Save Up to 78% on First and Business Class

April 2010
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Delta and 23 Partners’ Extravagant Mileage Purchase Bonus

Right now there’s a great opportunity to secure an international Business Class or domestic First Class ticket for less than half price, but you won’t see it advertised as such. While the airlines avoid reducing the perceived value of their premium seats with discounts, they leave avenues open for knowledgeable travelers to find deals.

Through April 30th, Delta’s SkyMiles program offers a 50% bonus on purchased miles (60,000 maximum), and a 50% bonus on gift miles (same limit, same deadline). Combining the two offers nets you 180,000 miles that you can use to slash up to 78% from the price of premium-cabin travel. Considering that many domestic First Class fares run north of $2,000, and international Business Class on Delta and its partner airlines (Air France, KLM, Malaysia Airlines, and 20 others) can cost up to $10,000, the savings amount to hundreds—even thousands—of dollars.

First Class award seats for domestic travel on Delta start at 45,000 miles, but with the 50% bonus, the effective cost is only 30,000 miles—just 5,000 miles more than many carriers’ coach rates. To Hawaii, Delta charges 75,000 miles, but with the promo, you need buy only 50,000. Travel to Europe and South America costs 68,000 miles (saving 32,000); Africa, the Middle East, India, and Asia cost 80,000 miles (saving 40,000); the South Pacific costs 100,000 miles (saving 50,000).

Sample Savings on International Business Class

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How to Work It

Domestic Destinations: Taking advantage of the 50% bonus when buying miles for  an award ticket from Delta’s lowest-priced tier reduces the cost of a domestic First Class round-trip to $840. Compare that to the regular Los Angeles-New York fare of $2,494, Detroit-Los Angeles at $2,246, or Dallas-New York at $2,062 (see chart, below right, for award availability). With First Class fares this high, you’ll also see substantial savings when using a mid-tier award at $1,512, which expands award availability to almost all months.

Hawaii: With bonus miles, Delta’s lowest-tier award ticket to Hawaii costs $1,400 round-trip, compared to $2,794 for the Minneapolis- Honolulu route, and $2,094 for Los Angeles- Maui (see chart at right for award availability).

International Destination: With bonus miles, Delta’s lowest-tier Business Class award ticket to Paris costs $1,904 round-trip, compared to a 50-day advance purchase Los Angeles-Paris fare of $3,398 (see chart below for award availability).

If you aren’t a SkyMiles member, enroll soon: This promotion is valid only with accounts that have been established for at least 10 days and have earned at least one mile.

For more information: Delta SkyMiles Bonus

First and Business Class Low-Tier Award Availabilty on Delta

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[["<strong>Route<\/strong>","<strong>Miles Required<\/strong>","<strong>Cost of Miles<\/strong>","<strong>Lowest Published Advance Fare<\/strong>","<strong>Savings<\/strong>"],["Atlanta - Tokyo","80,000","$2,240","$5,340","$3,100 \/ 58%"],["Chicago - Johannesburg","80,000","$2,240","$4,199","$1,959 \/ 47%"],["Minneapolis - Amsterdam","68,000","$1,904","$3,165","$1,261 \/ 40%"],["San Francisco - Mumbai","80,000","$2,240","$10,180","$7,940 \/ 78%"],["Washington, DC - Buenos Aires","68,000","$1,904","$4,576","$2,672 \/ 58%"]]
[["<strong>Route \/ Class<\/strong>","<strong>Availability<\/strong>"],["Dallas - New York \/ First","Both directions plentiful Apr. and May, good Oct., Jan., and Feb."],["Detroit - Los Angeles \/ First","Plentiful both directions Apr., May, and Sep. through Feb."],["Los Angeles - Maui \/ First","Both directions plentiful Apr., May, Sep., and Jan., good Oct. and Nov."],["Los Angeles - New York \/ First","Plentiful both directions Apr. and May."],["Los Angeles - Paris \/ Business","Plentiful both directions the first two weeks of Dec., Jan., and Feb."],["Minneapolis - Honolulu \/ First","Both directions plentiful Apr., May, and Jan., good Oct. through Dec."]]