Yes, every individual passenger must have their own separate SkyMiles account to earn miles and track their progress toward elite status. Delta Air Lines, like most major U.S. carriers, does not allow "family pooling" or shared accounts. When you book a flight together, you must enter each person's unique SkyMiles number into their respective passenger profile to ensure they receive credit for the distance flown. If you have a Delta SkyMiles American Express card, you can add your wife as an Authorized User, which allows her to enjoy certain perks like "First Bag Free" or lounge access (depending on the card tier), but the actual SkyMiles and MQDs (Medallion Qualifying Dollars) earned from her spending will typically accumulate in the primary cardholder's account. If she wants to earn her own miles from flying or her own status, she needs her own number. While you cannot "pool" miles into one account for free, Delta does allow you to transfer miles from one account to another, but they charge a fee of $0.01 per mile plus a $30 processing fee, which is often not worth the cost unless you are just a few miles short of a specific award ticket.