Last month we told you about a doozy of a loophole: how you can use the miles of Delta partner Virgin Atlantic to buy Delta flights very cheaply. We’re talking 5 times less than using Delta’s own miles, and at times with 20+ times the availability. It’s an amazing find (thanks, FCF research team) so we’ll recap it below and include important information about the routes that can be booked online or by phone only.
A Recap of the Delta Loophole
Delta only releases a limited amount of low-cost mileage award seats. Often, you only see the full price ones when using Delta miles. But using Virgin Atlantic miles for the same Delta flights/routes can open up low-cost award space that Delta doesn’t offer. For whatever reason, Delta releases a different amount of mileage award seats to its partner Virgin Atlantic than it does to its own SkyMiles members using Delta miles.
And we’re not talking a bit of a discount, we‘re talking a lot. One example: Minneapolis-London saves you 232,500 miles, and with better availability. That’s loopy. We found lots more examples as well, shown here.
Using Virgin Atlantic Miles. Phone or Online?
Here’s the thing, it depends on the route. But we have everything you need to know and do, with step-by-step instructions.
Delta routes that can be booked using Virgin Atlantic miles, by phone:
Not all routes can be booked online with Virgin Atlantic because its booking engine doesn’t have some Delta routes loaded for some reason. So, you may need to call Virgin Atlantic (800-365-9500) to check for Delta partner space. 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
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”.
Enter your departure and return route and dates, number of seats, and in the “How Are You Looking To Pay” section, click on “Miles,” and then in the “Show Fares For” section, click “Upper Class.”
On the next screen you want to make sure that under the “Stops” section you have “Direct only,” and under the “Pricing” section you should show “Miles.”
The calendar should then show to search “+3” or “-3” days for both the departure and the return, so you can search other days surrounding your selected departure and return dates.
You can also go to “refine search” to search by “Within 5 weeks.” Either way, make sure you have the “Payment” as “Pay with miles.” and the “Cabin” as “Upper Class” checked when searching for space.
Once you click on the dates you want to book, the next screen shows flight options. Select “departure” and “return.”
Hit “Next step” to provide payment details and you’re there.
New Found Secret: Best Unpublished Routes
Below are some new gold nuggets we’ve not posted—and what’s more—Delta didn’t have them available at their low-cost mileage rate, but Virgin Atlantic did for 100,000 miles round-trip flying Delta to Europe…
Sweet Redeem Survey: Delta Flights using Virgin Miles
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">Keep in Mind</h3>
Keep in Mind
As we touched on last month, the main downside to Virgin Atlantic miles is that you can only use them for Delta’s nonstop routes. All connecting flights would require you to purchase a second mileage ticket, which would ultimately increase your total cost when using Virgin Atlantic miles. In this case, it still might be a really good idea to just buy a separate ticket to the gateway with the amazing opportunity.
Further FCF Delta Reading