Again and again, we've warned travelers with their hearts set on flying business class to forget about earning Delta SkyMiles. With normal rates of 400,000 SkyMiles or more (yes, each way), it's just not worth it.
Maybe the folks down in Atlanta were reading, because the tide has turned lately.
Over the past three months alone, we've found and sent Thrifty Traveler Premium members more than 10 award alerts for deeply discounted SkyMiles rates on Delta business class redemptions. That's more Delta One deals than we'd seen in the last three-plus years combined – and all of them include long-haul business class redemptions at lower SkyMiles rates than we'd seen since before the pandemic. A few highlights include:
- Nationwide flights from the U.S. to Seoul (ICN) in Delta One Suites as low as 85,000 SkyMiles each way
- Delta One Suites on the new route to Taipei (TPE) for as low as 83,000 SkyMiles – the lowest business class rate we've seen from Delta since 2020!
- Lie-flat Delta One fares all the way to Brisbane (BNE) in Australia for 123,000 SkyMiles each way
- Roundtrips to Auckland (AKL) for under 300,000 SkyMiles total
- And going back a few months more, we've seen fares to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) as low as 85,000 SkyMiles each way, too
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Are one-way business class tickets for 85,000 to 100,000 miles or more the best deals in the world? Not even close. You can book United or American business class across the pond for 80,000 or 57,500 of their miles, respectively. And other airline programs can get you a lie-flat seat abroad for just 50,000 miles – maybe even less. These recent Delta redemptions don't hold a candle to those deals.
But those other, superior business class deals are getting harder and harder to book. Airlines keep raising award rates like crazy while increasingly throttling the award space to actually book them with points in the first place.
Meanwhile, Delta is clearly trending the opposite way. I can't believe I'm writing this – and Delta could easily prove me wrong tomorrow – but after years of declaring SkyMiles worthless for flying business class, it's actually getting better. By a bit, anyway.
So while paying 100,000 miles or more for a business class seat might not seem like a deal, keep in mind: For travelers who have got SkyMiles and only SkyMiles, this is as good as it gets.
There are countless diehard Delta flyers sitting on a mountain of 1 million SkyMiles, dead set on flying only Delta and swiping their SkyMiles Amex card everywhere they go. For that crowd, these are the best deals we've seen in years – and one of the best ways to redeem SkyMiles, period.
But even if you've got a stash of 50,000 to 80,000 SkyMiles, it could easily be worth transferring some Amex Membership Rewards points from cards like the *amex gold* to Delta for enough SkyMiles to book deals like these. Yes, even if you have to pay a pesky fee to do so.
As always, travelers with a co-branded Delta card in their wallet like the *delta skymiles gold card* get the best deal thanks to the automatic 15% discount on Delta award tickets.
To be clear: SkyMiles rates north of 400,000 SkyMiles to fly business class abroad are still, unfortunately, the norm. These sales are still relatively few and far between – and many (but not all!) of them are gone now. And if flying business class is your goal, you'd still be much better off earning transferrable credit card points – not SkyMiles.
But the trend is undeniable: Delta One deals bookable with SkyMiles have made a comeback – particularly on those ultra-long flights across the Pacific, where a lie-flat seat is crucial. And considering one of the best ways to book Delta One for less recently took a hit, this recent string of SkyMiles deals is worth celebrating.
Getting to Brisbane (BNE) this coming winter – peak summer in Australia, no less – in a Delta One suite for 123,000 SkyMiles is tough to beat … not just with Delta, but any airline. Sure, you can book a Qantas business class seat to Sydney (SYD), Melbourne (MEL), or Brisbane for 80,000 American AAdvantage miles … but the award availability to actually book at those rates is nonexistent. So which one's the better deal, really: The one that's a pipe dream or the one that you can actually book?
Oh, and just to remind you: Here's what Delta otherwise might charge for those exact same flights.
