maverikbc

now I saw better dates for 500mi less, so I went to make a change. After pressing the change or confirm button on the final page including the refund of 500mi and 0 difference in fees and taxes, the screen said there was a problem, and instructed me to call. I haven't received any confirmations, so I'm glad that I took a screen shot of the final page.

Before I call them I've noticed these irregularities:
* 500mi hasn't been refunded yet, and transaction history hasn't shown this change.
* The itinerary has been updated, but one flight (WS) from old booking still shows up. It needs to be deleted, so it won't trigger the no show and the rest of my itinerary gets cancelled.
*. I can request to be on waitlist for C+, but not F.
* All DL metals class changed from main cabin (N) to main cabin (NX).
*. When I press 'view receipt' it shows old dates.

It's been like this for a few hours now after logging out and back in multiple times.

I'm not in a hurry, so I'll give them a few days before calling them, but it can be frustrating if I was trying to book something else and 500mi short.

aacar

One of the better award values I've seen...DTW-FLL on 7/1 for $179 vs. 6,500 SM (Main Cabin).
Looks like the cheaper revenue fares have blackout dates but the awards (mistakenly?) don't.

xliioper

They generally don't have blackout dates on the award levels. There are flights that have wide-open inventory and are V9 on 7/1, but, as noted, cheaper X and V revenue fares have blackout dates on 7/1 and 7/2 (see below) leaving only the pricier $179 T fares available for purchase. The cheapest award levels are only limited by award bucket inventory and advance purchase requirement (21 days for the 6.5K YSX065 award level). If you fly on 6/30 instead, you'll see the main cabin fares are available from $89 as that is not a blackout date for cheaper fares. I suppose they could simulate the revenue fare blackout dates by limiting the bucket inventory in the award buckets on those dates, but they apparently aren't that sophisticated with the inventory management. Note that while revenue fare and award bucket inventory are generally close, they don't always align and seem to be managed somewhat independently.

BLACKOUT DATES

TRAVEL IS NOT PERMITTED 01JUL 21 THROUGH 02JUL 21 OR 02SEP 21 THROUGH 03SEP 21 OR ON 06SEP 21 OR 19NOV 21 THROUGH 20NOV 21 OR 23NOV 21 THROUGH 24NOV 21 OR 27NOV 21 THROUGH 29NOV 21 OR 17DEC 21 THROUGH 18DEC 21 OR 22DEC 21 THROUGH 23DEC 21 OR 26DEC 21 THROUGH 28DEC 21

JoelThomas

SBN-ATL-MSP-SBN 31k miles in F

CR9s on the legs in/out of SBN, but ATL-MSP is on a 763.

SBN-MSP-SBN was the same price, so turning it into a mini mileage run while award flights are earning MQMs
Booked a few days ago, don't remember what cash price was that day, but for the exact itinerary today it's pricing $900+ (but can go nonstop for ~$400)

RealHJ

There are published blackout dates. See here: https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles.../program-rules
go to Using Miles -> Blackout Dates

There are no published blackout dates for DL flights, but it's been common practice to have "whiteout dates," when a period of several weeks will be all white (nothing available) on the award calendar for certain routes, while there are plenty of seats up for revenue sale on the very same DL flights.

seychellesbound

Glad to report after 8+ years of SkyMiles devaluations, the US to Southern Africa low / saver coach award is still pricing at 40,000 one-way.

Successfully ticketed DTW-CDG-SEZ on AF metal online for $50 in taxes per person.

Still living up to the FT handle!

t1c

nice! congrats!

euromannn

Taxes are higher returning through Europe.
How about return flight miles/fees?

KRUXED

very nice. Similarly we snagged round trip from the east coast to Maldives over the new year holiday for 45,000 each way on Air France

JetOutTonight

Oct 21 KL JFK-AMS 789 economy x2 passOct 22 KL AMS-DPS 773 business x2 pass
total: 430,000 SM's (215k each)
Nov 4 KE/AM/DL DPS-ICN-MEX-JFK 330/788/75D business/business/DFC x2 passtotal: 272,000 SM's (136k each)
My dates were limited; return trip seems like solid value. Not the best hard or soft products. Still mostly satisfied.

Open to feedback. Especially tips/tricks to better routing/flight options. I would even consider changing my outbound flight if there are other options with SM's that I missed.

Duke787

215k/person is a crazy amount to pay for JFK - DPS where JFK - AMS is in Y

JetOutTonight

I agree. I see an alternative that could save me a total of 108 SM's. There is an earlier flight on DL that is only 66k SM's pp for C+. I see the AMS-DPS award space in business as a separate fare.

There is a long 10+ hr layover. I am afraid of booking separate segment tickets and the risk that comes with that. According to the agent I spoke with at DL they cannot combine/connect the two flights. Not sure if this is completely true.

Duke787

C+ is free as PM but I just looked and the DL website has your itinerary available for 215k but with the whole thing in J right now. That’s a much better value and given your time constraints and the schedule issues right now because of COVID is at least more palatable. I’m searching JFK - DPS on 10/21/21 for 2x and seeing this

JetOutTonight

That's an error, go to checkout you will see. Economy JFK-AMS business AMS-DPS.

JetOutTonight

That's an error, go to checkout you will see. Economy JFK-AMS business AMS-DPS.