Singapore Devalues Star Alliance Award Chart; Best Awards Untouched

REMINDER: Singapore's award prices to Europe in First Class and Africa, Asia, and Oceania in all classes are increasing in price as of December 7, 2017 (this Thursday).

Book These United Awards By Today

As a reminder I'm bumping this post to the top of the blog since today is your last day to redeem United miles before the devaluation kicks in tomorrow!

Back in June I wrote about the changes United MileagePlus announced to go into effect November 1, 2017.

United MileagePlus Changes Effective November 1, 2017

You might want grab a cup of something caffeinated for this one.

Comparison of United, Delta, & American Airlines Latest 2017 Award Charts

Which airline has the best miles and frequent flyer program? United, American, and Delta are the big three legacy carriers that most directly compete with each other in the United States. For that reason, I publish charts that compare their award prices.

United and American Airlines currently have award charts that were devalued in February 2014 and March 2016 respectively. Delta's is in a state of constant devaluation with frequent unannounced price changes that come into effect for flights flown a few months later.

The Loophole in Last Week’s Delta Devaluation is Now Closed

Last week I wrote about how Delta devalued SkyMiles, yet again, by increasing the prices of awards flying partners to:

Europe in Business Class, now 85,000 miles instead of 70,000
North Asia in Business Class, now 95,000 miles instead of 80,000
Australia in Business Class, now 115,000 miles instead of 95,000
South America in Business Class, now 100,000 miles instead of 75,000
South America in economy, now 35,000 miles instead of 30,000

At the time of writing that post, however, there remained one loophole for getting your award to price

Delta’s at it Again: Partner Award Devaluation

I hope you weren't saving your Delta miles for an award flying a partner airline like Virgin Atlantic or China Eastern, or you might be sorely disappointed the next time you check out delta.com.

In the beginning of 2015, Delta got rid of their online award charts. The price of a Delta award became whatever Delta's computers said it was. Travel is Free has the latest aggregation of standard Delta award prices, but at the end of the day those prices don't matter if they don't match your search results.

The Least Notice Delta Devaluation To Date: Award Price to India Increases

Delta has devalued its miles with no notice (again), but this time is even worse than prior instances. While Delta's never announced an award price change, they at least have increased the prices for travel a few months in advance. For example, at the end of this past August, Delta increased the price of a Business Class award to Europe from 62,500 miles to 70,000 miles for travel beginning January 1, 2017 and on.

This time, there's no buffer period whatsoever.

United Award Pricing Change Devalues MileagePlus

To sum it up one sentence and rip off the Band-Aid: The results from a basic United award search now define all possible routing options if you want the flights to price as one award. Building your own itinerary if you don't like what the computer gives you has become considerably more expensive.

In the past, if you didn't like what United's award search tool displayed, you could search segment-by-segment and piece them together as one award as long as you followed United's award rules.

Another Secret Delta Devaluation: Business Class to Europe Getting More Expensive

Delta has devalued its miles with no notice (again.)

Effective immediately, awards for travel from January 1, 2017 on are going up in price from the United States to Europe in Business Class.
USA to Europe
Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania;

Delta Devaluation for Awards to Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America for Travel October 1, 2016

I am re-publishing this post as a reminder that as of October 1, 2016, Delta Skymiles prices for Business Class awards between North American and Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America are becoming more expensive. Economy awards between the United States and South Africa, the Southwest Pacific, and the Middle East are getting cheaper however. 

If you have been saving your Skymiles for a Business Class award to any of those areas, consider booking so your trip is completed before October 1.