New Delta Limited Time Offers: How to Maximize Up to 100,000 SkyMiles

» These offers have expired

Offers described in this article are out of date. See the available Delta cards for up-to-date offers.

It’s no secret that airline miles are a fantastic way to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip or a family summer vacation across the country. And when a new offer comes around that can give you both, it’s something you might want to jump on.

Delta Air Lines and its credit card partner American Express on Thursday launched new limited time offers on their co-branded lineup of cards. With offers of up to 100,000 miles plus qualifying miles that can help you reach your next elite level, now’s the time to learn more about what you can do with SkyMiles to maximize these bonuses.

New Delta SkyMiles card offers

Here are some of the updated cards with sizable new offers:

• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card: Earn 60,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $5,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: Earn 50,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

• Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card: Earn 40,000 Bonus Miles after you spend $2,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.

A large portion of these miles are issued right away, but some come when you renew the card a year later. So is collecting all those miles worth the wait?

Up to 100,000 miles is among the highest welcome bonus offers we’ve seen in quite some time. If you’re wondering what you could do with this cache of newfound miles, we’ve got some suggestions for enjoying your time away, either abroad or closer to home.

Domestic SkyMiles redemptions

Delta has a large domestic network; chances are the airline flies somewhere you want to go. Hundreds of flights are available every day from Delta’s major hubs, including Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, Atlanta, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis and Boston.

Live in Los Angeles? How about a trip to Portland, Seattle or San Francisco? At only 9,000 miles round-trip per person, you could take the entire family there and still have plenty of miles to spare for a longer cross-country journey.

And cross-country tickets can be had for as little as 16,500 miles round trip.

That 100,000 miles from the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card welcome bonus offer means you could take two short trips plus one long trip. Considering you can knock out three family vacations with the welcome bonus offer from a single credit card, that’s an amazing value.

» Learn more: Delta Air Lines SkyMiles program: The complete guide

Other domestic options

And what if you don’t live on a coast? Are you left out of the party? Absolutely not — Delta publishes a list of its SkyMiles deals so you can always see the best offers.

For example, at the time of publication, we found these options for flight deals:

• Atlanta to Miami for 10,000 miles round-trip.

• Milwaukee to New York for 12,000 miles round-trip.

• Boise to Las Vegas for 18,000 miles round-trip.

Note that these deals change frequently, so keep tabs on them if there’s a route you want to book.

International SkyMiles redemptions

If your dreams have you going farther than one or two time zones away, Delta’s large international network and SkyTeam partners can get you there.

And if you’re not finding the availability you want on Delta’s own flights, you can fly with any of its multiple partners including Air France, KLM, Kenya Airways, Korean Air, Alitalia and Aerolineas Argentinas.

We've found some interesting international routes that you can book with these new welcome bonus offers.

» Learn more: Complete guide to Delta Air Lines partners

Paris in the fall

During shoulder season in Paris, that trip to the City of Light is closer than you may think.

We found flights currently priced at 54,000 miles round-trip per person.

Worried about baggage and the extra costs that come along with it? Don’t be — this flight includes your first checked bag for free. And thanks to the associated benefits, if you book with any of the Delta cards featured here, you’ll get Main Cabin 1 priority boarding on all Delta flights. Terms apply.

Fly to London in upper class

If flying up in the front is your style, how about checking out Delta partner Virgin Atlantic? One of its more unique flights is the Virgin daytime flight from JFK to London, allowing you to land in London and still head out for a night on the town.

It's 70,000 miles round-trip, plus $208 in taxes and fees to travel in economy on Virgin Atlantic in the fall.

» Learn more: Cheapest ways to fly to Europe using points and miles

Take an African safari

One of our more memorable recent redemptions was using our collection of Delta SkyMiles to fly from the U.S. to Nairobi with Delta’s partner Kenya Airways. We flew the over 14-hour flight in business class on its new 787 Dreamliner and were pampered the entire way.

At 80,000 miles in economy class, you’ll use almost all the miles from this welcome offer — but what a memory you’ll have forever.

The bottom line

These new offers will be around only until April 14, 2022, so don’t delay if you want to apply. Remember that you’ll need to achieve the minimum spend requirement to get your hands on the bulk of miles included with this offer, so you may want to apply soon if you want time to earn your miles before peak vacation season hits.

Photos courtesy of Jon Nickel-D'Andrea.