Remember how I told you that I am going to Colorado Springs this summer and staying at the Broadmoor? Well, tonight I booked the flights to Denver for Rob and myself. Yup, on Delta, and on Delta SkyMiles. Here is how it went down…..
First, I am not sure if I have written about this already, but I will not fly with Rob without my kids. So if we do go away without the kids, we fly 2 different flights. I know I am being irrational, we drive together alone all of the time, but I cant help it. Its just a thing that I have.
Anyway, I try to make the flights around the same time (usually within 2 hours of each other.) If ever one of us needs to take a connecting flight instead of a non-stop one, I make Rob do it. 🙂
Tonight I booked Rob and I both on flights to and from Denver for this July. Rob’s flight, was 35,000 Delta SkyMiles. The flight would have cost $346. My flight was 32,500 Delta SkyMiles. The flight would have cost $341.
I feel okay about both mileage redemption rates as it is about a .01 rate, similar to what you can get with other programs. (More about redemption rates in a separate post). Also, I did not want to pay another $700 to pay for the flights. The hotel is already expensive and my Barclaycard Miles may not cover the cost.
I actually had the miles in my account to cover my ticket but not Rob’s ticket. Also, we recently depleted Rob’s account when we used them for Rob to take my son, Mason, on a spur of the moment free trip to Denver to see the NFL Second Round Playoffs. The Broncos lost. 🙁
So, what did I Do? With a few clicks, I easily transferred some of my Membership Rewards points into Rob’s Delta SkyMiles account. (You can read about transferring your Membership Rewards points to other’s loyalty program accounts here.) The transfer was immediate and I was able to book Rob’s ticket.
I should note, there was a small transfer fee of $21 when transferring from Amex to Delta. When you transfer points into a U.S. airline frequent flyer program, your card account is charged an excise tax offset fee of $0.0006 per point (with a maximum fee of $99). American Express states that they charge this fee to offset the federal excise tax that they must pay when you transfer points and Amex offers you the option to use points to pay this fee.
In fact, Amex offered to have me pay the fee by using 4,200 Membership Rewards points. Using 4200 points for a $21 charge is only a .005 redemption rate and totally not worth it. I paid the $21!