Early on when my husband and I started dating, he told me I had a huge decision to make that was imperative for our relationship to work. Break up with scoring cheap flights and commit to an airline/airline alliance. How dare he! From living overseas and traveling often for work, he had accumulated status with Delta. Since we had started frequently traveling together, Delta was the obvious choice.

I was already using American Express as my business credit card and immediately switched to the Delta card and became a SkyTeam member. Why oh, why did I do not do this before?

I know what you are thinking, Delta is the bougee airline and you don’t want to pay more to fly with them when you can score that too good to be true deal on Expedia or Kayak. As a recovering cheap flight booker, I am here to offer a few reasons why committing to an airline is better than continuously price shopping for the best deal (which usually turns out to be not so great when you add fees to choose your seat, check bag or they leave you stranded high and dry like a Kardashian).

1) Status. Beyonce sang it best “Let me upgrade youuuuu”. Why yes, that would be nice thank you. As you accumulate miles from using your card on every day purchases and booking flights, you become eligible for free upgrades to Delta Comfort and even First Class. Since my husband had reached Diamond Medallion status, we were getting upgrades on about 85% of flights we booked, score!

2) Priority boarding. As a photographer, this is important for me simply because I never want to worry about my gear being stowed out of eyesight because there isn’t room in the overhead bin. Many airports also have expedited check in counters, security lines and I have even seen expedited immigration lanes for SkyPriority members.

3) Customer service. I have not achieved the acclaimed Diamond Medallion status (yet), but I do have Platinum status and therefore a dedicated customer service line I can utilize when needed- this applies for all statuses with Delta. By booking directly with Delta, should there be any issues with the flight, I have one number and airline to contact versus going between multiple airlines which happens when you book through third party websites.

4) No additional fees for bags. You can easily add another $70 each trip from baggage fees alone, more than that if you are traveling with multiple family members. By booking my flights with my Delta Amex, I save money by never dealing with those additional baggage fees.

5) You can use your miles overseas with partner airlines. Now that we are living overseas, we frequently fly SkyTeam alliance airlines like Korean Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. I can book flights through the Delta app using my reward miles which has been fantastic for continued exploration throughout Asia.

6) Lounge access. I swear I did not completely change who I am as a person for my husband so bear with me when I mention again the ways of old Erin. Old Erin would time her airport arrival so once she got through security, she only had a few minutes to wait until boarding began. New Erin arrives with time to spare and enjoys a drink or snacks before her flight in the lounge. Lounge access has been great with the kids during our international travels.

No matter what airline alliance you choose, I urge you to commit to one and begin reaping those travel benefits! You can use the referral link below to get 60,000 bonus miles with Delta after you spend $5,000 in the first 12 months. Active-duty military families are eligible to have the annual membership fee waived.

Where will you go on your next adventure?

https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/ERINCVf7x?XLINK=MYCP

Why Delta?

Yongin Daejanggeum Park

Semiwon Garden