Deal Alert: Flights to South America From Just 12,000 Miles Round-Trip

June 28, 2019

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5 min read

Deal Alert: Flights to South America From Just 12,000 Miles Round-Trip

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Delta has run nearly constant SkyMiles award sales over the last year, but it's the unadvertised award sales where we can find the most value. And, one of those deals just popped up. As caught by Thrifty Traveler, Delta is currently running an unadvertised award sale to South America will rates as low as just 12,000 miles round-trip.

At current TPG valuations, 12,000 SkyMiles are worth just $144. Adding in taxes and fees starting at $82 and this is equivalent to scoring a $226 round-trip deal to South America. But, what’s especially valuable about these awards are that they book into the Main Cabin, not basic economy.

The cheapest rates found so far are from Florida gateways of Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO) with one stop through Atlanta to Bogota (BOG) for just 12,000 SkyMiles round-trip. However, there are cheap award rates from dozens of other cities to Bogota, Quito (UIO) and Lima (LIM) starting at 20,000 miles round-trip. We have rounded up some of the options below, but it's probably worth just heading to Delta.com and searching from your home airport to one of these three South American destinations to check what you can book.

If you’re short on miles, remember that you can instantly transfer American Express Membership Rewards points into your SkyMiles account at 1:1 ratio.

Airline: Delta
Routes: FLL/MCO/RDU/BOS/AUS/ORD to BOG/UIO/LIM
Cost: 12,000+ Delta SkyMiles round-trip
Travel Dates: September 2019 to January 2020
Pay Taxes/Fees With: Citi Prestige Card (5x on airfare), Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on travel plus travel protections) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel plus travel protections)

Here are a few examples of what you can book:

Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Bogota (BOG) 1-stop for 12,000 Delta SkyMiles + $82 round-trip in September:

Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Bogota (BOG) 1-stop for 12,000 Delta SkyMiles + $82 round-trip in November:

Orlando (MCO) to Bogota (BOG) 1-stop for 12,000 Delta SkyMiles + $82 round-trip in September:

Orlando (MCO) to Bogota (BOG) 1-stop for 13,000 Delta SkyMiles + $82 round-trip in November:

Raleigh/Durham (RDU) to Quito, Ecuador (UIO) 1-stop for 20,000 Delta SkyMiles + $103 round-trip:

Raleigh/Durham (RDU) to Bogota (BOG) 1-stop for 22,000 Delta SkyMiles + $82 round-trip:

Boston (BOS) to Bogota (BOG) 1-stop for 22,000 Delta SkyMiles + $82 round-trip:

Austin (AUS) to Quito (UIO) 1-stop for 26,000 Delta SkyMiles + $103 round-trip:

Chicago (ORD) to Quito (UIO) 1-stop for 28,000 Delta SkyMiles + $103 round-trip:

Boston (BOS) to Lima (LIM) 1-stop for 34,000 Delta SkyMiles + $73 round-trip:

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 (3x on airfare) and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases). Check out this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

If you don’t have enough SkyMiles in your account, you can instantly transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to top off your account. But, for future deals, you may want to consider signing up for one of the Delta credit cards. For example, the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express currently comes with a bonus of 30,000 bonus miles after you use your new Card to make $1,000 in purchases within your first 3 months and a $50 Statement Credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months. Terms Apply.

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.