While searching for routes to get an Award Expert client home from China earlier this morning, I was surprised to find that Delta’s flagship A350 suites were available at a very reasonable price for next-day travel.
Delta operates or will soon operate its A350-900 featuring fully-enclosed suites in business class on the following routes:
- Detroit (DTW) – Tokyo (NRT) began October 30, 2017
- Detroit (DTW) – Seoul (ICN) began November 18, 2017
- Detroit (DTW) – Beijing (PEK) began January 17, 2018
- Atlanta (ATL) – Seoul (ICN) starting March 24, 2018
- Detroit (DTW) – Amsterdam (AMS) starting March 31, 2018
- Detroit (DTW) to Shanghai (PVG) starting April 19, 2018
These suites are beautiful and well-reviewed even by the perspicacious One Mile at a Time.
Key City: Beijing
My client is traveling from Beijing to Detroit tomorrow. Award space was wide open on Delta: 94K miles for Delta One Suites, low taxes, no fuel surcharges, and no close-in processing fee:
Was waiting till the last minute key to using miles at reasonable price for Delta One?
I examined award availably this morning on all A350 routes. Prices are generally miserable, often in excess of 300K miles for a one-way ticket! Even though flights to/from Tokyo and Seoul appear to have plenty of space tomorrow and in the days ahead, the prices were far higher than Beijing.
Next, I proceeded to check till EOS (end of schedule) for all of the A350 routes above. While you can find (generally) 1-2 dates per month to/from Beijing in the spring and winter with 94K one-way space, that was it. Nothing to/from Tokyo, Seoul, Amsterdam, or Beijing at lower levels.
Other Options: Virgin Atlantic Flying Club + Air France Flying Blue + Korean SkyPass
Whenever you see 94K on-way space on delta.com, that means the lowest level “saver” inventory is available, designated by O-Class. That also means you can use other SkyTeam and partner currencies to book this space.
For example, tomorrow’s flight to Detroit is also available using Flying Blue for 100K miles:
Or only 60K miles on Virgin Atlantic (and the same low fees):
Remember that in addition to American Express Membership Rewards, Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic are also a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, and CITI Thank You Points. This gives you a lot more options in using your flexible points currency. Why would you ever use Delta or Flying Blue over Virgin Atlantic Flying Club? Virgin Atlantic charges on a per-segment basis while Flying Blue allows up to three segments per direction. Flying Blue also allows routing via Europe. It will rarely make sense, but in some cases it might make sense to use other currencies.
Also keep in mind that Korean Air would charge only 155,000 miles round-trip, but you can only book round-trip. Like Flying Blue, Korean Air would allow SkyTeam connections, but is not useful for direct flights compared to Virgin Atlantic.
CONCLUSION
94K is historically high for a one-way ticket to Asia in business class, but becoming the new norm. Even so, you don’t need to spend that much: use Virgin Atlantic instead. Remember, though: always check paid fares as well. We’ve seen attractive fare sales that are an even better deal than using miles. If you’ve been wanting to experience Delta’s A350 in business class and use your miles wisely, Beijing is your best destination.
94k is an awful redemption rate. Unless you have a door fetish, there is really nothing special about the D1S. You can get decent business class products from many parts of the US to much of Asia for 50-60k on Alaska, 70k (with 10% back) on AA, 75k on AC/AV, and 70-80k on United. All have options for no/low surcharges and don’t require waiting for the last minute to see if you’re going to be taking your intercontinental trip.
Weird that something like that has to be told to someone who runs an award booking service.
No Ben, it’s actually not a bad redemption. Considering United charges 80K miles for a one-way partner award to Asia, this range is the new normal. Delta charges 125K for close-in partner awards now to Asia (within three weeks of travel).
Matt this seems like #fakenews. I consistently see partner asia awards on Korean and China Airlines for 95k oneway business
Not sure when you last checked, but the price is up 125K one-way, not 95K, for close-in bookings.
United charges 70k one way if you use their own metal and 80k for partner across the Pacific for China/South Korea/Taiwan/Japan. That meets the “much of Asia” I mentioned and includes PEK, the subject of this post.
Delta charges 95k for partner awards to Asia, not 115k. Again, not sure why one would consider 94k on a single route when booking at the last minute “cheap”.
Did you actually search united.com for a flight to PEK (or elsewhere in China/Taiwan/Korea/etc.)? They are consistently showing 80k. Delta is only 125k within 3 weeks.
Delta still charges 95k for partners *except* close-in bookings. So, if the article title was HOW TO BOOK A350 DELTA ONE SUITES FOR CHEAP AT THE LAST MINUTE USING DELTA MILES” it would be correct, but to book D1S for 94k to Asia (on one route, nonetheless), “HOW TO BOOK A350 DELTA ONE SUITES FOR CHEAP USING MILES” is incorrect.
In fact, I wouldn’t call it cheap as it appears normal Delta One Asia awards are still 80k, even at the last minute. If a short door is worth 14k to you, fine, but it still wouldn’t really be cheap.
ANA seems to still be the best value for business class travel from the US to Asia. 95K round trip in business class on Star Alliance partners.
Matt strongly suggest you take a look again at the business one way on partner carriers. I checked just not for May 2018 and they’re still 95k on China airlines. I think the 125k might be their version of a close-in fee, which I remember hearing a story about where if three weeks within a flight, Delta ups the price on points needed.
This article is about close-in bookings…I began by talking about a booking for a next-day flight.
It is also about pointing out the cheapest way to fly on the A350 Delta One Suite. 94K might be high, but is sure cheaper than other options/flights.
I thought this article was about “HOW TO BOOK A350 DELTA ONE SUITES FOR CHEAP USING MILES”
Would you rather pay 94K miles or 225-375K miles, a far more common price for a one-way journey?
Some people like flying the A350, that business class seat, and closing doors. Like me…
The point of this article is that the only reasonable A350 route is between DTW and PEK. Everywhere else is significantly more.
I’d use 50K Alaska miles to fly Cathay Pacific over Delta at 94K. You yourself previously stated that Skymiles are so worthless that if you happen to earn some, you’ll use them up immediately. Like @Ben, if I need to use MR points, I’d just as soon book an Aeroplan award. If I had to spend around 100K for some reason, I’d at least check Singapore as well, depending on the specifics. I just think that a bad price for a bad program is really not the way to go unless you’re stuck with a bunch of Skymiles. JMTC.
Just feels bad when 94K for a OW biz US-ASIA ticket is deemed as ‘CHEAP’ option….
I agree…but it seems to me this is the new norm. We’re at least approaching that and it is only a matter of time before the great values left (like CX on AS) will be devalued.
I worry about even semi-good “deals” (like 70K in biz on CX US to HKG using AA miles) getting raised dramatically
Is there a specific reason why Virgin Atlantic Flying Club doesn’t get a mention for redeeming Delta. This exact flight can be snatched at 60k miles+~31USD (196CNY). With Chase UR being a transfer partner, it does appear like a good option
I think a lot of the confusion in this post is that an incorrect version was published. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. The Virgin Atlantic version has now gone live.
I declare the vocabulary word of the day to be “perspicacious”. Now there’s a word you don’t see every day.
He didn’t really use it well lol