✈️ The easiest path to Delta elite perks

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 39 seconds

Gooooooooooood morning from Qingdao, China! I’m trying to squeeze the last bits of cold weather out of the season before the northern hemisphere becomes a furnace again.

Speaking of hot things, today’s travel tips are fireeeeeeeee 🔥:

• ✈️ The easiest path to Delta elite perks

• 💳 Retention offers: what they are and how to get them

• 🔁 Current Transfer Bonuses

✈️ The easiest path to Delta elite perks

This one is a little tedious, but stick with me until the end…

Status matches are the single easiest way to turn your hard-earned elite status into status with another airline or hotel program.

For example, right now, Flying Blue (the loyalty program of Air France and KLM) is offering a status match that can get you instant SkyTeam elite status.

Why should you care about this?

Because having SkyTeam Elite status means you’ll get tasty benefits when flying any SkyTeam airline in the world – including Delta. 😎

The caveat here is that in order to be eligible, you need to already have elite status with another airline program.

Thankfully, the list is long (you can check out the full terms here). Here are a few programs that are most likely to apply to North Americans:

Another big caveat is that U.S. and Canadian residents are not eligible for the top tier (Platinum).

What does SkyTeam status get you?

Thankfully, Flying Blue Gold status is where the best benefits start to kick in, which comes with things like:

• Free checked bags

• Premium seat selection

• Business-class lounge access (!!)

• Priority check-in and boarding

• Bonus miles on paid flights

Personally, I have SkyTeam status through Garuda Indonesia (my home airline), which gives me these same benefits. I’ve used those benefits on airlines like KLM, China Eastern, Korean Air, Saudia, Kenya Airways, and more.

But as I mentioned, Delta is what most of you will care about. (I know, I’ve been on a Delta elite kick this week. 🫣)

The only thing to be aware of is that for Delta business-class lounge access using SkyTeam status, you need to be flying internationally.

However, even if you’re on a domestic flight and connecting to an international flight on the same day, you’ll also get lounge access.

All of the other benefits have no catch.

So, is this worth it?

Well, that’s up to you. Here is the cost to match to each tier of Flying Blue elite status:

• Silver: $99

• Gold: $199

If you frequently fly Delta (or other SkyTeam airlines like KLM, Air France, Aeromexico, etc.), a few free checked bags, seat selection (and, obviously, lounge access) could make this worth the price tag.

It only takes a few minutes to apply for this status match, but it will take a few days to process.

So if you have SkyTeam flights coming up and want to turn your American, United, or Air Canada status to get some easy benefits, I’d do it sooner rather than later.

Here are some quick links:

• Status match application page

• Terms & Conditions

• FAQs and eligibility tables

💳 Retention offers: what they are and how to get them

We talk about leveraging our favorite credit cards for their welcome offers all the time. Sometimes, we talk about getting upgrade offers to change your card.

But there’s another type of offer that we don’t talk about as often: Retention Offers.

What is a retention offer?

It’s an offer to… retain you. 😅

Let’s say you open a card. You get the welcome offer, enjoy the benefits, and maybe keep it open for a couple of years.

But then, one year, the annual fee hits your account – and you decide it’s not worth holding the card anymore.

You can call or message the bank and say something like this:

Sometimes, the answer will be:

“No.”

Other times, the answer will look like this:

You see, just a few days ago, I messaged the bank about closing this Delta co-branded card, since the $650 annual fee just posted.

Instead of closing the card, they offered me another 80,000 Delta SkyMiles after spending $15,000 in three months.

In essence, that’s another (pretty solid) welcome offer.

What’s the catch?

There are a few things to be aware of. None of this is official, but rather just how I generally understand it to work:

• You need to have had the card open for at least one year before trying this

• You’re more likely to get a retention offer if you’ve had a card open for multiple years or spend a lot on it

• If you accept an offer, you are on the hook for another annual fee

• If you accept an offer, you generally agree to keep the card open for at least one more year

• Retention offers are not guaranteed, and can change from day to day or week to week

So, what did I do?

I waited a week and messaged them again to ask if any other offers were available.

There weren’t – so I downgraded to the low-fee version of the card.

Here’s why:

• By holding the lower-annual-fee card, I still get access to some Delta benefits (like TakeOff 15).

• Having a card in the Delta family means I can get more upgrade offers in the future.

• I don’t spend enough money to meet the spending requirement they offered, so accepting it would mean overspending (always a bad idea).

• While I like to have Delta SkyMiles, I’d rather put that spend toward a different card with an elevated welcome offer to earn more valuable points.

The bottom line

Whenever you’re considering canceling or downgrading a card, make sure you reach out to the bank to ask for a retention offer first.

Sometimes, it might be comparable to a welcome offer.

And, technically, you can always call and ask for a retention offer even if you aren’t planning to truly close the card… but you didn’t hear it from me. 🤐

🔁 Current Transfer Bonuses

That’s all for this week, my friends! I hope you enjoyed this week full of promos, transfer bonuses, earning opportunities, and credit card tips.

Have a lovely weekend, and I’ll see you bright and early on Monday morning.

Ciao,

36.0662° N, 120.3830° E

With contributions by Sam Anthony.