Delta Now Flying Business Class Suites Between US and Australia
Delta is now flying its swankiest business class product, Delta One Suites, between the United States and Australia. The airline's daily trip between Los Angeles (LAX) and Sydney (SYD) is being served by a refreshed Boeing 777, which offers all four of Delta's branded seating products. In addition to those four options, passengers can expect to find seatback IFE, LED cabin lighting, Gogo Ku Wi-Fi and free mobile messaging on board.
The airline has been toiling away, retrofitting its fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft to feature suites with sliding privacy doors. While Delta One Suites debuted on the Airbus A350 (and will soon take to the skies on the Airbus A330-900neo), the airline is refreshing 767-400ER and 777 planes to bring those up to the new standard from an interior standpoint.
Joining Delta One Suites are two usual suspects — economy and Comfort+ — along with Delta's spin on premium economy (Premium Select).
Looking in the months ahead, cash pricing for a round-trip journey aboard the revamped aircraft ranges from ~$1,000 (economy) to over $12,000 (Delta One Suites). Comfort+ is pricing out at around $1,400, while Premium Select will cost around $1,700.
As has become expected, mileage pricing for this route is comical. While it's possible to score a round-trip award ticket for around 70,000 SkyMiles in economy, you'll pay over double (around 150,000 miles) for Premium Select.
Rates are all over the map for Delta One Suites, with a round-trip ticket setting you back as little as 575,000 SkyMiles or as much as 930,000. While those tallies are eye-popping, particularly compared to what this route could be had for just a few years ago, they actually don't represent the worst value.
TPG values a SkyMile at 1.2 cents, which means that 575,000 of them are worth $6,900 — about 40% less than the going cash rate for the LAX-SYD round-trip. The 930,000 SkyMiles rate works out to roughly the same as the cash rate considering the MQMs and MQDs that you give up when you fly on an award ticket.
If you're looking for alternatives, take a look at our guide to using points and miles for visiting Australia. Keep an eye out too for Delta flash sales to the region at TPG Deals, which can be had for as little as 44,000 SkyMiles round-trip in economy.
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