Delta flyers have been padding their stash of SkyMiles while buying iced lattes and PSLs ever since the airline teamed up with Starbucks two years ago. But a new wrinkle with how you earn SkyMiles at Starbucks could make your next coffee run less rewarding … or, maybe, even better.
Rather than earning a flat 1x for every $1 you spend at Starbucks after linking your accounts, Delta flyers will soon only earn bonus skyMiles when reloading their Starbucks accounts in the coffee giant's app with at least $25. That change is coming soon: It's effective June 12.
Exactly how many SkyMiles you can earn depends on how much you fund your Starbucks habit. Here's the breakdown, as shared with Delta SkyMiles members in an email on Wednesday.
At the low end, you can earn up 1x point per dollar when you reload your Starbucks app with $25 … but you'll still only earn 25 SkyMiles by adding $30 or $40 to your app. Add $100 to your Starbucks account and you'll get 200 SkyMiles – a 2x return.
There's no limit to how many times you can reload a Starbucks account and still earn SkyMiles. But frequent Starbucks customers will want to be strategic with how much they add to their accounts. And there's no reason to add more than $100 at a time to your Starbucks account, as you'll still only earn 200 SkyMiles for a $200 or $300 reload.
You can easily reload your Starbucks app for future coffee purchases with a credit card, debit card, Venmo, or Paypal. So while there's another hoop to jump through in order to earn SkyMiles with this new system, there's an upside for heavy coffee drinkers who can earn more SkyMiles.
As has been the case since the Delta and Starbucks partnership began in 2022, customers still must have accounts with both companies and link them at deltastarbucks.com to earn miles. While you won't earn a ton of miles on coffee orders, it's an easy and creative way to keep earning SkyMiles.
Starbucks customers with linked Delta accounts will still earn Starbucks Rewards stars on any day they travel with Delta. While those Starbucks stars also don't go as far as they used to, 100 of them can get you a free coffee.
Currently, travelers earn SkyMiles on individual transactions like this $12 purchase I made earlier this month for $12. I also reloaded a card in the app for $25.
As you can see below, I earned 12 SkyMiles for my mobile coffee order but not my $25 account reload. That reverses come June 12.
Bottom Line
Earning Delta SkyMiles from Starbucks Rewards is about to get both easier and harder.
Starting June 12, you'll only earn SkyMiles when you reload your Starbucks account – and only when you add at least $25 in funds. While that's not as easy as the current system, you'll be able to earn up to 2x SkyMiles per dollar if you add $100 at a time.
Lead photo courtesy of Delta