Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThe cheapest way to book a Delta flight depends on your itinerary, your SkyMiles balance, and whether you hold an eligible Delta card or credit. Start by pricing the same trip three ways—cash, award travel, and any current Award Deal—then check Pay with Miles, a Companion Certificate, and eCredits only when you qualify. Taxes, fees, seat restrictions, and the value of miles can erase an apparent discount.
This U.S.-focused guide reflects Delta’s published terms available in 2026. Fares, award inventory, card benefits, and certificate rules can change, so verify the live conditions during checkout.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
The four saving methods at a glance
| Method | What you use | Who can use it | Main limitation | Best starting point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash versus award comparison | Money or SkyMiles plus taxes and fees | SkyMiles members can search award travel | Prices and seats vary by flight and date | Every itinerary |
| Pay with Miles | SkyMiles in 5,000-mile increments plus a card payment | Eligible U.S. Delta SkyMiles American Express card members | Only eligible Delta-operated or Delta Connection flights booked at delta.com; value is generally $50 per 5,000 miles | When you already hold the eligible card and want a cash discount |
| Companion Certificate | One paid ticket plus a certificate and government taxes and fees | Eligible Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve, and Reserve Business card members after renewal | Fare, route, inventory, advance-purchase, stay, and booking rules apply; Main Basic is excluded | Two-person trips that meet the certificate terms |
| eCredit | Existing Delta credit toward an eligible ticket and government taxes and fees | Travelers with an applicable Delta eCredit | Cannot be combined with Award Travel or Miles + Cash; credit-specific terms apply | Before spending new cash or miles |
Compare every option using the same six checks: total cash still due, miles spent, route and date availability, eligibility, fare flexibility and benefits, and any booking or travel deadline. No method is universally cheapest without the exact itinerary.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Think of these as payment choices rather than interchangeable coupons. A certificate can reduce the second traveler’s fare but require a particular paid fare class. An eCredit can reduce a cash ticket but cannot be carried into an award booking. Pay with Miles can preserve the characteristics of a paid ticket, while Miles + Cash is still an award ticket. Keeping those distinctions straight prevents a discount that looks good in a search result from becoming a poor deal at checkout.
#1 Best Overall
1. Compare a cash fare with award travel and Award Deals
Price the identical trip in both currencies
Search your preferred dates and flights as a normal cash booking, then repeat the search with “Shop with Miles” or the award-travel option on Delta’s site. Record the complete cash price, the miles required, and the taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed charges shown at award checkout. An award ticket is not tax-free: Delta requires applicable charges to be paid when you ticket it.
Use the same cabin, baggage assumptions, passenger count, and connection pattern in both searches. A low award price in a less convenient cabin is not a like-for-like saving against a refundable or better-timed cash fare. Include seat fees and any change or cancellation terms that matter to you.
Make a small comparison sheet for each traveler. Put the cash fare in one column, the award miles in another, and all cash charges—including taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed charges—in a third. Note whether a particular fare includes the flexibility or seat access you need. If one option requires a different cabin or connection, mark that difference instead of presenting it as a pure price win.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Check Delta’s current Award Deals
Delta publishes an Award Deals section with selected routes and dates. Deals are inventory-specific, so an advertised route may not have seats on your travel dates or for your preferred cabin. Search the deal dates, then confirm the final mileage requirement and checkout charges for each passenger.
Deal availability can also differ by passenger count. A mileage price that appears for one seat may not be available for every traveler in a larger party, so run the search for the full number of passengers before deciding. If only part of the group can receive the displayed deal, compare the resulting mixed booking with a single cash reservation and with separate reservations only if you understand the practical consequences.
Do not treat a deal label as proof that miles beat cash. Compare the deal’s full award cost with the cash fare available for the same flight. A cash sale can be better when the fare is unusually low; a deal can be attractive when the cash price is high and you can use miles without sacrificing a trip you would otherwise book.
Use a simple value calculation
To compare currencies, subtract the award ticket’s taxes and fees from the comparable cash fare, then divide by the miles required. The result is the cash avoided per mile for this one booking. It is not a permanent value for your SkyMiles: another route or date can produce a different result.
