Questions and Answers

My husband and I have Delta Skymiles (I currently have 180k+ and he has 130k+) and no status. We are planning a trip to Australia Christmas of 2018 (from Orlando). I know that’s black-out period, Is it possible to book coach and upgrade to business with miles?

We both have Amex Skymiles Platinum cards. We fly almost exclusively Delta (and partner airlines like Virgin Atlantic) and Southwest. I am considering Amex Platinum or Amex Delta Reserve. It seems to me that Amex Platinum has the better travel benefits, especially with the current 60,000 points bonus. Thoughts?

Hi Vivien,

That isn’t a black-out period as such, but it’s highly unlikely you’d find award or upgrade space from Orlando. If you’re able to buy separate tickets to a bigger airport, and route through Asia, using miles directly might be possible.

I don’t know that I would recommend the Delta Reserve unless you’re angling for Delta status. Any of the Membership Rewards-earning cards would rack up miles more quickly than the Delta cards though, so I would definitely consider those.

It’s also not a horrible idea to start accruing miles in a program other than Delta. It doesn’t matter who you “mostly” fly when you’re redeeming miles earned through a credit card, and you would open up more redemption opportunities by diversifying your miles.