I’ve managed to book two J-class awards for my wife and I for travel to Europe at Delta SkyMiles Level 1 (saver). Granted, J-class saver costs 62,500 miles each way, which is 12,500 more than most domestic carriers at the moment, assuming you can find availability, but I was quite happy with the result. October isn’t exactly high season to Europe, I suppose, but I got a flight that worked for us on exactly the day and time we want to go. The biggest news is that I’ve managed to do this twice since January 1 to two different cities.
My latest booking is actually on Air France metal, but I need to depart for the trip from Chicago where I’ll be for a business meeting. I could have saved a few miles booking AA/US (US metal) in the latest wrinkle in award availability that appeared over the weekend, but that would require a connection or an extra day in Chicago for me to make it work. In the meantime, I have set up an ExpertFlyer.com alert just in case award availability opens up on AA metal on their nonstop from ORD. Then, I’ll make a decision on whether to stick with burning DL miles or flying AA for this trip.
I’m not sure October is the best example for travel to Europe, so I’ll ask – have your Delta SkyMiles award searches proved more fruitful since January 1, 2015? Has award availability really improved? Share some experiences in the comments section.
-MJ, January 22, 2015
Scored 2 each VS upper class OW award tix for JNB-LHR-MIA for late August – 80000 miles each.
Partner award space seems better with improved? IT.
I of course meant to say VS (Virgin Atlantic), not VA (Virgin Australia) in the comment above.
VA has exceptionally good award availability, but this is nothing new. I’ve been seeing up to 4 J award seats available on their JFK-LHR flights, and sometimes even on ORD-LHR. Fewer are available on almost all others.
If you search for anything *slightly* more complicated, like non-major US city to non-major EU city, you’ll get zilch for low. DL’s new engine seems to be applying the same married-segment logic used on cash tickets, so you can no longer “construct” an award itinerary based on individual segments available in low, even if you’re willing to take a circuitous route. And of course, no more stop-overs, which in the past were a necessity just to wait out a day when the onward segment had low availability.
For this Platinum Medallion, all this combines into a far worse redemption experience, even with improved search tools.
Scored a round trip ATL-LHR in mid May for 125k! And both flights are direct on VIrgin Atlantic. There also seemed to be a lot available at that level in June too.
Good find, Denise.
I managed to find two J seats on Delta metal at the saver level to Asia and on KE returning in November. Again, it’s not high season to go to Asia, but I’m quite happy with the result.