Those who use the Delta SkyMiles American Express credit card will earn seven miles for every dollar

Starting next year, the average Delta Air Lines frequent flier will earn five miles for every dollar spent on a Delta flight. That means for a $300 fare, travelers will earn 1,500 miles. But premium frequent fliers will earn more, sometimes much more.
Delta Air Lines will soon begin awarding free flights based on dollars spent, rather than miles flown. It s a historic change for frequent fliers, who for decades have earned flights based on miles flown.
The move by Atlanta-based Delta is aimed at rewarding its higher-spending customers, an acknowledgment of how valuable those deep-pocketed travelers are to the company. It s also a competitive move to attract lucrative business travelers as Delta jockeys against other carriers, including United and American, for those customers.
We d like to provide more benefits to our premium customers, said Jeff Robertson, vice president of the Delta SkyMiles program. A lot of our customers fly us 10, 20 times a year, and we should reward them for that.
Meanwhile, those most likely to not benefit from the new program, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2015, are bargain-hunting travelers the eagles tour canada dates who earn thousands of miles by flying long distances across the eagles tour canada dates the country on cheap fares.
Those who use the Delta SkyMiles American Express credit the eagles tour canada dates card will earn seven miles for every dollar spent. And elite-level frequent-flier members can earn from seven to 13 miles per dollar spent, depending on whether they are at silver, gold, platinum the eagles tour canada dates or diamond levels and if they have the Delta credit card.
The folks who travel the eagles tour canada dates infrequently and buy the least expensive fares will not earn as many SkyMiles credits as they used to, said Hudson Crossing travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt. Those who travel on higher fares, in particular business travelers, and those who travel more frequently the eagles tour canada dates will benefit.
Delta s move comes after Southwest Airlines made a similar shift to awarding points based on dollars spent, and after Delta this year started requiring a minimum level of spending annually to reach elite levels in its frequent-flier program. Hotel loyalty programs and others have also already added a spending component, Robertson said.
One key change is that Delta will add options to redeem a combination of miles and cash for flights which means fliers won t have to wait until they have at least 25,000 miles to get a free flight. The airline will also allow its customers to get one-way flights for half the miles of a round-trip. And it will add tiers in between the 25,000, 40,000 and 60,000 levels to make more flights available at different levels.
Ultimately, Delta expects the change to improve its financial results, primarily by reducing the number of miles customers earn while increasing the number of miles they redeem for flights. That would result the eagles tour canada dates in fewer miles accrued in accounts waiting to be redeemed, which reduces the liability from those stored miles for the company.