BostonFlyer1624

I'm new to Delta, but over the last few weeks, I have been looking to book a US (BOS) to Europe (CDG) award seat for this summer. The only thing showing up are awards that cost 200,000+ miles roundtrip. Are DL awards typically this high when you don't book their specials or saver awards? I like DL's product but the sheer amount of miles required makes me think twice about if my loyalty is worth it since it would take forever to get that many miles.

Jaimito Cartero

ethernal

Outside of a flash sale, the lowest rate you will ever see TATL is 172K round trip - 200K is not bad (unfortunately) for Delta TATL. If you see a flight you like for 200K, you should take it. Most availability at most airports is more on the order 300-400K+.

3Cforme

The OP didn't specify Business class.

MarkCron

I see 161k for Delta One in July. Connecting flights of course, but many dates/options.

BostonFlyer1624

I was looking at econ, and flying the BOS-CDG nonstop route. I cant believe 200,000 points is typical. I can go to Europe on AA for <50,000 miles. Crazy.

gregsfortytwo

That doesn't seem like a reasonable average to be seeing since you can presumably fly it for less than that via Pay With Miles.

But if you are fixated on a particular city pair non-stop routing with limited date flexibility, it becomes a lot more plausible — there may be events happening or those flights may have a lot of value as feeders on more expensive routings. I've noticed some of Delta's city pairs seem bizarrely expensive in cash when compared to partner flights on the same route, but it all varies based on immediate demand. :/

sky_priority

pfreet

Look around. I'm flying MCO-LHR for 44,000 in July. You have to look for flexible dates, try different airports.

Duke787

Have you tried any other combinations? You can probably find the BOS - LHR VS flight for as low as 25k one some days and just take the train

ijgordon

keneshhagard

One way flights vs. round trip flights are priced differently. Keep that in mind.

PHXflier

Just like with everything else it is buyer beware. There are some incredibly good deals to be had with DL miles (with each mile worth $0.03-$0.04), and other times they charge an arm and a leg. So, use your miles only when it makes sense and you get good redemption value.

xliioper

210K is the maximum roundtrip amount on DL (two YSY1050 awards). With a bit of flexibility, you can certainly find lower rates than that. The lowest award level on DL metal is 37K each-way (YSV370 award) and partners (like AF/KL/VS) are 25K each-way (YSMH250 award). While it's difficult to find 25K partner awards in the summer, there are certainly a number of dates with 37K level availability on DL. For example, using flexible dates mode, I found outbound availability for two non-stop awards at 37K on 7/7, 7/13-15, 7/17, 7/22, 7/24, 7/25, 7/27, and 7/29. Finding return availability is more challenging and you'll probably need to compromise on non-stop desire (but then you can't get AA awards non-stop on this route either). There's partner availability at 25K on 7/25, 8/8, 8/12 - 8/16, 8/19 - 8/22 (these generally involve LHR or AMS connections). There's DL availability at 37K on 8/7, 8/9, 8/18, and 8/23 (LHR connections). Pairing a DL award with partner will be 62K roundtrip, and DL each-way would be 74K roundtrip. You'll want to book as roundtrip (not one-way's) to avoid ex-EU award surcharges. Note that default sort order in flight listings is not lowest-price (and the lowest options may not be on first page). You'll want to select that when searching for these options.

Aliquot

DL miles are certainly the least valuable of the US based airlines' miles. Yes, you can find some good deals if you have time to search and are flexible, but generally no....

As an example, I just used AS miles to get first class tickets BOS-CDG for half what DL is asking for economy (although it required a 1 stop). That rate was avilible on all five days I cecheckwd in June and July.