San Francisco to Washington D.C - $199 RT "all in"

Fly SFO to Washington, D.C for just $199 roundtrip, including all taxes and fees. Valid for flights through through Spring 2011. Outbound flights: Must depart Friday or Saturday after 7pm. Return flights: Must return on Monday or Tuesday. 4-day maximum stay. Click here and search using the "my dates are flexible" option.

Redeem 5,000 Delta Miles for a $50 Gift Card

-See updates below-

The most obvious way of redeeming air miles is to use them for "free" award flights. But, if you can't find award availability, or you just don't have the minimum required for a flight, Delta has a new option: Redeem them for gift cards.

You can select a $50 gift card for every 5,000 miles redeemed. That's a 1:1 ratio, a fairly good value for the consumer. Select from a variety of familiar brands, such as Macy's, Barnes and Noble and Old Navy. Visit marketplace.delta.com for more information and to redeem.

Update- Got a few emails on this; the system was down for "maintenance" Tuesday evening, and it's now back up. Surprise: Seems they also upped the redemption's to 8,000 miles for a $50 gift card. Unsure if the discount was temporary, or if they became overwhelmed with redemption's since the deal was posted on sites such as fatwallet and ebates. This is definitely not as good of an offer as before.

Delta Airlines Offers 500 Bonus Miles for Online Reservations

Delta Airlines is offering its frequent flyer members 500 bonus miles when booking a round-trip airline reservation at delta.com between April 28 and May 31, 2009. Delta began offering online booking bonuses in the 1990's as a way to encourage Internet bookings, but ended the incentive in 2007.

Earn Bonus Miles Linking Your Delta and Northwest Accounts

Here is one result from the merger of Delta and Northwest Airlines announced earlier in 2008.: For a limited time, Delta SkyMiles and Northwest Worldperks members may transfer miles between their own accounts fee free - and earn a bonus 500 SkyMiles for doing so.

For instance, let's say your Delta frequent flyer account has 2,000 miles and your Northwest 23,000. Simply transfer the 2,000 Delta miles over to Northwest (or vice versa).

Click here for more information.

Delta 1000 Mile Bonus for Flying Delta and Alaska

From the mailbox this week, Delta Airlines will award 1,000 bonus miles each time you fly Delta and Alaska/Horizon on the same ticket. The promotion highlights the expansion airlines' joint alliance. The offer is valid for travel through February 29, 2009. Click here to register. 

San Francisco to New York City $155 Roundtrip "all in"

HOT FARE. 12:45 PM.
San Francisco to New York City for $155 round trip, including all taxes and fees on Delta Airlines, and some codeshares with Northwest. Fare valid for Monday-Thursday and Saturday travel, between November 3, 2008 and January 14, 2009. This amazing fare is available for non-stop flights into JFK, or for slightly more you can connect and fly into LaGuardia. Click here to search for flights. This fare will not last long.

Delta To Add Fuel Service Charge To "Free" Award Tickets

Redeeming frequent flyer miles for a "free" ticket
on Delta Airlines will soon cost you

In yet another setback for consumers, Delta airlines announced this morning they will begin charging customers a fuel surcharge fee when redeeming Delta SkyMiles for an otherwise "free" flight. In a press release, Delta stated effective August 15th, a $25 fee will be charged for flights within the United States and Canada, and $50 elsewhere in the world. The fuel surcharge will not impact existing itineraries or tickets purchased before August 15th.

This is the first known U.S-based airline to institute a fuel surcharge to customers redeeming banked frequent flyer miles. In the press release, managing director of Delta's SkyMiles program said, “This was a difficult but essential decision in the face of record-high fuel costs. We hope this is temporary, and should fuel prices subside from current levels, we will reevaluate this surcharge."

With the cost of oil exceeding $140 a barrel, airlines are struggling for ways to recoup operating losses. The fuel surcharge on award travel is surely seen as one possible solution. But already, consumers are crying foul, as the once advertised "earn a free trip" when redeeming 25,000 miles no longer applies. With the added fuel surcharge, it will soon become impossible to obtain a free trip with Delta.

Earlier this month, and with less uproar from the traveling community, American Airlines quietly announced they would add a $5 charge for all award tickets redeemed on their website effective June 21st. Without a huge public backlash - yet, in effect, American's move may have helped pave the way for Delta to institute the fuel surcharge announced today.

Delta: Get $50 back when you fly West Coast to New York

Delta just announced a promotion whereby you will earn a $50 AMEX Gift Card for flying valid coast-to-coast flights booked at http://www.delta.com/. The offer applies to flights to/from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland to New York's JFK between May 1st and June 30th. Click here for more information and to register.

Delta, Northwest Merger imminent - source

It looks like the airline industry will continue to make headlines this week as a merger between Northwest and Delta is reported to be imminent. According to the Associated Press, people close to the merger talks said it may happen as early as Monday. If it does, the joined companies would result in the largest airline in the world.

The two airlines hoped to announce a deal in February, but their pilots' unions were unable to agree on how to merge their seniority lists. The airlines are now hoping to proceed with merger talks without compiling a list, a move that could potentially cause strong opposition to the merger by pilots.

Delta Airlines Promo: Double Medallion Qualifying Miles

Flights booked now through April 30th, with travel through June 30th will earn double medallion qualifying miles on Delta Airlines. According to the Delta promotions website, you must register, then book a Delta-coded flight on their website www.delta.com to qualify. Keep in mind this is double qualifying miles for those seeking elite status, this is not banked miles you can redeem for trip awards.