Rank #2
For example, if the comparable cash fare is $420 and the award checkout asks for $30 in charges plus 25,000 miles, the calculation is ($420 − $30) ÷ 25,000. That figure tells you what this particular redemption avoids in cash; it does not promise that a future redemption will produce the same result.
Also consider what those miles could do later. If redeeming them would leave you unable to book a trip with a higher cash price, the immediate discount may not be your best use. Conversely, miles that are expiring under their applicable terms or are unlikely to be used may be worth spending at a lower return. A cash booking may also be preferable when earning mileage or status credit is important to you, provided the selected fare is eligible for those benefits.
Finish the comparison at checkout
- Choose the exact flight, cabin, and passenger count in the cash search.
- Note the displayed fare, taxes, baggage or seat costs, and flexibility rules.
- Run the same itinerary through award search and note miles plus every cash charge.
- Search Award Deals for alternate dates only if your schedule allows them.
- Check whether the award itinerary has the same connection pattern and cabin as the cash option.
- Choose the option with the lower total cost for the flexibility and benefits you actually need.
2. Use Pay with Miles only when you are eligible
Who qualifies
Delta’s current U.S. terms limit Pay with Miles to eligible basic Delta SkyMiles American Express card members. The flight must be operated and ticketed by Delta or Delta Connection, and the booking must be made at delta.com. This is a card benefit, not a general redemption available to every SkyMiles member.
Eligibility is tied to the card account and the itinerary, not simply to having a SkyMiles number. If the option does not appear, check the operating carrier, ticketing carrier, website used for booking, passenger selection, and whether the card account is properly associated with your SkyMiles profile. Do not assume a partner-operated segment or a booking made elsewhere will qualify.
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallCrashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteHow the discount works
The minimum redemption is 5,000 miles per passenger, and redemptions are made in 5,000-mile increments. Delta states that “Five thousand miles generally provides $50 of value.” The word “generally” matters: Delta says you may receive less value per mile when the amount you cover is not a multiple of $50.
Any remaining ticket balance must be paid with the eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express card. The miles reduce the ticket price; they do not turn the booking into an award ticket with award-ticket rules. Taxes and fees shown in the paid-ticket checkout remain part of the amount you should review before confirming.
Because the minimum is per passenger, a family of four would need to meet the 5,000-mile minimum for each passenger whose fare is being reduced. Decide in advance whether you want to apply the same number of increments to everyone or preserve miles for another trip, then verify the actual reduction shown on the payment page.
Booking steps
- Sign in to your SkyMiles account at delta.com with the eligible card account attached.
- Search a qualifying Delta-operated or Delta Connection itinerary.
- Select the Pay with Miles option when it appears for the flight and passenger.
- Choose a redemption in 5,000-mile increments, starting at 5,000 miles per passenger.
- Review the reduced fare, remaining balance, taxes, and fees.
- Pay the remainder with the eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express card and save the confirmation.
When it is—and is not—good value
Pay with Miles is convenient when you already have the qualifying card, want to keep the booking as a paid ticket, and value a predictable reduction in cash. It can be less compelling when the same flight has a low cash fare, when award travel requires far fewer miles, or when you would need to redeem an awkward amount that does not align with the stated $50 increments.
Do not open or keep a card solely for this feature without comparing its current annual fee, eligibility requirements, and the value you realistically expect to receive. The benefit is useful only when the savings on trips you would actually take outweigh the card’s costs and other conditions.
Do not confuse this feature with Miles + Cash. Delta describes Miles + Cash as an award-ticket redemption offered on select flights. Those tickets remain award tickets and are subject to award-ticket restrictions. Pay with Miles is instead a card benefit applied to an eligible paid booking.
3. Check an eligible Companion Certificate before buying two tickets
Understand what the certificate provides
Eligible Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve, and Reserve Business card members receive a Companion Certificate after card renewal. The exact certificate terms depend on the card and can specify the permitted cabin, routes, fare classes, advance-purchase period, minimum or maximum stay, and booking process. A certificate is not an unrestricted free second seat.
