Delta Releases 2015 Award Chart
November 19, 2014
Delta had already released its 2015 award chart for travel beginning in the United States (exlcuding Hawaii) and Canada, and now Delta has released SkyMiles Award Charts for 2015 from all other parts of the world.
The current award chart controls for awards BOOKED in 2014, and the 2015 chart for awards BOOKED in 2015, regardless of when the flights are flown.
In addition to new award charts, we will see two major rule changes on Delta awards for awards booked January 1, 2015 or later:
Delta will allow one way awards for half the price of roundtrips
Delta will
No Stopovers on Delta Awards from January 1, 2015
November 18, 2014
As widely predicted, Delta is eliminating stopovers on its awards starting January 1, 2015. Its SkyMiles program rules page says as much.
This is a bummer, but the good news is that one way awards will be bookable with Delta miles starting January 1, 2015, and Delta has already improved its online search.
American eliminated stopovers on awards this year, and the US Airways program will cease to exist in quarter 2 of 2015, which means United will be the only American program that allows stopovers very soon.
Delta Improves Award Searches Dramatically
November 17, 2014
An actual improvement to delta.com!
Previously, you could search award space one month at a time with a calendar on delta.com, but that calendar only took into account award space on Delta flights. Because much of the Saver award space available to people with Delta miles is available on partner airlines, that meant that in practice, you really had to search delta.com one day at a time to get the full picture.
United,Off Peak,AAdvantage,US Airways,Lufthansa,Flying Blue,Delta
Master Thread: Off Peak Awards
November 3, 2014
Off peak awards allow us to stretch our miles further by booking discounted awards to select regions during certain pre-determined dates. Off peak awards are offered by several airlines, and this post will put all the off peak awards I know of in one place.
While off peak awards are often less desirable dates, there are some off peak dates that are actually my favorite times to visit a country.
Solid Delta Award Sale for Winter Travel
October 31, 2014
Delta has an award sale for economy awards booked by November 3, 2014 and flown between December 3, 2014 and February 18, 2015 within the United States, Caribbean, and Americas.
The discounts are nice, especially to Southern South America (Chile, Argentina, Brazil):
There are a ton of restrictions:
Blackout dates: December 19 through December 24, 2014, December 26, 2014 through January 5, 2015, January 16, 2015, January 19, 2015, February 13, 2015 and February 16, 2015
Blackout cities: Caracas, Venezuela; Cancun, Mexico;
Delta,Award Booking,Devaluation
Something Fishy is Going on with Delta Stopovers
October 28, 2014
Update 11/17/14: To book a stopover on an international award, you need to call Delta because the functionality has been removed from the website. I speculate that starting 1/1/15, Delta awards will not allow stopovers.
One Mile at a Time reports that Delta has stealthily eliminated stopovers on awards.
That's not quite correct, but something very fishy is going on. Here's how I know it is not true.
Above is a roundtrip award from Washington DC to Los Angeles. On the outbound, there is a one week stopover in Minneapolis.
US Airways,United,AAdvantage,Delta,Award Booking
Australia over Christmas and New Years on Miles
October 15, 2014
I get a ton of requests at my Award Booking Service for people who want to fly from the United States to Australia or New Zealand over Christmas and New Year's with their frequent flyer miles. Usually the request is to fly in Business or First Class.
I want to dissuade you from this goal because it is one of the toughest awards to book.
Last month I wrote "The Easiest Places to Get with Miles." Miles are awesome and can get you almost anywhere in the world cheaper and more luxuriously than most people realize.
Delta Ends Round the World Awards Effective 1/1/15
October 6, 2014
According to Delta's website: "Round-the-World Award Tickets will not be issued on or after January 1, 2015." (Hat Tip Delta Points)
I called Delta at 800-323-2323 to ask about booking a RTW award, and the agent said that it was just announced today to representatives that RTW awards would no longer be bookable starting January 1, 2015. She said it was a short communique announcing their demise.
I mused aloud, "I wonder why," to see if she had any insight into the thinking.
Limit on Transferring Points to Delta is No Big Deal
October 2, 2014
Starting in 2015, you will only be able to transfer 250,000 Membership Rewards to Delta miles per year and 200,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points to 250,000 Delta miles per year.
United,US Airways,AAdvantage,Avios,Delta
Five Underpriced Countries for Your Next Award
September 25, 2014
Sometimes you can go really far for not very miles by finding underpriced countries on your favorite award chart.
Award charts, by their nature, group several countries together for a single price. The countries at the extremes of each group are often underpriced relative to the rest of the group, leaving you the chance to get a great deal with your miles.
Here are five examples of underpriced countries on the American Airlines, United, Delta, US Airways, and British Airways award charts.
1.