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Act fast for this Delta deal: Fly to Europe in business class for 148,000 SkyMiles

Caroline Tanner
Articles
Caroline Tanner covers news and travel for TPG. She is a journalism graduate of Mizzou and Northwestern.
Dec. 08, 2021
•
6 min read
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Calling all Delta loyalists: The airline is running a SkyMiles sale on Delta One business-class seats to much of Europe through May for as little as 148,000 miles round-trip, depending on the route.

From Dec. 7-9, use SkyMiles to book Delta One award sale fares to various European destinations, including London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin and Madrid, for travel starting Jan. 10 through May 7, 2022.

And read on to find out how you might be able to do even better.

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(Screenshot courtesy of Delta)

Deal basics

Airlines: Delta and SkyTeam partners Air France and KLM.
Routes: CHS/ATL/MDW/ORD/DAL/DFW/DTW/HOU/IAH/JFK/LGA/EWR/SEA and others to AMS/LHR/DUB/MAD/FCO/ARN/LIS/MXP/CPH/ATH and others. The best availability is to AMS/BCN/MAD/CDG.
Cost: 148,000 SkyMiles round-trip.
How to book: Directly through the airline. If your dates are not set in stone, review Delta's flexible dates and price calendars.
Travel dates: Jan. 10-May 7, 2022.

Sample flights

This wide-reaching deal includes connecting flights and nonstop routes departing from more than 150 U.S. cities to nearly all of Europe, including from:

  • Austin, Texas (AUS).
  • Baltimore (BWI).
  • Boston (BOS).
  • Bozeman, Montana (BZN).
  • Charleston, South Carolina (CHS).
  • Chicago (MDW/ORD).
  • Columbus, Mississippi (GTR).
  • Dallas (DAL/DFW).
  • Des Moines (DSM).
  • El Paso, Texas (ELP).
  • Fresno, California (FAT).
  • Houston (HOU/IAH).
  • Kalamazoo, Michigan (AZO).
  • Los Angeles (LAX).
  • Madison, Wisconsin (MSN).
  • Nashville (BNA).
  • Salt Lake City (SLC).
  • St. Louis (STL).
  • Washington, D.C. (DCA/IAD).
  • Wichita, Kansas (ICT).

Although not all departure cities will have availability to all cities at this price, some of the European destinations awaiting are:

  • Amsterdam (AMS).
  • Athens, Greece (ATH).
  • Barcelona, Spain (BCN).
  • Berlin (BER).
  • Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH).
  • Dublin (DUB).
  • Florence, Italy (FLR).
  • Istanbul (IST).
  • London (LHR).
  • Madrid (MAD).
  • Munich (MUC).
  • Paris (CDG).
  • Prague (PRG).
  • Rome (FCO).
  • Stockholm (ARN).
  • Zurich (ZRH).

To begin your search, visit Delta's European sale link and be sure to select "Shop with Miles" and choose Delta One for the best fare type, as illustrated below.

(Screenshot courtesy of Delta)

Through this process, I found a nonstop, round-trip flight from New York City (JFK) to Amsterdam (AMS) the first week of February.

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(Screenshot courtesy of Delta)
(Screenshot courtesy of Delta)

As you can see, this flight costs 148,000 miles total plus $65 in taxes and fees. Since this deal is for flights in Delta One, expect to enjoy all that business class has to offer, starting at the airport with complimentary Sky Club access and priority boarding. Onboard, enjoy full catering options and the ability to potentially sleep en route thanks to a lie-flat seat.

(Photo by Clint Henderson/The Points Guy)

As mentioned, some of the sale routes include a layover. Although I generally prefer flying nonstop when possible, a layover in business class may make me reconsider.

A meal in Delta One in October. (Photo by Clint Henderson/The Points Guy)

Other ways to get deals on Delta flights

Don't forget that you can occasionally do even better by searching for the same flights using partner programs.

Flying Blue is the loyalty program for both Air France and KLM, and it offers flyers the opportunity to redeem miles on SkyTeam partner flights, including Delta. You can use Flying Blue points to fly Delta by transferring American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi Thank You points or Capital One miles to Flying Blue and booking Delta flights there.

In addition, you can also try booking through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, where rates are usually cheaper than those listed for Delta SkyMiles, says TPG's Benji Stawski — at least for nonstop itineraries.

For example, Delta is offering a trip in business class from New York-JFK to Milan for 148,000 Delta SkyMiles.

Delta SkyMiles award to Milan. (Screenshot courtesy Delta)

But that same exact flight is available through Virgin Atlantic for just 100,000 Flying Club points.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award to Milan. (Screenshot courtesy Virgin Atlantic)

Flying Club is also a transfer partner of most major transferable points currencies, so it's easy to rack up accumulate miles for these redemptions.

Related: Sweet Spot Sunday: How to save thousands of miles on Delta One awards to Europe

Finally, our friends at Thrifty Traveler Premium, which alerts members to cheap flights, award flight sales and business-class deals via email for $7.99 monthly or $49.99 annually, has another suggestion to lower the cost.

"Thrifty Tip #1: Fly Delta One to Europe and Delta Premium Select home for only 119k! Start by searching for Delta Premium Select but pick a Delta One fare for your first flight."

Maximize your purchase

As always, don’t forget to use a card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5x on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare), Citi Premier® Card (see rates and fees), Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3x on airfare booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel).

Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

Considering round-trip Delta One flights to Europe usually run between 325,000 and 500,000 SkyMiles, this is a great deal. Act fast and book this deal by midnight Dec. 9 for round-trip Delta One flights for travel January through May 7, 2022, with no blackout dates.

The majority of Europe is open to travelers with COVID-19 testing and related protocols in place. Be sure to double-check any entry rules of your desired destination by reading our country reopening guide here.

Related: The ultimate guide to earning and redeeming with Air France-KLM Flying Blue

Featured image by Getty Images
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.