Delta Main Basic is excluded. Government-imposed taxes and fees still apply, and Delta lists $22–$250 for itineraries with up to four segments. That range is Delta’s stated range for qualifying certificates, not a promise that every itinerary will fall at either endpoint.
Read the certificate’s expiration date before planning around it. Availability in an eligible fare class is separate from the existence of a seat for sale, so a flight can have open seats while lacking inventory that accepts the certificate. If your dates are fixed, search early and keep a cash alternative in view.
Compare the certificate with two ordinary tickets
- Open the certificate in your Delta account and read its current expiration, route, cabin, fare-class, and booking conditions.
- Search the trip for two passengers using the certificate rules, including any required advance purchase and stay.
- Record the primary ticket price and the companion’s government taxes and fees.
- Price two independently purchased tickets for the same flights and cabin.
- Check whether the certificate requires a particular booking channel or passenger relationship.
- Choose the certificate only if its restrictions and total cash cost beat the two-ticket alternative for your plans.
A certificate can be a strong tool for a qualifying two-person trip, but a cheap sale fare may make two normal tickets better. A certificate that forces an expensive fare class, inconvenient dates, or a cabin you would not otherwise select can eliminate its apparent value.
Use the full itinerary when checking Delta’s fee range: Delta states $22–$250 for itineraries with up to four segments. A connection pattern that changes the number of segments or falls outside the certificate’s permitted route can change eligibility and the amount due. Confirm the final total for both travelers rather than subtracting an assumed “free” fare from the primary ticket.
Coordinate it with other payment methods carefully
Delta says an eCredit may be combined with a Companion Certificate under the certificate terms. That does not make every credit or certificate combination automatic; confirm the payment screen accepts both and that the credit is valid for the specific ticket. Mileage redemptions follow different rules, so do not assume a certificate can be paired with Award Travel or Miles + Cash.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →4. Apply eCredits, then scrutinize the lowest fare
Use an eCredit before spending new money
Delta eCredits can cover eligible Delta ticket costs, including government-imposed taxes and fees. Before booking, retrieve the credit using the information on the certificate or in your Delta account and check its balance, eligible traveler, and any expiration or itinerary conditions shown by Delta.
Do not let a small remaining balance force you into an unsuitable fare. Apply the credit to a trip you already intend to take, and compare the post-credit cash total with the award alternative. The credit’s terms govern who may use it and what happens to any unused amount, so read the displayed conditions instead of assuming it works like unrestricted cash.
- Start a normal cash booking on delta.com.
- Choose the eligible passenger and itinerary.
- At payment, select the eCredit option and enter the requested credit details.
- Apply the credit and verify how much cash remains, including taxes and fees.
- Read the final fare rules before completing payment.
Delta states that eCredits cannot be combined with mileage redemptions such as Award Travel or Miles + Cash. If you want to use miles, compare the separate award booking rather than expecting the credit to reduce its cash portion.
Do not mistake Main Basic for the best overall fare
Delta Main Basic can display the lowest headline price, but Delta lists important trade-offs: no SkyMiles earning, no Medallion Status credit, exclusion from specified upgrades, no paid or complimentary Comfort or Preferred Seat selection, and no same-day confirmed or standby changes. The exact restrictions can depend on the itinerary and current fare rules.
Price Main Basic against the next available fare for the same flight. If you need seat selection, status credit, an upgrade path, or same-day flexibility, the higher fare may be cheaper after accounting for benefits you would otherwise pay for or lose. If none of those features matter and your schedule is fixed, Main Basic may still be the right cash choice.
Make this comparison before applying an eCredit, not after. A credit lowers the amount charged, but it does not remove the restrictions attached to the selected fare. Likewise, a low displayed price is not a complete cost if you later need a paid seat, a same-day change, or a benefit that Main Basic excludes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose the cheapest workable option
Run this order of operations
- Search cash first. Capture the complete fare and restrictions for the flights you actually want.
- Search award travel. Add taxes and fees to the miles requirement and check alternative dates for Award Deals.
- Check stored value. Look for an eCredit and an eligible Companion Certificate before paying new cash.
- Check card eligibility. If you already hold an eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express card, test Pay with Miles on the same paid itinerary.
