Transfer desk · by program
Feeding Delta SkyMiles from India
Every way in — 0 direct card routes, 11 chains via intermediaries, 6 partner-balance hops — priced at the ₹1.00/pt house value. Multi-leg paths show the aggregated end-to-end ratio. Every ratio here reads our points : partner miles — 2:1 means two of your points buy one partner mile, 1:2 means one point buys two. The cheapest way in today: Amex Membership Rewards via Marriott Bonvoy at an aggregated 3:1 (₹1.50/mile).
Program detail — award charts, nerf log, ways out: the Delta SkyMiles hub →
01 · Direct from a card
No Indian card transfers into Delta SkyMiles directly — the chains one tap below are the only way in, and the lede above already names the cheapest of them. That scarcity is the whole reason they're worth the tolls.
02 · Via intermediaries — aggregated ratio
11 chains · every leg's toll multiplied in
Card points hopping through 1–4 partner programs into Delta SkyMiles, every leg multiplied into one end-to-end ratio. A chain is that whole path; each transfer inside it is a leg, and each one costs days and usually points. Only chains that unlock this program or beat the direct route render — the value-traps are suppressed.
| Path | Aggregated | Miles / pt | ₹ / mile | → out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amex Membership Rewards → Marriott Bonvoy → Delta SkyMiles legs 1:1 · 3:1 ⚠ min 3,000 pts · max 240,000 pts/day | 3:1 | 0.33 | ₹1.50 | |
| RBL Reward Points → Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy → Delta SkyMiles legs 3:1 · 2:3 · 3:1 · only via RBL iGlobe · RBL World Safari Plus · RBL Insignia Preferred Banking World Card RBL iGlobe: 8:1 ⚠ Club ITC: min 2,000 Green Points, then multiples of 100 (ITC official) · cap 5,000 Green Points/quarter · 20,000/year (halved 1-May-2026; history: 15k/qtr + 60k/yr set Jul-2023, then 10k/40k) · Marriott Bonvoy: min 3,000 pts · max 240,000 pts/day | 6:1 | 0.17 | ₹1.50 | |
| HSBC Reward Points → Accor Live Limitless (ALL) → Delta SkyMiles legs 1:1 · 2:1 HSBC Platinum: 4:1 · HSBC RuPay Platinum: 4:1 ⚠ min 4,000 pts · cap 250,000 ALL pts converted per member per year | 2:1 | 0.50 | ₹2.00 | |
| RBL Reward Points (Nova/Lumière) → Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy → Delta SkyMiles legs 1:1 · 2:3 · 3:1 · only via RBL Nova · RBL Lumière RBL Nova: 4:1 ⚠ Club ITC: min 2,000 Green Points, then multiples of 100 (ITC official) · cap 5,000 Green Points/quarter · 20,000/year (halved 1-May-2026; history: 15k/qtr + 60k/yr set Jul-2023, then 10k/40k) · Marriott Bonvoy: min 3,000 pts · max 240,000 pts/day | 2:1 | 0.50 | ₹2.00 | |
| AURUM Reward Points → Club ITC → Marriott Bonvoy → Delta SkyMiles legs 5:1 · 2:3 · 3:1 ⚠ Club ITC: min 2,000 Green Points, then multiples of 100 (ITC official) · cap 5,000 Green Points/quarter · 20,000/year (halved 1-May-2026; history: 15k/qtr + 60k/yr set Jul-2023, then 10k/40k) · Marriott Bonvoy: min 3,000 pts · max 240,000 pts/day | 10:1 | 0.10 | ₹2.50 | |
| HDFC Reward Points → Accor Live Limitless (ALL) → Delta SkyMiles legs 2:1 · 2:1 · only via HDFC Infinia Metal · HDFC Diners Club Black Metal · HDFC Regalia Gold · HDFC BizPower ⚠ min 4,000 pts · cap 250,000 ALL pts converted per member per year | 4:1 | 0.25 | ₹4.00 | |
| Axis EDGE Miles → Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer → Marriott Bonvoy → Delta SkyMiles legs 1:2 · 4:3 · 3:1 Axis Bank PRIMUS: 1:1.25 · Axis Olympus: 1:1 · Axis Horizon: 4:1 · IndianOil Axis Bank Premium: 8:1 ⚠ Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: min 3,000 miles · cap 250,000 miles per calendar year · Marriott Bonvoy: min 3,000 pts · max 240,000 pts/day | 2:1 | 0.50 | ₹4.00 | |
| Axis EDGE Reward Points → Accor Live Limitless (ALL) → Delta SkyMiles legs 5:1 · 2:1 Axis Burgundy Private: 2.5:1 · Axis Magnus for Burgundy: 5:1 · Axis Bank SELECT: 20:1 · Axis Bank Privilege: 20:1 · Axis Bank REWARDS: 20:1 · Samsung Axis Bank Infinite: 20:1 · Samsung Axis Bank Signature: 20:1 · Axis Bank My Zone: 20:1 · Axis Bank NEO: 20:1 · Axis Bank Corporate Credit Card: 20:1 · Axis Bank Business Supreme Visa: 20:1 · Axis Bank Business Supreme Mastercard: 20:1 ⚠ min 4,000 pts · cap 250,000 ALL pts converted per member per year | 10:1 | 0.10 | ₹4.00 | |
| SBI Travel Credits → Accor Live Limitless (ALL) → Delta SkyMiles legs 2:1 · 2:1 ⚠ min 4,000 pts · cap 250,000 ALL pts converted per member per year | 4:1 | 0.25 | ₹4.00 | |
| Kotak Air Miles → Accor Live Limitless (ALL) → Delta SkyMiles legs 2:1 · 2:1 ⚠ min 4,000 pts · cap 250,000 ALL pts converted per member per year | 4:1 | 0.25 | ₹4.00 | |
| IndusInd Reward Points → Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer → Marriott Bonvoy → Delta SkyMiles legs 4:1 · 4:3 · 3:1 IndusInd PIONEER Private: 4:1 · IndusInd Pioneer Heritage: 8:1 · IndusInd Pinnacle World: 8:1 · IndusInd Pioneer Legacy: 8:1 ⚠ Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: min 3,000 miles · cap 250,000 miles per calendar year · Marriott Bonvoy: min 3,000 pts · max 240,000 pts/day | 16:1 | 0.06 | ₹12.80 |
03 · Already holding hotel or partner points?
