Eskimo here. Not sure what you mean by little/no markup, Greg--businesses in Europe still have to make a profit. They certainly mark up champagne, even in France (where I live). On the flip side, if your point is just that there are many champagnes that you can find that are as good, if not (much) better, than Dom at lower price, I agree 100%. Not to say that Dom is bad, but its price is largely driven by its name and I've had a lot of better champagnes for less.
I've found that the cheapest place to buy Dom is at the Oslo Airport duty-free. You can get a bottle for roughly the equivalent of $140.