- Compare the remaining cash, miles used, and flexibility. Reject an option that saves money but removes a benefit you need.
- Recheck at final checkout. Inventory, fare rules, taxes, and card or certificate eligibility can change between searches.
Match the method to the traveler
- Flexible dates and a large mileage balance: search Award Deals and compare the resulting award total with sale fares.
- Eligible cardholder who wants a paid ticket: calculate Pay with Miles in 5,000-mile increments and verify that the remaining balance is paid with the qualifying card.
- Two travelers with a renewing eligible card: test the Companion Certificate before purchasing either ticket independently.
- Existing eCredit: apply it to an eligible cash ticket first, while remembering it cannot reduce an Award Travel or Miles + Cash booking.
- Traveler considering Main Basic: accept it only after checking seat, status, upgrade, and same-day-change needs.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Comparing a cash fare for one cabin with an award fare for another.
- Subtracting the miles requirement from the cash price without including award taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed charges.
- Assuming Pay with Miles is available to every SkyMiles member or on every airline-operated itinerary.
- Calling a Companion Certificate a free ticket without pricing its required fare and government taxes and fees.
- Trying to apply an eCredit to Award Travel or Miles + Cash when Delta’s terms prohibit that combination.
- Choosing Main Basic solely because its headline fare is lower, then discovering that seat, status, upgrade, or same-day benefits matter.
- Opening a card for a single redemption without comparing the current annual fee and the value of benefits you will actually use.
Keep a booking record
Save the fare basis or conditions displayed at purchase, the miles deducted, the cash paid, and any certificate or credit identifier. This makes it easier to verify what you bought if a schedule change, payment issue, or later rebooking requires customer service. Recheck Delta’s live terms whenever you plan a new trip because none of these prices or benefits is permanently fixed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use SkyMiles to pay for a Delta flight?
Yes, but the method matters. Award Travel uses miles plus applicable taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed charges. Eligible U.S. Delta SkyMiles American Express card members may instead use Pay with Miles on qualifying Delta-operated or Delta Connection flights booked at delta.com, with a minimum of 5,000 miles per passenger in 5,000-mile increments. Miles + Cash is a separate award-ticket option on select flights.
Can I use miles and cash together on Delta?
Delta offers Miles + Cash on select flights as an award-ticket redemption. The ticket remains subject to award-ticket restrictions and requires the applicable cash charges. Pay with Miles is different: it applies miles as a discount to an eligible paid ticket, and the remaining balance must be paid with the eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express card.
Can I use an eCredit with miles?
Delta says eCredits cannot be combined with mileage redemptions such as Award Travel or Miles + Cash. Compare an eCredit booking and an award booking separately. An eCredit may be combined with a Companion Certificate when the certificate’s terms allow it.
How much are 5,000 Delta miles worth with Pay with Miles?
Delta’s current U.S. terms say, “Five thousand miles generally provides $50 of value.” Redemptions use 5,000-mile increments, and Delta notes that value can be lower when the amount covered is not a multiple of $50.
Is a Delta Companion Certificate a free second ticket?
No. Eligible Platinum, Platinum Business, Reserve, and Reserve Business card members receive certificates after renewal, but route, cabin, fare-class, advance-purchase, stay, inventory, and booking rules apply. Main Basic is excluded, and government-imposed taxes and fees apply. Delta lists $22–$250 for itineraries with up to four segments.
Recommended Free Tools
Is Delta Main Basic always the cheapest option overall?
Not necessarily. Delta lists no SkyMiles earning or Medallion Status credit for Main Basic, plus exclusions involving specified upgrades, paid or complimentary Comfort or Preferred Seats, and same-day confirmed or standby changes. Compare the next fare when you need any of those features.
The Bottom Line
Start with the exact cash fare, then price award travel and current Award Deals with all taxes and fees included. Use Pay with Miles only if you already qualify and the 5,000-mile increments make sense; test a Companion Certificate for a qualifying two-person trip; and apply an eligible eCredit before spending new money. Finally, weigh Main Basic restrictions and every lost benefit against the headline fare. The best Delta deal is the lowest workable total for your dates, eligibility, flexibility, and miles—not simply the smallest number shown first.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
