Dont waste your time with Delta Skymiles! They make it seem so simple when it is not. You still have to pay no matter how many miles you have accumulated. First off, I did not have enough Skymiles in my account so my husband gave me some of his. It cost an initial $30 then $10 per 1, 000 miles. I ended up paying $70 total. The I found out that I cannot pay for partial tickets with Skymiles but, through a "special" promotion, I could apply for a American Express card and be able to pay for some of the ticket with my earned Skymiles. The remaining balance would have to be put on the American Express card. Then, I was told that the amount of miles I needed to fly to the same place but maybe on different days could cost me more Skymiles depending on the day. One day it was 25k for a 2hr flight and the next day it was 32k. Also they told me that if I changed my mind about using my Skymiles after I booked, that there would be a "restocking" fee of $100. No matter what you do with your Skymiles, you will end up paying a fee. Skymiles is such a joke!!!

The worst experience I've ever had traveling. The public should beware of who they pick to travel and not purchase tickets by price anymore...My flight caused me to miss a ferry and impacted my trip greatly.

Jamal A. McKinnie has sold a total of six buddy passes since he has been employed with Delta Air Lines. It is my personal opinion that he should be investigated and terminated. I say this because of the integrity that he lacks as an employee with Delta Air Lines. Not only has he sold buddy passes but he also told me that he was called into his supervisor’s office for sexual harassment and he and the supervisor had a good laugh at the expense of the young woman who was reporting it. Delta has been notified of the selling of these buddy passes and obviously aware of the sexual harassment. The question now is “Do Delta Airlines have any integrity as a company?”

Your Responsibilities
“The Buddy Pass program was developed as a way to allow employees and retirees to share their travel privileges with people outside their immediate, pass-eligible family. You are expected to know those to whom you give these privileges, and you are responsible for their behavior when they travel. Unfortunately, Buddy Pass misuse is a reality. On any given day, eBay® and craigslist show Buddy Passes and travel companion authorizations for sale. In some cases, employees have turned their Buddy Passes over to Buddy Pass “brokers” who sell them to unsuspecting travelers or to individuals associated with illegal or suspicious activities. Whether directly or through a broker, profiting from the sale, barter or trading of travel privileges, including Buddy Passes, is a direct violation of our policy and has a significant impact on Delta’s revenue. Those who engage in this activity subject themselves to disciplinary action, including loss of all travel privileges or even termination of employment.”

Two Delta experiences during the past 30 days:

International flight (Atlanta-Incheon and back) that featured broken seat trays and seats, slightly dirty aircraft, filthy bathrooms that weren't maintained for 14 hrs, indifferent/bored flight attendants who avoided work, marginal food. (Compare with Korean Airlines: outstanding service, superb food, immaculately maintained aircraft, constant attention and food/drink, spectacular flight attendants)

2) Skymiles award ticket redemption: hugely increased mileage requirements for domestic award tickets (from 25K miles to 37K or 50K miles for most flights), all kinds of creative and absurd ticketing fees ("partner airline" use fees, taxes that weren't previously charged, new additional fees for any flight that's earlier than 21 days). If you think you know the rules/assumptions of Delta's Skymiles program -- think again. It's become a kind of "bait and switch" scheme in which Delta unilaterally changes the rules and you're stuck.

I was not aware of the $100 EACH WAY surcharge until getting to the ticket counter (after the round trip ticket was paid in full). I wrote a complaint to Delta who's boilerplate response was that it was standard operating policy to decline waiver of this fee. Although I informed Delta at time of purchase of the minor and they took down all contact information about who would meet her at the destination airport, no mention was ever made of an additional charge upping the ticket price by over 60%. I had checked on a ticket by American who mentioned this fee and I chose Delta because there was no mention of this fee when booking the ticket. Why wouldn't they add this charge when I paid all the other charges with the ticket purchase? Nothing on the itinerary even mentioned this charge. Delta took no responsibility for their poor communication and SOPs. I will always look to alternative airlines and not fly Delta in my future travels.