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Years ago, Delta ditched its award chart. Now Delta charges whatever it wants for an award flight, sometimes leading to astronomical award prices. However, Delta's partner Virgin Atlantic still has an award chart for Delta flights, and it can be an excellent way to book Delta business class for a reasonable amount of miles. For example, you can fly Delta business class from the US to Asia for just 60,000 miles one-way nonstop.
Even better, there's currently a 30% transfer bonus from American Express Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which drops the reasonable award rates to downright-cheap award rates. Continuing with the example of Delta business class from the US to Asia, the 30% transfer bonus means that you need to transfer just 47,000 Membership Rewards points to get 60,000 Flying Club miles.
The only thing that's usually missing is award availability. And this morning, the stars have aligned and you can book Delta business class awards. Nick Reyes pointed out on Frequent Miler that there's some excellent Delta business class award availability currently available to partners like Virgin Atlantic.
If you're unfamiliar with searching and booking Delta awards on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, check out this post for tips and tricks on how to do so.
Note that not all destinations can be searched and booked on Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club website, as the destination just can't be selected. Destinations that you can search include: Beijing (PEK), Shanghai (PVG), Tokyo (NRT/HND), Nagoya (NGO). However, you can't search destinations like Seoul (ICN) and Osaka (KIX). These destinations must be booked over the phone with a Flying Club agent.
Airline: Delta
Routes: DTW/MSP/SEA/ATL/LAX to PEK/HND/PVG/NRT
Cost: 47,000 American Express points transferred to 60,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles
Travel Dates: November 2019-March 2020
Pay Taxes/Fees With: Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare on plus trip delay insurance), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel)
Here are a few examples of what you can book:
Detroit (DTW) to Beijing (PEK) for 60,000 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in Delta One Suites:
Dates with 4+ availability:
Minneapolis (MSP) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) for 60,000 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in Delta One:
Dates with 4+ availability:
Seattle (SEA) to Beijing (PEK) for 60,000 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in Delta One:
Dates with 4+ availability:
Atlanta (ATL) to Shanghai (PVG) for 60,000 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in Delta One:
Dates with 4+ availability:
Los Angeles (LAX) to Shanghai (PVG) for 60,000 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in Delta One Suites:
Dates with 4+ availability:
Detroit (DTW) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) for 60,000 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in Delta One Suites:
Dates with 4+ availability:
Los Angeles (LAX) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) for 60,000 Virgin Atlantic miles one-way in Delta One Suites:
Dates with 4+ availability:
Maximize Your Purchase
While we typically recommend using a credit card that maximizes your earnings on airfare purchases, the taxes and fees on these awards are so cheap that it's worth focusing on the cards that offer excellent trip delay and cancellation insurance -- such as the Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare), Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi Premier® Card (3x on airfare) and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.
