Plus new FCF upgrade treasure maps to more exotic destinations that make booking dream trips fast and easy.
As we’ve been saying for a while now (here, here, and here), using Delta SkyMiles to fly on Delta is NOT the best strategy, strange as it may seem.
Instead, use Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Delta because they have better award rates and MUCH better award space than you will find on Delta.com.
Add in the 30% Bonus Deal and You Have a Symphony
Right now (through July 1) there is a 30% American Express points-transfer bonus deal offered with Virgin Atlantic miles that makes the extraordinary deal that much better.
Not only is Amex Rewards offering a 30% transfer bonus, but points transfers from Citi ThankYou Rewards to Virgin Atlantic also receive a 30% bonus through June 22.
For example, the great deals to Europe for 100,000 Virgin Atlantic miles—that normally run 300,000 to 560,000 on Delta.com—are only 78,000 Amex or Citi points with the transfer bonus deal.
That’s the same as getting Business Class for a bit more than the cost of coach—given that for economy tickets to Europe, many airlines charge around 60,000 miles. At times, Delta charges even more.
FCF has also been busy finding interesting new destinations for which you can use Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Delta cheaper.
Mumbai Melody
Business Class for 93,000 Points R/T: Delta flies New York to Mumbai, India. FCF’s research team found award space using Virgin Atlantic miles flying Delta for travel Dec., Jan., and March 2020. More here.
The cost to use Delta miles at the lowest price is generally 270,000 miles round-trip and $43 in taxes. Book the same flights using Virgin Atlantic miles, and it only costs 120,000 miles and the same $43 in taxes.
That sounds great, but now, it’s even less. With the 30% Amex or Citi transfer bonus, you only need to transfer 93,000 points to get 120,000 Virgin Atlantic miles. That’s a savings of 177,000 miles (66%), or getting almost three Business Class tickets to India for the price of one.
Afrobeat (Can’t be Beat)
Business Class for 93,000 Points R/T: Another interesting destination we’ve found with mileage award space using Virgin Atlantic miles is Africa. On the Atlanta to Lagos, Nigeria route, Delta charges 240,000 miles round-trip and $93 in award taxes, while Virgin Atlantic only charges 120,000 and the same $93 for taxes. Factor in the current 30% transfer deal and you only need to transfer 93,000 Amex or Citi points, a savings of 147,000 (61%). More here.
Chilean Cueca
Business Class for 70,000 Points R/T: South America is another interesting Delta destination we’ve found with mileage award space using Virgin Atlantic. On the Atlanta to Santiago route, Delta charges 220,000 miles round-trip and $48 in award taxes, while Virgin Atlantic only charges 90,000 and the same $48 for taxes. Factor in the current 30% transfer deal and you only need to transfer 70,000 Amex or Citi points, a savings of 150,000 (68%) miles. More here.
Delta’s Greatest Hits: Loophole Favorites You’ll Want To Croon About
Here’s a recap of this loophole that we’ve found lately. Warning: You can’t un-hear these toe-tapping deals.
The Shanghai Shuffle: A round-trip short-notice ticket booked using Virgin Atlantic miles to fly Delta for Atlanta-Shanghai will cost you 120,000 miles, plus $36 in taxes. That same award with the 30% transfer bonus would only require 93,000 Amex or Citi points transferred. That same ticket using Delta miles would be 600,000 miles for the same dates, plus $36 in taxes. That’s 5 times cheaper. A sweet sound indeed. Go here for more details.
London Calling
In March, Delta didn’t have one seat available at the low-cost mileage rate for the Minneapolis to London route using Delta miles. For that entire month, the cost was 280,000 miles—for a one-way flight. However, if you had booked your Delta flights using Virgin Atlantic miles for the same travel window, you’d find 20 days available at the low-cost rate of 47,500 miles for a one-way ticket last we checked. Now that same award with the 30% transfer bonus would only require 37,000 Amex or Citi points transferred.
Not only could you get much better award availability, but you also got it for 232,500 miles cheaper than Delta’s lowest rate.
The only drawback with traveling to London on Virgin Atlantic is that they have a high tax rate of $527 for a one-way trip. Delta’s taxes are only $5 one-way. Non-London routes have much lower taxes. Despite all that, you’re still well ahead.
Amsterdam Anthem
In August this year, Delta has exactly zero seats at the low mileage cost currently available for the New York–Amsterdam route. It’s the same tune as “London Calling”: All that month it will cost 280,000 miles—for a one-way flight. That is way out of tune to these FCF ears. Now, if you book your Delta flights using Virgin Atlantic miles during the same travel window, you have 20 days available at the low-cost rate of just 50,000 miles one-way for one seat. And 17 days have two seats available and 11 days have four seats available.
But now that same award with the 30% transfer bonus would only require 39,000 Amex or Citi points transferred. Five tickets for the price of one? Play that again. Ok, we will: FCF found similar price differences using Virgin Atlantic miles for travel on Delta flights from New York to Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Milan. These deal aren’t available on every route so double check first. Go here for more details.
First Class Bonus
For travel from the U.S. to Japan, All Nippon typically charges 150,000 to 165,000 miles for round-trip for First Class travel. With Virgin Atlantic miles, the round-trip cost is only 110,000 miles (from western U.S.) to 120,000 miles (from eastern U.S.), but now that same award with the 30% transfer bonus would only require 93,000 Amex or Citi points transferred. So you’re able to save up to 72,000 miles. Go here for more details.
How To Play These HITS
Not all routes can be booked online with Virgin Atlantic because its booking engine doesn’t have all Delta routes loaded. Here are the non-stop Delta routes that can be booked using Virgin Atlantic miles by phone:
To/From Atlanta: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Madrid, Munich, Rome, Santiago São Paulo, Seoul, Stuttgart, Zurich
To/From Detroit: Frankfurt, Munich, Rome, Seoul
To/From Minneapolis: Seoul
To/From New York: Accra, Athens, Berlin, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Dakar, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Nice, Prague, Rome, Tel Aviv, Venice, Zurich
To/From Seattle: Osaka, Seoul
Non-stop Delta routes that can be booked using Virgin Atlantic miles online:
To/From Atlanta: Dublin, Dusseldorf, Honolulu, Johannesburg, Lagos, Lima, London, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo
To/From Boston: Amsterdam, Dublin, London
To/From Cincinnati: Paris
To/From Detroit: Amsterdam, Beijing, Honolulu, London, Nagoya, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo
To/From Los Angeles: Honolulu, Kona, Maui, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo
To/From Minneapolis: Amsterdam, Honolulu, London, Paris, Tokyo
To/From New York: Amsterdam, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Milan, Paris
To/From Portland: Amsterdam, London, Tokyo
To/From Raleigh: Paris
To/From Salt Lake City: Amsterdam, Honolulu, London, Paris
To/From Seattle: Amsterdam, Beijing, Honolulu, Kauai, Kona, Maui, Paris, Shanghai, Tokyo
One Downside, For Some
Note that a downside to using Virgin Atlantic miles is that you can only use them for Delta’s non-stop routes. All connecting flights would require you to purchase a second ticket. For many, it still could be a great idea to buy a separate ticket to the gateway to take advantage of the Virgin opportunity.
How to search for Delta flights that can be booked online using Virgin Atlantic miles
For everything you need to know to search for Delta flights click our report here and the information is about halfway down the page with the same headline as above.
Now clear your throat, warm up your vocal chords and get ready to sing your way to melodious sweet savings with American Express Membership Rewards or Citi ThankYou Points.