Delta begins flying down under on July 1 using B777-200ERs furnished with lie-flat seats in Business Class. The flight departs Los Angeles at 10:40 pm, arriving in Sydney at 6:40 am (plus two days), and departs Sydney at 9:15 am, arriving in Los Angeles at 6:00 am.
But has Delta priced itself too high? Its Business Class ticket runs $18,340 (not including taxes) — $873 more than Qantas charges to fly its new Skybed-furnished A380. Delta’s fare is a stunning 56% more than United's Sydney-Los Angeles Business Class non-stop. We’re betting that the carrier will offer a competitive 50-day advance fare sometime this spring.
Delta is also starting thrice-weekly service from Los Angeles to São Paulo on May 21. The flight departs Los Angeles at 9:00 pm, arriving in São Paulo at 1:20 pm the next day, and departs São Paulo at 10:25 pm, arriving at LAX at 7:30 am the next day. Currently, Delta is offering 50-day advance Business Class fares starting at $3,244; the only other non-stop service offered is with Korean Airlines, starting at $7,018.
Our research of award availability on Delta's new routes shows very few “low” mileage award seats; your best bet for both is to use the “medium” award. At that tier, we show seats to be plentiful on the Los Angeles-Sydney route, in both directions, from July though November. Round-trip cost: 240,000 miles. Medium-tier availability for Los Angeles-São Paulo is good from May through November, in both directions. Round-trip cost: 200,000 miles.
Recommendations: On the São Paulo route, unless you have miles to burn, you're better off paying cash for your ticket. To Sydney, use miles even if you have to book at the higher award tiers—anything to avoid paying $18,000.