Like them or loathe them, Delta SkyMiles can be unpredictable. Award rates swing up and down wildly with cash prices, deeply discounted SkyMiles flash sales pop up and disappear, and business class rates can drop as low as 80,000-some SkyMiles each way … or soar north of 400,000.

But lately, we've noticed an undeniable pattern with how SkyMiles rates fluctuate: First, Delta might slash cash prices on a flight you've been eyeing – or maybe already have booked. Then, 12 or so hours (and sometimes 24 hours) later, SkyMiles rates eventually fall to reflect that earlier price cut. 

We've noticed that lag again and again and again, whether through setting a Google Flights price alert or some dirt-cheap price drops on Delta flights flagged from our Thrifty Traveler Premium deals. It means that the key to booking many Delta flights for as few SkyMiles as possible is to watch for a price drop … then wait a while to actually book with SkyMiles. 

For example, I have a flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) this winter, which my wife and I booked months ago for more than 10,000 SkyMiles each. But one day earlier this month, I received an alert from Google that the price of our flight had dropped from more than $110 each way down to just $46 apiece. 

 

chart showing prices for flights from Minneapolis to Chicago

 

Yet after checking SkyMiles rates directly at Delta.com, the airline was still quoting 11,500 SkyMiles for our 7 a.m departure for a Delta basic economy award ticket. SkyMiles should generally get you at least a 1 cent apiece against the cash price, so something wasn't right. So I waited…

 

minneapolis to chicago flights using delta skymiles

 

… until later that night, about 10 hours after cash prices first dropped. Lo and behold: The SkyMiles price of that same flight nosedived, down to just 3,800 SkyMiles for the same basic fare or 4,600 SkyMiles for a main cabin economy ticket.

 

minneapolis to chicago skymiles rates

 

Fortunately, our first (far more expensive) tickets were main cabin awards, which meant I could instantly cancel the pair of them and get our SkyMiles back. Then, I quickly rebooked the same fare for 4,600 SkyMiles apiece.

The result: We saved 12,000 SkyMiles – all because we kept watching flight prices, hoping and waiting for them to drop … and then waiting a little bit longer for the SkyMiles rates to fall accordingly.

We've seen this same pattern play out again and again and again. The exact same thing happened with flight prices to Philadelphia (PHL), which fell from north of $300 to just $171 roundtrip. 

 

minneapolis to philadelphia flight on google flights

 

Toggling over to Delta to look at SkyMiles rates a minute later, Delta was still charging a whopping 27,000 SkyMiles roundtrip. 

 

minneapolis to philadelphia flights using delta skymiles

 

But, like clockwork, that rate got chopped in half about 10 hours later as SkyMiles rates caught up to the price cut: Just 13,000 SkyMiles for the exact same flights to Philly instead.

 

minneapolis to philadelphia flights for 13,000 delta skymiles

 

It happened again when our flight deal gurus found some dirt-cheap flights down to Costa Rica from several Delta airports across the country for under $500 roundtrip. It took more than 12 hours for SkyMiles rates to reflect those lower prices, dropping from nearly 50,000 SkyMiles to just 38,000 SkyMiles instead. 

 

minneapolis to costa rica

 

It may not always play out exactly this way, but the pattern is clear. Whether you're hoping rates will fall in order to book or aiming to rebook a trip you've already got in your “My Trips” queue, it pays to be patient when redeeming Delta SkyMiles.

While it typically works like clockwork for both domestic flights and short-haul international trips to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, it's not quite so clear for bigger international destinations like Europe, Asia, or Australia. For those big-ticket trips, Delta routinely (and randomly) decides to slash SkyMiles rates … even if cash rates remain unchanged.

 

How to Take Advantage of Delta's SkyMiles Pricing Lag

Whether you've already got a flight on the books or are itching to pull the trigger, taking advantage of this pricing quirk is fairly simple. 

  1. First things first: If you want to take advantage of a price drop after booking, you'll want to book least a standard main cabin economy fare – Delta's cheapest basic economy fares can't be changed, and canceling them will mean you'll forfeit a bunch of SkyMiles, which defeats the purpose. 
  2. If you haven't already, set up that Google Flights Price Alert for the flight you just booked and wait for an email that fares have dropped. You can zero in on the exact Delta flight you have booked by using Google Flights‘ many filters, narrowing it down by airline and departure times, for example.
  3. Get an email alert from Google that prices on your Delta flight have dropped? Wait. It can take up to 12 hours (or sometimes even more) for SkyMiles rates to reflect that decrease. Set yourself an alarm or calendar reminder to check award rates on your flight later that day – maybe even the following morning. 
  4. Head to Delta.com and search for your flight using SkyMiles. Still not seeing a significant decrease in award rates? Try again in an hour or two. 

 

Bottom Line

We track flight prices and hunt for Delta SkyMiles deals day in, day out. And this pattern has become crystal clear to us: After Delta cuts prices on flights, it can take a few hours (or even a full day) for Delta SkyMiles rates to drop accordingly.

That means it's not enough to keep watching prices on your flights – if you want to get the most out of your SkyMiles, you'll need to be patient, too.