Delta Leaving Partnership with e-Miles; Time to Move the Miles Out

As we near the end of the year, here is yet another story about needing to liquidate your miles or points so you do not lose them. I am one of the few people who tend to value the little bit of inconvenience of using the site e-Miles.com, where you can partake in some quick offers, and in return earn miles in your favorite programs. Several years ago I was invited to join e-Miles as part of the Delta Skymiles program.

So for every offer I viewed (I never even had to purchase anything) I would earn in return a minimum of 5 Delta Skymiles. I also have an account earning US Airways Dividend miles. Then for every 500 miles earned, I could convert them over into Delta or US Airways miles, 1 for 1. While I did not pay to much attention to my Delta account, and just let the miles accumulate, I did actively earn miles with the US airways program to keep a healthy stock for the US Airways Grand Slam promotion each year. However, with no promo in 2012, I have let my US Airways account grow too.

So I was surprised this week to receive the below message from e-Miles, effectively ending their partnership with Delta.

Dear Justin,

I am writing to inform you of an upcoming change to the e-Miles® program and how it will affect your membership. As of January 1, 2013, you will no longer be able to redeem e-Miles miles for Delta SkyMiles®. We are committed to providing you with the best possible experience and I am happy to share that you will now be able to redeem your miles from a rich catalog of options. If you are eligible and prefer to redeem for Delta SkyMiles, you will have until December 30, 2012 to request a deposit.

Beginning in January, you will be able to redeem your e-Miles miles for Amazon.com Gift Cards* and Restaurant.com gift cards. We will continue to add even more options in the near future that will include retail gift cards and many more exciting items. And we’re not done yet; we are also going to make it easier for you to redeem your miles.

To thank you for being a valued member of e-Miles, we are offering you a special bonus of up to 250
e-Miles miles. You can earn 150 bonus miles, 50 miles per month in the months of January, February and March, by reading and responding to at least five (5) offers each month. Upon earning the 150 mile activity bonus, you will receive an additional 100 miles for a total of 250 e-Miles miles.

To learn more, please visit this dedicated page that has been setup to explain the upcoming changes to the e-Miles program.

As the year comes to an end, I’d like to wish you a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year from everyone at e-Miles.

Thank you.

Andrew Ellison
Executive Vice President, e-Miles, Inc.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect to me is the short time frame given to liquidate. I received my email on Friday, December 21, giving everyone just 9 days to make the transfer. Luckily, you just need to initiate the transfer prior to the deadline if you want to earn Delta Skymiles. Otherwise, you will be forced into an Amazon or Restaurant.com redemption.

I was fortunate that when I received the notice, I had 900+ miles sitting in my e-Miles account. Therefore, with partaking in a couple of free offers, I was able to bump up our balance to over 1,000 miles, allowing me to maximize my transfer.

While we do not know the reasoning that the e-Miles and Delta partnership is coming to end, it obviously must not have proven to be a profitable venture for Delta. What I hope is that other partners do not follow suit in the months ahead, as having free options to earn miles and points always has a value to the consumer in the marketplace.

So are you going to be making the transfer, or letting your e-Miles sit idle for a future better offer?

Save Money, Travel More!