Fly Delta One Suites to Asia next summer with wide-open award space

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

Delta One suites is one of the best — if not the best — international business class product offered by a U.S. airline. It's a fully enclosed suite that's complete with a sliding door, lie-flat seat and huge entertainment screen. Plus, you can expect excellent onboard service and good food, so you'll arrive refreshed on your next long-haul journey.

If Delta One is on your radar for post-pandemic travel, now might be the time to book. We're seeing wide-open Delta One award space on the carrier's A350-900 routes from the U.S. to Asia next summer. Destinations include Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai, and you can book tickets for just 60,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points each.

Your trip is dependent on your destination of choice reopening its borders, but with recent vaccine news, it's looking more promising than ever. Booking now locks you into a great award ticket that may be hard to find once travel resumes.

In this article, we'll give you a look at all the open Delta One award space to Asia for next summer. Then, we'll show you how to book these flights with transferable points like American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.

Let's get started!

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Should I book award travel now?

As discussed in the intro, there are some inherent risks that come with booking award travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

The main risk is that the country you're planning to travel to may not open its borders by the day you're set to travel. In this case, you'd have to cancel your itinerary and rebook for a later date.

If this happens and the carrier you book your award ticket with doesn't extend its cancellation fee waiver, you could be on the hook for a cancellation fee.

Another risk is that the airline you book could cancel your route if demand is low. If this happens, your points will be refunded to your airline account — not the credit card you transferred points from. Unfortunately, this makes your points less flexible and open to devaluation, so try and use them quickly if you end up in this position.

That said, if you're comfortable with these risks, booking now lets you lock in a great redemption early. If not, wait it out and book until after the border opens — just know award space might go quick when this happens.

Related: 6 reasons why now is the time to book travel with points and miles

Delta One award space to Asia

Interested in booking? Here's a look at open Delta One suite award space from the U.S. to Asia next summer.

Below you'll find all the flights with partner-bookable award space for at least one passenger. Each of these routes are scheduled to be operated by a Delta A350-900 with Delta One suites, giving you the airline's best business class product on one of its newest planes.

Here's a look:

Atlanta (ATL) to/from Seoul (ICN)

• Outbound: Jul. 1-15, 17-22, 25-28 and 30-31; Aug. 1-10, 12-21, 23 and 25-31.
• Inbound: Jul. 1-4, 6-16, 18-19, 22-26 and 29-31; Aug 1-2, 5-6 and 8-31.

Atlanta (ATL) to/from Tokyo-Haneda (HND)

• Outbound: Jul. 1-13, 15-18, 23 and 30-31; Aug. 3, 6-14, 16, 18-26 and 29-31.
• Inbound: Jul. 1-13 and 15-30; Aug. 4, 13, 17-18 and 20-31.

Detroit (DTW) to/from Shanghai (PVG)

• Outbound: Jul. 7, 14 and 21.
• Inbound: Jul. 5-7, 12-14, 20-21, 26-28; Aug 2, 4, 11 and 18.

Detroit (DTW) to/from Tokyo-Haneda (HND)

• Outbound: Jul. 1-12, 14-20, 24, 26-27 and 29-30; Aug. 1-7, 9-12, 15-19, 21-27 and 29-31.
• Inbound: Jul. 1-13, 15-27 and 29-31; Aug. 5, 11-12, 15-18 and 21-31.

Los Angeles (LAX) to/from Tokyo-Haneda (HND)

• Outbound: Jul. 1-18, 20, 23 and 26-31; Aug. 2, 4-12, 15-31.
• Inbound: Jul. 1-31; Aug. 2, 5-6, 8, 11 14-24 and 26-30.

Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP) to/from Tokyo-Haneda (HND)

• Outbound: Jul. 1, 3-5, 7-8, 10-12, 14, 18-19, 24-26, 28 and 31; Aug. 1-2, 5, 7, 8-9, 11-12, 14, 15-16, 18-19, 21-23, 25-26 and 28-30.
• Inbound: Jul. 1-2, 4-6, 8-9, 11-12, 15-16, 18-20, 22-23, 25-27, 29-30; Aug. 1-2, 9, 12-13, 16-17, 19-20, 22-24, 26-27 and 29-31.

Related: Flight review: Delta One Suites (A350) from Detroit to Tokyo

How to book Delta One award space

You have a couple of options for booking Delta award tickets.

The most obvious is booking with Delta SkyMiles, but we rarely recommend doing this for long-haul Delta One tickets. The airline has transitioned to dynamic pricing that makes international business class extremely expensive — just check out this ticket from Minneapolis-Saint Paul (MSP) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND):

On the other hand, Delta partner Virgin Atlantic still has a standard award chart for partner award tickets. You'll spend just 60,000 points and minimal taxes and fees on any U.S. to Asia award ticket, which is an excellent deal. Better yet, you can transfer points from all of the major transferable points currencies to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Here's a look at the same Minneapolis to Tokyo flight when booking with Virgin Atlantic:

Even better, you can book your itinerary online — just head to the Virgin Atlantic website, enter your search criteria, and find the flight that works for you. There's no need to call in.

Related: Unlock incredible value with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Earning Virgin Atlantic points

As discussed, Virgin Atlantic is a partner of almost all the major transferable points currencies. You can transfer in points from American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi ThankYou at a 1:1 ratio. Additionally, points transfer at a 3:1 ratio from Marriott Bonvoy to Virgin Atlantic, and you'll earn a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer.

If you're new to the points and miles world, consider opening a Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card. These cards let you earn points on your daily purchases and have a lucrative welcome bonus. Just be aware that you need to be compliant with Chase's infamous 5/24 rule to be approved for one of these cards.

Here's a look at current offers:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Earn 2x points per dollar on travel and 3x points per dollar on dining purchases. $95 annual fee.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Earn 3x points per dollar on all travel and dining purchases. $550 annual fee.

On the other hand, American Express Membership Rewards cards generally have better bonus earning categories. For example, the American Express® Gold Card earns a huge 4x points at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year). Likewise, you can earn even more points with a welcome offer.

Here's a look at some of our favorite Amex cards:

• American Express® Green Card: Earn 45,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $2,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Earn 3x points at restaurants, travel and transit, 1x points on all other purchases, $150 annual fee (see rates and fees).
• American Express® Gold Card: Earn 60,000 points after you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases with your new card within the first six months of account opening. Earn 4x points on restaurants; 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year; then 1x points); 3x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines or via amextravel.com; 1x points on all other purchases, $250 annual fee (see rates and fees).
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 100,000 Membership Rewards Points after you spend $6,000 on purchases within the first 6 months of account opening. Earn 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines or Amex Travel (earn 5x points on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year, starting Jan. 1, 2021), 5x hotels booked through Amex Travel and Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts; 1x on all other purchases, $695 annual fee (see rates and fees).

The information for the Amex Green 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.

Related: Why transferable points are more valuable than ever

Bottom line

In this article, we showed you all of the award space from the U.S. to Asia in Delta One Suites on the carrier's new A350 aircraft. This is one of the best business class products flown by a U.S. carrier, and award space is usually hard to come by.

Remember, there's risk involved when you book travel during a pandemic. You may have to cancel your trip if borders don't reopen, and you could be stuck with Virgin Atlantic points as a result. But if you're comfortable with the risks, booking now presents a great way to lock in your summer 2021 travel early.

Safe travels!

Feature photo by The Points Guy

For rates and fees of the Amex Green, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum card, click here.