bbbacres

Finally ready to take an award trip with our Delta miles and really want to get the most out of it. In just playing with the calendar I notice taxes can vary from a little over 100 to 350. Well for two people that savings is a few dinners out So prefer to save there. Have some calendar flexibility.

We would fly FROM Vegas and RETURN to Vegas. Travel something like Dec 11 and return 26. Dates can vary.

Any thoughts on how best to maximize our trip value? Can stopovers be complimentary without extra cost?

What about flying via the EAST Coast? All the flights I see leave from the West coast. Could one fly to Bangkok through JFK and Paris, then get a stopover in Paris for that same kind of miles?

Best kind of award I've found is 90k per person, and would like to keep it at that or lower.

I know these are basic questions. I'm Platinum, so I can make changes. Would appreciate some advice and I think this group is a wealth of info. I love that the veterans who have used a lot of award tickets can share their knowledge.

PS My thought is to just book a ticket so I have one I won't lose and may just go that, but all of the above questions might affect how I go back and try to change.

3Cforme

Delta awards do not permit stopovers. If you have a stopover - an international connection longer than 24 hours - you will break the fare and need more miles for the trip.

Comparing low band awards via the West Coast and the same band via East Coast, East Coast routings will cost more because they will be constructed as two awards, USA/Europe + Europe/SE Asia.

It may be possible to see low band awards via the East Coast that will be cheaper than mid/high awards via the West Coast.

Christmas is a popular time to travel. It may not be possible to find awards for several people in the lowest award band, presently 80K per person r/t in coach.

See my signature link for an award overview.

bbbacres

Thanks for the info, makes total sense. I will drop the idea of BKK via a europe routing. But still very frustrated with the Delta booking system. When I try to book an award ticket, it shows trips available for 90k miles. I go through the entire process, even picking seats, and at the end am ready to pay. Only at the last click after a long process a prompt appears saying the ticket is no longer available and to start again. Been doing this a few hours. Its great you know that 80k is the low, (tho not avail now) I could not find that figure.

Anyway, I'm wanting to get one of these tickets to take. Its for 2 people.

Xmas is a popular travel time, but I have flexibility and I do find supposed open dates by seeking off dates. For example, depart 13, return 28. But again, these disappear when I try to pay.

Is it possible just to go to the partner airline and book it on their site, but using my Delta miles? I would imagine that has been tried. What has been the result?

flyerCO

Only the airline the miles are from can book the ticket. Also call. DL.com won't search some valid connections. Such as LAX-TPE-BKK on CI.

MSPeconomist

IIRC DL doesn't fly to BKK any more, so you can't connect through NRT using DL only. Instead, you must fly to someplace in Asia and then connect using partner flights into BKK. Your options would include Korean through ICN (a generally pleasant and efficient airport for connections), China Air (the one based in Taiwan) through TPE, CZ or MU through PVG, CAN or PEK, and probably Garuada (spelling?) if I'm not forgetting anything.

Partner award space is necessarily "low" miles, but might not be visible or bookable on line; there can also be phantom availability. You might have better luck calling DL for this. For some award flights, you might have better luck if you can convince a DL agent to do a long sell starting with an otherwise empty PNR. When the partner flight is confirmed, the DL agent can add the DL segments.

Watch out for additive pricing in miles when a low partner flight and a not-low DL flight are combined into a single award ticket. It can cost a shocking number of miles because not all of the award space is at the same level.

milesk

I hope I was just having a bad dream but I thought recently I read that all DL partners were no longer at the lowest level. I really hope that's all it was because I can't find where I read that now.

kop84

I'd definitely see what you can find for KE...they have a LAS/ICN flight most days and you're only one stop option

flyerCO

There's still only one level. However for flights to/from US if the long haul is not on DL you pay more then if it was

DA201

If you want to have a stopover, just choose a flight with a really long layover in a city. It will give you time to leave the airport and explore the city for a little bit (Flights from LAX are the same amount of miles and layovers up to 13 hours in China).

If you fly from SEA, it is 85k not 90k. Slightly different dates (+/- 2), but you said you were flexible.

airmotive

And remember, you dont have to get all the way to BKK.
It was a few years ago, my wife and i took a miles/points holiday to Bangkok.
We flew on Skymiles to/from Dubai. I found two low business awards and snagged them...and THEN planned our holiday.

From Dubai, we paid cash on Jet Airways round-trip to Bangkok via Mumbai. Tickets were not expensive at all.

Find the award flights you can afford that get you in the right part of the world, then see what the cash price is to reach your destination. Chinese airlines are a skymiles bargain, especially business class. With the 72 hour transit visa and lots of inexpensive flights in the region, that might be the way to go.
Know the risks of havimg a nested trip and plan accordingly.

flyerCO

Most cities are 144 HR TWOV nowadays.

MSPeconomist

Before planning to go to/through China using TWOV, be aware that you could have trouble about being allowed to board your flight, despite having a confirmed and ticketed itinerary that's TWOV compliant. This should not be attempted by a novice.

3Cforme

Stopover is an industry-defined term with a specific meaning. You're describing a lengthy connection. Here's the citation from DL's international contract of carriage:

Stopover
1) Not applicable to travel between Canada and Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands) A stopover will occur
when a passenger arrives at an intermediate point and is not scheduled to depart within 24
hours of arrival.

CarmenOM

In addition to looking at BKK flights, you might look at flights to SIN. It's an easy airport for connections, with good overnight options. You can get flights from SIN-BKK for around $100 RT on Air Asia. And you'll get to experience one of the great airports of the world!

Starboard22

Hello. Long time reader, first time contributor. Can you explain why there may be issues? I have a ticket booked this summer for LAX-PVG (20 hour layover in PVG) and then on to BKK. Now I'm nervous. My flight originating from LAX is on Delta and the flight from PVG to BKK is on Shanghai Airways (booked on delta.com).

Is it sometimes better just to go ahead and pay for a Visa than using TWOV?