Eight Great Routes to Africa, Asia and Europe to Book Now.
In a world of “easy come, easy go,” it’s nice to write about something that stays, especially when that something is a very attractive deal offered on Delta—rarely on my preferred list given their dud SkyMiles program.
But keen readers will know that we’ve been excited about Delta’s Virgin Atlantic opportunity for a while now. It’s where you use Virgin Atlantic Miles—which you can transfer from Amex, Chase, Marriott, and Citi points programs—rather than using Delta SkyMiles to book seats on Delta flights.
Wait—don’t use Delta miles on Delta’s own flights?
You heard it here, folks.
This is because Delta releases a very limited number of low-cost mileage award seats to its own SkyMiles members—a different number than it releases to its partner Virgin Atlantic. So, using Virgin Atlantic miles for the same Delta flights can open up low-cost award space that Delta doesn’t offer its own members. Who would suspect such a thing?
This is the seventh FCF special report on this very subject, and particularly worth reading as there’s some good news to tell you about: Three impressive destination deals to use Virgin Atlantic miles. Let’s check out the deals…
Africa for $2,429, a Savings of 70%
Delta flies Atlanta to Lagos, Nigeria, where we found award space using Virgin miles for travel November through September. More here.
The cost to use Delta miles is often 700,000 miles round-trip and $93 in award taxes, while Virgin Atlantic only charges 120,000 and $93 for taxes.
If you don’t have the miles, the cost to buy them (more on this below) is currently as low as $2,429 round-trip (includes taxes and about $93 in award tax). The lowest published fare is $7,979, a savings of $5,550 (70%).
Asia for $2,936, a Savings of 72%
Delta flies Atlanta to Shanghai and our truffle hounds found award space using Virgin miles for travel May through September. More here and here for travel to Asia.
The cost to use Delta miles is generally 720,000 miles round-trip and $60 in award taxes, while Virgin Atlantic only charges 120,000 and the same $60 for taxes.
If you don’t have the miles, the cost to buy them (more on this below) is as low as $2,936 round-trip (includes taxes and about $60 in award tax). The lowest published fare is $8,705, a savings of $6,309 (72%).
Europe for $2,226, a Savings of 49%
Delta flies Atlanta to Stuttgart and FCF’s team found award space using Virgin miles for travel February, March, and July through September. More here.
The cost to use Delta miles is generally 640,000 miles round-trip and $91 in award taxes, while Virgin Atlantic only charges 100,000 and $280 for taxes.
If you don’t have the miles, the cost to buy them (more on this below) is as low as $2,226 round-trip (includes taxes and about $280 in award tax), while the lowest published fare is $4,370, a savings of $2,144 (49%).
Two Ways to Buy Miles Cheaply, Including a 40% Bonus Deal
First Way to Buy Miles: Until Nov. 13, there’s a buy-miles deal offered by Virgin Atlantic of up to 40% (the bonus varies: 20%, 30%, or 40%). You have to log in to your Virgin Atlantic account to find out your deal, which can get you as many as 140,000 Virgin miles for as little as $2,725. That’s 1.94 cents per mile.
Second Way to Buy Miles: Another way is to buy Amex Membership Reward points (no time limit on this one) for 2.5 cents each and transfer them to Virgin Atlantic. Check out How to Buy American Express Membership Rewards Points, and When to Buy Miles Instead of Purchasing a Normal Published Fare.
Good News: If you have Amex, Chase or Citi points, you can transfer them to Virgin Atlantic miles to get these deals as well.
If you need more miles, follow our guide to getting around the purchase limits here.
HOW TO SEARCH FOR DELTA FLIGHTS THAT CAN BE BOOKED ONLINE USING VIRGIN ATLANTIC MILES
There’s no need to create a Virgin Atlantic mileage account to check for space. However, if you are booking award space, then you’ll have to log in. Just go to “Book” and click “Advanced search.”
For more on searching for Delta flights, see our special report here (the pertinent information is about halfway down the page with the same headline as above).
How to Add Connecting Flights
If you need to add extra flights to your non-stop Delta flight, you’ll have to spend more miles: a one-way domestic (non-transcontinental) flight costs 22,500 more Virgin miles. More on how to book Delta connecting flights with Virgin miles.
What Routes Can be Booked Online or by Phone
Unfortunately, not all routes can be booked online with Virgin because its booking engine doesn’t have all of the Delta routes loaded.
For a list of the non-stop Delta routes that can be booked using Virgin miles by phone or online, go here and scroll down to the “how to play these hits” section.
Need-To-Knows When Using Virgin Atlantic Miles
For many other fine points such as: credit card partnerships, throughout-the-year transfer bonuses, and mileage award taxes, go here.
Final Checks for Buying Virgin Atlantic Miles
- The cost-per-mile varies, as each member receives a different bonus. If you received a 20% bonus, then your cost-per-mile is 2.27¢; a 30% bonus, then the cost is 2.09¢; and a 40% bonus yields a cost-per-mile of 1.94¢.
- Before you can buy miles with Virgin, you must have made at least one Flying Club earning or spending transaction.
The Virgin buy miles purchase limit has been reset to 100,000 until the end of 2019. This means you can purchase a total of 100,000 miles between now and Dec. 31.