Delta Air Lines is one of the world’s largest airlines, with a huge presence throughout the U.S. as well as significant routes in Europe and Asia, making it one of the best airlines for redeeming miles no matter your destination. And, yes — even if you're flying somewhere that Delta doesn't fly, you can probably still redeem your miles for a free flight. That's because Delta has more than 20 airline partners that you can earn and redeem miles with.

If you're interested in finding and bookmarking a Delta SkyMiles redemption chart, the bad news is that Delta no longer publishes an award chart.

Assuming you've already done the work to earn Delta SkyMiles, let's get to the fun part: determining how to use Delta SkyMiles in ways that feel good to you.

The best Delta SkyMiles redemptions

1. Flying with Delta

Flying on Delta flights is one of the easiest, most straightforward ways to spend Delta SkyMiles.

If you're open to the date and destination

Check the Delta award sale page. This page lists ongoing deals on award flights — and keep checking back as they change frequently. Delta allows you to filter by origin and/or destination, meaning you could select your home airport and find a deal for airfare. Delta also lists the dates these deals are valid, so it helps if your travel schedule is flexible.

If you have a specific flight in mind

Head to Delta's website, and — when searching flights — display the cost to book using miles. Unlike many other airlines that price award flights based on distance or country, Delta doesn't publish an award chart. Instead, the pricing is dynamic, which has its pros and cons. The good news is the miles price is more likely to be closely tied to the cash price, but it removes the chances you'll find an incredible redemption by, say, booking a flight during an otherwise high-demand time (like to the city hosting the Super Bowl).

Check Delta.com for the cost of your flight, which will vary based on the routing and dates selected.

There is a general correlation between the cost of a flight in cash and its cost in SkyMiles. But you should always calculate the reward redemption rate versus the cost to book in cash. NerdWallet values Delta miles at 1.2 cents each. This is a baseline value, drawn from real-world data on hundreds of economy routes, not a maximized value. In other words, you should aim for award redemptions that offer 1.2 cents or more in value from your Delta miles.

2. Flying on Delta partners

Delta is a part of the SkyTeam alliance, and you can use your Delta SkyMiles to book flights on most of the SkyTeam and other Delta partners.

In addition to SkyTeam, Delta partners with several other carriers, bringing the total partner redemption options to about two dozen.

Delta partners

Delta’s core global airline partners are:

Aeromexico.

Air France.

China Eastern.

KLM.

Korean Air.

Latam Airline.

Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin Australia.

Delta’s other global airline partners are:

Aerolineas Argentinas.

AirEuropa.

Cape Air.

China Airlines.

China Southern Airlines.

Czech Airlines.

Garuda Indonesia.

Hawaiian Airlines.

ITA Airways.

Kenya Airways.

Middle East Airlines.

Saudia.

TAROM.

Vietnam Airlines.

WestJet.

XiamenAir.

Things to keep in mind when redeeming miles for flights

Whether you’re using your miles to fly on Delta or any of its partners, there are some rules and guidelines that you’ll want to keep in mind.

No blackout dates. One upside to the lack of an award chart is that there are no blackout dates for redeeming your miles. Every date and route that has open seats are available for a SkyMiles redemption. That said, dynamic pricing makes it so you may come across some dates and routes that cost so many SkyMiles that it’s not feasible to redeem miles (say, flying during the holidays).

Basic economy awards are cheaper. Delta does offer basic economy awards, which generally cost fewer SkyMiles than main cabin awards. Basic economy award tickets don’t allow you to pick your seat in advance, and you can’t make any ticket changes or get any upgrades. However, you are allowed to bring a personal item.

Sometimes flights are good, sometimes they're bad Delta SkyMiles redemptions. Nerdwallet values one Delta SkyMile at 1.2 cents each. Always calculate the cost to purchase flights in cash to see if it's worth it.

3. Upgrading your Delta flights

Another option for redeeming SkyMiles is to use your miles to upgrade your existing ticket. If your flight is eligible to be upgraded, you will see an option to upgrade in your reservation details page.

Delta gives you the option to upgrade with either miles or cash. As you can see above, this redemption gets you roughly 1 cent per point in value, which is close to Nerdwallet's value of 1.2 cents each. That said, always calculate the upgrade cost to see if it's worth it, as upgrade costs vary by flight.

4. Using miles for Delta reservation services

If you need to pay for services such as a ticket change fee, your Delta SkyMiles may be able to pay for it. In most cases, you can use your miles instead of money to fund products and services you'd receive when calling Delta Reservations at 1-800-323-2323.

You can use your miles for:

Selecting preferred seats (waived for all Medallion members as part of Medallion benefits).

Ticket change fees.

Same-day confirmed fees (waived for Diamond, Platinum and Gold Medallion members as part of Medallion Benefits).

External ticket charges (applies to all tickets issued in the U.S. or Canada by companies other than Delta).

Keep in mind that these mileage redemptions listed are nonrefundable.

5. Book with Delta Vacations

With Delta Vacations, you can bundle a package of Delta flights, plus other hotels and activities. You can pay for it with cash, but you might prefer paying with miles, which you can do, too.

When building your vacation package, enter your SkyMiles number, which will allow you to choose miles as your payment type at checkout. What’s nice is that even if you don’t have enough miles to cover the whole trip, Delta allows you to purchase tickets as Miles + Cash, so you can apply your mileage as a discount and pay the rest in cash.