Delta Airlines Skymiles Best Redemptions: SweetSpots
Intro
Just this past week, I booked a flight using Delta Skymiles at a very reasonable rate. The more that I dive into this program, the more that I see the value in it. However, all of these sweet spots I will be going over are not in the Western Hemisphere, as Delta seems to have the best award rates if we look East.
Let's get into it!
Sweet Spot 1: North East Asia-South East Asia 40,000 Miles (Garuda)
This might be my favorite sweet spot when it comes to using Delta Skymiles. I recently booked an award on a seven-hour flight from Tokyo to Jakarta onboard the Garuda A330-900neo (praying for no aircraft swap) for 40,000 miles. The taxes and fees come out to about 18-19$ out of South Korea and about 25$ out of Japan.
The best part is that almost every day in August, I seem to find wide open award space from either Seoul or Tokyo to Jakarta/Denpasar.
I've yet to get the review of the Garuda A330 out, but the soft product is fantastic, with flutes in business class and overall friendly Indonesian service🙂.
Sweet Spot 2: North East Asia- Australia 65K Miles (Garuda)
On the topic of Garuda, it seems like a good idea to continue with that. Instead of just flying to Jakarta or Bali with Garuda, you can decide to add a leg to Sydney for an extra 25,000 miles in business class. 65,000 miles+ minimal taxes for about 14 hours in business class isn't bad at all.
The only issue with this is the lack of availability. In order to find flights, you must be able to book an "O" fare for both legs. Layovers are not permitted. Over the course of the next month, I have found 3 dates with availability on the Sydney leg, meaning it's possible if you are flexible.
Sweet Spot 3: Air France to South Africa 65K Miles
Moving onwards, the next one on the list contains Air France. Now, 65K miles to South Africa from Europe is a fantastic deal, but there lies one problem: taxes. Delta does not pass on the taxes and fees and charges upwards of 500 euros one way to head down south.
If you happen to have a load of Skymiles and are willing to front 542 euros, this is a great redemption as one-way cash fares can be upwards of 5000$. The best part is that there seems to be half-decent award space, and the flight will be on the new Air France 777 Business Class product with doors!
Sweet Spot 4: Air France to Singapore 80K Miles
Once again, for the final sweet spot, we will be looking at Air France. Specifically, this route contains Air France nonstop from Paris to Singapore in Business Class for 80K miles. Let's start with the goods. The best part is you should be on a refurbished 777, just like with Johannesburg, and there seems to be space almost every day of August.
Now, the bad. Delta does not pass on the carrier-imposed surcharges and ends up charging 542 euros one way to Singapore. Still, this resembles one of the cheapest ways to get from Europe to South East Asia on points.
Final Thoughts
Delta SkyMiles isn't that bad of an award program when it comes to redeeming outside of the United States. The issue lies when it comes to redemptions from the US to Europe on either Delta One or Virgin Atlantic. 375K miles for a 6-hour flight to London in Business Class is absurd.
If you happen to be planning a trip to Asia or Africa, this could be a fantastic idea in terms of redemptions!
Bonus redemption: Paris- Sydney for 90,000 Skymiles with a stop in Saigon. Europe to Australia in Business Class for 90,000!! Now that is one heck of a deal.
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