Deal alert: Round-trip flights to Los Angeles starting at 6,000 Delta SkyMiles

It's mid-January and many people in states where the temperatures are plunging may be dreaming about escaping to warmer weather right about now. How does Southern California sound?

You can fly on Delta Air Lines to sunny Los Angeles for as little as 6,000 SkyMiles roundtrip with this deal.

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Deal basics

Airline: Delta Air Lines
Routes: ATL/BOS/MCI/LAS/MSY/MSP/PDX/SLC/TUS/DCA and others to LAX
How to book: Directly through the airline
Travel dates: February — December (the best availability is through March)
Book by: N/A

This deal was originally sent out by Thrifty Traveler, which emails members cheap flights, award flight sales and business-class deals for a $7.99 monthly fee or $49.99 annually.

Read more: You’ll need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to visit these major theme parks

Sample fares

Round-trip, nonstop flights to Los Angeles are available from more than 30 U.S. cities, including:

• Seattle (SEA), starting at 6,000 SkyMiles.
• Albuquerque (ABQ)/Austin (AUS)/Dallas (DFW)/Fort Lauderdale (FLL)/Houston (IAH)/Indianapolis (IND)/Minneapolis (MSP)/Orlando (MCO)/Portland (PDX)/Reno (RNO)/San Francisco (SFO), starting at 9,000 SkyMiles.
• Kansas City (MCI)/Las Vegas (LAS)/Nashville (BNA)/New Orleans (MSY)/Oakland (OAK)/Phoenix (PHX)/Sacramento (SMF)/Salt Lake City (SLC)/San Jose (SJC), starting at 10,000 SkyMiles.

This deal is also good if you are flying round-trip from Los Angeles to one of these cities.

To book, head to delta.com and enter your departure city, plug in L.A. as the destination and the dates of travel before clicking Shop with Miles. We looked at booking an escape from Minneapolis to Los Angeles below.

This route will cost only 9,000 SkyMiles round-trip and $11.20 in taxes and fees.

Related: Los Angeles expands vaccination requirement for restaurants, bars and other indoor spaces

If your travel dates are flexible, search the Price Calendar for deals. The low fares listed above are for basic economy seats, but on this route it might be worth it to upgrade to the main cabin for an extra 4,000 SkyMiles. With the upgrade you'll be able to select a seat and you can have your miles redeposited if you need to change or cancel plans.

Passengers flying on Delta are allowed one carry-on bag and checked luggage starts at $30 unless you have elite status or carry a cobranded credit card that gives you a free checked bag.

Maximize your purchase

Even though you are booking with miles, don’t forget to use a card that earns points for airfare purchases as you still have to pay taxes and fees, and you may have to pay for a checked bag. Some cards that offer points on airline purchases include The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar 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 (5 points per dollar on airfare), Citi Premier® Card (3 points per dollar on air travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve (3 points per dollar on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel), the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar on travel), or a Delta card such as as the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card for 2 miles per dollar or the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card for 3 miles per dollar on eligible Delta 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

These are great deals for a warm weather getaway to Los Angeles if you live in one of the 30+ cities that Delta has discounted. Normally these routes would cost 20,000 or more miles roundtrip. So if you're getting tired of bundling up, take a look at Delta's site and see if you can take advantage of the low rates. And seriously consider upgrading to the main cabin for as little as 3,000 miles on these routes.