Booking Delta One to Australia for a fraction of the SkyMiles Delta typically charges is one thing, but the alerts we've been finding lately are notable for another reason: Delta is even cutting a deal on many (but not all) one-way flights in business class. That's a rarity: With Delta SkyMiles flash sales, you almost always need to book roundtrip for savings.
Plus, almost every single Delta One deal we've found lately is flying the airline's latest and greatest Delta One Suites on its Airbus A350-900 or Airbus A330-900neos – not the outdated business class seats you'll still find on the majority of Delta's fleet.
Best of all, we're not just seeing these lower Delta One rates from one or two major airports like Los Angeles (LAX) or Seattle (SEA). No, the savings spread nationwide to virtually every airport – even major Delta hubs like Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) and Atlanta (ATL) that typically miss out on the best SkyMiles deals.
Take a look at this long list of airports that could get to Taipei (TPE) in Delta One Suites for 165,000 SkyMiles or less each way – and this isn't even half. Factor in the TakeOff 15 benefit that gives Delta cardholders another 15% discount, and these rates get even better.
Again, booking a flight to Seoul or Taipei in business class for 100,000 SkyMiles or more isn't the deal of the century by any means. Other airline programs can get you there for 70,000 points each way or less.
But if Delta SkyMiles are what you've got, you can't beat it.
What's Going on with Delta?
Good news about Delta SkyMiles? From the airline program that's practically synonymous with the word “devaluation” and whose executives have bragged that they don't need to “play the game with customers or with bloggers”?
Yes, really. For the first time in years – maybe a decade? – the value of SkyMiles seems to be inching up, not sliding further down. Which begs the question: What has changed down in Atlanta?
To be honest, I'm not quite sure I know the answer.
- Maybe, after four years of an uninterrupted travel boom, travel demand is finally softening?
- Maybe the business travelers Delta typically relies on to book its priciest seats are staying home – or defecting to other airlines?
- Maybe Delta is seriously struggling to fill seats on its new routes like Seattle (SEA) to Taipei (TPE), Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL), and Salt Lake City (SLC) to Seoul (ICN), leading to sale after sale?
- Or maybe years of devaluations combined with painful changes to earning Medallion Status have finally pushed once-diehard Delta flyers past the breaking point, putting Delta's goal of earning $10 billion a year from its relationship with American Express at risk … and forcing the airline to finally throw us a bone to win back customers' hearts and wallets?
Who knows? Odds are, it's probably some combination of all four along with the undeniable fact Delta SkyMiles are still, as always, unpredictable.
But more to the point: When deals flying business class using SkyMiles suddenly seem possible, who cares?
Bottom Line
No matter how you're booking, getting a good deal flying Delta One business class is no sure thing. But after months (if not years) of staring down rates of 400,000 SkyMiles each way, this trend of solid deals is undeniable – and it's amazing.
We still wouldn't encourage travelers to pile up SkyMiles for a big business class redemption. But for those of you who already have a mountain of SkyMiles and aims to book a lie-flat seat for less, things are suddenly looking up.
I do think travel softening is just at the tip of the iceberg. I mean, when was the last market crash? For some years now, we have been in the bubble of everything. With peak house prices, many are taking money out and buying business class seats (splurging). When checking at close in international flights for Delta and anytime in the week, almost all of the biz seats are taken. A lot of people are forking out the cash.
I wonder if there will be a nice biz sale for Black Friday?
What, Delta is not getting enough people to bite on the high miles so it lowered them to get some miles redeeamed. but wait untill enough bite on that before up they go again. Wanna Bet?
As the economy cools, hopefully Delta will reconsider those sky high (ridiculous) mile redemptions!
Astonishing, for the rest of this year from TYO to the West Coast, Delta Suites are pretty much packed?!! With millions of baby boomers retiring, I believe they are actually paying the revenue based seats!! Case in point, my recent (June) 3 week Central Europe tour, almost everyone was retired. This was not the case before Covid.