6 program hops · no card involved
Balance-origin hops — a transfer between two loyalty programs rather than out of a card, so it is a stash you already hold and no card is involved. Single leg, so the ratio is the aggregate. Most are rescue valves, not plans: check the ₹/mile before moving anything.
| Your balance in | Ratio | Miles / pt | ₹ / mile | Time | → out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shangri-La Circle ISSUER-CONFIRMED 2026-08-08 — Shangri-La's own partner payload carries this programme with unit "onemile", i… ⚠ min 1,000 points | 1:1 (a month or more) | 1.00 | ₹6.35 | ~4–6 weeks | |
| Accor Live Limitless (ALL) The only Indian-card path to SkyMiles besides Virgin Atlantic partner awards; still 69% value destruction. ⚠ min 4,000 pts · cap 250,000 ALL pts converted per member per year | 2:1 (a month or more) | 0.50 | ₹4.30 | up to 6 weeks | |
| World of Hyatt The default 2.5:1 into a fully dynamic, chartless program — you are trading a ₹1.50 point for a price Delta … ⚠ min 5,000 Hyatt points per transaction, then 1,250-point increments | 2.5:1 (a month or more)‡ | 0.40 | ₹3.75 | allow 6 to 8 weeks for processing | |
| Marriott Bonvoy NO 5k bonus (removed Oct 2022) — flat 3:1. Dynamic pricing makes this a last resort. ⚠ min 3,000 pts · max 240,000 pts/day | 3:1 (1–2 days) | 0.33 | ₹1.95 | 1–2 days | |
| IHG One Rewards ⚠ min 10,000 pts | 5:1 (a month or more) | 0.20 | ₹2.75 | up to 6 weeks (official) | |
| Hilton Honors ⚠ min 10,000 pts · cap 500,000 pts/calendar year | 10:1 (weeks) | 0.10 | ₹4.00 | up to 30 days |
Miles/pt = Delta SkyMiles miles per 1 point of the source; aggregated ratios multiply every leg. ₹/mile prices the redemption at house values. Chain rows print their own mins and caps — a capped valve moves slowly no matter how good the ratio. Per-card exceptions show their own aggregated ratio on the row. ‡ the ratio is the BASE rate, which every transfer size pays. The block bonus is extra and only at whole blocks: 10,000 points earns none of it, 60,000 earns it once, 90,000 still earns it once. Cards saved in your wallet are highlighted automatically.
Straight answers
The questions people actually type about moving points into Delta SkyMiles — answered from the same rows as the tables above, with the same numbers.
What's the best ratio into Delta SkyMiles?
No card transfers in directly, so the best ratio is a chain: 3:1 aggregated from Amex Membership Rewards via Marriott Bonvoy. One source point ends up as 0.33 Delta SkyMiles, a cost of ₹1.50 a mile. Every leg's toll is already multiplied into that number.
Do Delta SkyMiles expire?
No — expiration abolished in 2011. That takes the expiry clock off the table, but not the devaluation clock: what these points buy gets repriced whenever the program feels like it, and the hub's nerf log is where we track that.
What's the minimum transfer into Delta SkyMiles?
Not on the card routes. None of the issuers feeding Delta SkyMiles publishes a transfer minimum we can read — the number lives behind the transfer screen's login — so we print none rather than guess one and strand your points at the last step. Where a partner-balance hop does publish a floor, we print it: Shangri-La Circle min 1,000 points · Accor Live Limitless (ALL) min 4,000 pts · World of Hyatt min 5,000 Hyatt points per transaction, then 1,250-point increments, and 3 more on the rows above. Each is per transaction, and any cap rides on the same row.