Delta Rolls Back Virgin Atlantic Surcharges — But For How Long?
On Sunday we reported that Delta SkyMiles had begun charging carrier surcharges for Upper Class redemptions on its partner Virgin Atlantic. While the program has always charged the extra fees for customers originating in Europe, this was the first time we saw huge surcharges for those starting out in the US.
By adding the fee, the cost of an award ticket on Virgin Atlantic Upper Class shot up to over $1,200 along with the previously inflated partner redemption price of 170,000 SkyMiles. Compare that to the same route in Delta One business class, which runs only $270 plus 140,000 miles.
As of this Monday morning, though, it appears the website has now rolled back the change. The same Virgin Atlantic flights that included the surcharge yesterday are now pricing identically to the Delta flights, save the 30,000 difference in miles.
What's going on here? It's not clear. The original change may have been an IT bug, or this new revision might be the bug. Or it's possible Delta had planned to make this change and accidentally rolled it out earlier than planned, then rolled it back. Or maybe Delta felt the customer outrage and thought the better of the change. (Alright, that last one is highly unlikely, but it's always a possibility.)
We've reached out to our contacts at Delta for clarification and we'll update this post as soon as we get more information. In the meantime, if you wanted to book a Virgin Atlantic Upper Class flight using Delta SkyMiles, we strongly suggest you do it quickly just in case this is a temporary glitch.
H/T: Rene's Points
TPG featured card
at Capital One's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 5X miles | Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
| 2X miles | Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day |
Pros
- Stellar welcome offer of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Plus, a $250 Capital One Travel credit to use in your first cardholder year upon account opening.
- You'll earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, which means you won't have to worry about memorizing bonus categories
- Rewards are versatile and can be redeemed for a statement credit or transferred to Capital One’s transfer partners
Cons
- Highest bonus-earning categories only on travel booked via Capital One Travel
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening - that’s equal to $1,000 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app