Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
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Although Delta hasn’t had a published award chart for years, it does offer award flash sales fairly regularly. Destinations have included Japan from 44,000 SkyMiles round-trip, South America from 32,000 SkyMiles round-trip, domestic flights for 10,000 SkyMiles round-trip, London for 32,000 SkyMiles round-trip, Australia for 44,000 SkyMiles round-trip, Africa for 54,000 SkyMiles round-trip and more.
Today we're seeing Delta awards from the US to Europe starting at 128,000 SkyMiles round-trip in Delta One -- Delta's business class product. Delta lists 19 routes for this deal starting at 128,000 SkyMiles round-trip, but there's likely even more options. We recommend heading to Delta.com and searching around for the route of your choice to see how it’s pricing. However, there's a way to use even less miles on these routes, which we'll get to in a bit.
At current TPG valuation of 1.2 cents per miles, 128,000 miles represents a cash equivalent of $1,536 round-trip. Adding in taxes and fees starting at $47 round-trip, this is about equivalent to scoring a $1,583 business class round-trip to Europe.
According to the terms of this deal, you'll need to book directly at Delta.com by 11:59pm ET on Friday, April 19, 2019 for travel between August 7 and Sept. 5, 2019. To search, plug in your origin airport at Delta.com along with one of the sale destinations mentioned above. We recommend using Delta's "Flexible Dates" calendar, and make sure you toggle to "Miles" when looking at search results.
Remember that Diamond and Platinum Medallion members are entitled to fee-free cancellations on all award bookings (Basic Economy tickets notwithstanding), so top-tier elites can book now and see if it works with their schedule down the road. Also, Delta's higher elite tiers are entitled to complimentary upgrades from Main Cabin to Comfort+.
If you’re in need of SkyMiles, remember that you can instantly transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Delta at a 1:1 ratio.
However, if you don't have any SkyMiles or just want to use less miles, we're finding that the routes Delta has on sale can be booked through Virgin Atlantic at saver levels. Check out our guide on booking Delta awards through Virgin Atlantic for the step by step process on how to do this. If booked through this method you'll only need to use 100,000 Virgin miles for round-trip itineraries — taxes and fees will be the same. That's a much better deal and if you don't have any miles in your Delta SkyMiles account you're better off transferring points to Virgin and booking that way.
You can transfer points from Citi ThankYou, American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Capital One to Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club program.
Airline: Delta
Routes: ATL/BOS/CVG/DTW/IND/JFK/RDU/TPA to AMS/BRU/DUB/CDG/DUS/FRA/MAD/MUC/STR/TXL/ZRH
Cost: 100,000+ Virgin Atlantic miles or 128,000+ Delta SkyMiles round-trip in Delta One (business class)
Book By: April 19 at 11:59pm ET
Travel Dates: August 7 through September 5, 2019
Pay Taxes/Fees With: The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline), Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare plus trip delay insurance), Citi Premier® Card (3x on airfare), Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel)
Here are a few examples of what you can book:
Indianapolis (IND) to Paris (CDG) for 100,000 miles + $128 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Virgin Atlantic:
New York (JFK) to Dublin (DUB) for 100,000 miles + $47 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Virgin Atlantic:
Atlanta (ATL) to Brussels (BRU) for 128,000 miles + $57 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Atlanta (ATL) to Dusseldorf (DUS) for 128,000 miles + $95 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Atlanta (ATL) to Frankfurt (FRA) for 128,000 miles + $118 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Atlanta (ATL) to Madrid (MAD) for 128,000 miles + $51 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Atlanta (ATL) to Munich (MUC) for 128,000 miles + $104 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Atlanta (ATL) to Stuttgart (STR) for 128,000 miles + $92 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Boston (BOS) to Dublin (DUB) for 128,000 miles + $47 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Cincinnati (CVG) to Paris (CDG) for 128,000 miles + $128 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Detroit (DTW) to Frankfurt (FRA) for 128,000 miles + $118 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Detroit (DTW) to Munich (MUC) for 128,000 miles + $104 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Indianapolis (IND) to Paris (CDG) for 128,000 miles + $128 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
New York Kennedy (JFK) to Brussels (BRU) for 128,000 miles + $57 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
New York Kennedy (JFK) to Dublin (DUB) for 128,000 miles + $47 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
New York Kennedy (JFK) to Frankfurt (FRA) for 128,000 miles + $118 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
New York Kennedy (JFK) to Madrid (MAD) for 128,000 miles + $51 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
New York Kennedy (JFK) to Berlin (TXL) for 128,000 miles + $95 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
New York Kennedy (JFK) to Zurich (ZRH) for 128,000 miles + $57 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Raleigh/Durham (RDU) to Paris (CDG) for 128,000 miles + $128 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Tampa (TPA) to Amsterdam (AMS) for 128,000 miles + $51 in taxes and fees round-trip nonstop in business class via Delta:
Boosting Your SkyMiles Balance
While you couldn't earn a welcome bonus in time to boost your balance for this wave of deals, you may consider adding a card now in anticipation of flash sales to come. There are a variety of ways to earn Delta miles, from Delta-operated flights to trips on SkyTeam airlines to various non-travel partners. However, one of the best ways to boost your SkyMiles balance to score a few free trips is by adding one of these cards to your arsenal:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express ($550 annual fee; See Rates & Fees); 60,000-point welcome bonus after you use your new card to make $5,000 in purchases in your first 3 months, though be sure to check the CardMatch Tool to see if you’re targeted for a 100,000-point welcome bonus after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months; offer subject to change at anytime, (you can transfer Membership Rewards points directly to Delta SkyMiles) Terms Apply.
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express ($595 annual fee; See Rates & Fees); Earn up to 75,000 bonus points: 50,000 bonus points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 25,000 bonus points after you spend an additional $10,000 all on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership. Terms Apply.
- Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card ($450 annual fee; $550 if application is received on or after 1/30/2020, See Rates & Fees); Earn 40,000 Bonus Miles and 10,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months. Terms Apply.
- Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express ($95 annual fee; See Rates & Fees); Earn 60,000 bonus miles after you use your new card to make $2,000 in purchases within your first three months and a $50 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first three months. Offer expires 10/30/2019. Terms Apply.
Additional reporting provided by Brendan Dorsey.
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For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Business Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta Reserve Business Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Gold Delta SkyMiles Card, click here.
