why are delta transatlantic points rewards so high
50% View from the Wing
50% Other
Delta’s transatlantic award prices are high because the airline’s SkyMiles program is designed to extract as much mileage revenue as possible, and it frequently changes the cost of awards without warning.
Key factors behind the steep mileage requirements
- Revenue‑based pricing and frequent devaluations – Delta sets award prices based on revenue considerations rather than a fixed chart, so the number of miles needed can jump dramatically (e.g., from 70,000 to 86,000 or even 100,000 miles for business class) and the airline often rolls back or raises prices without prior notice View from the Wing View from the Wing .
- Hidden award charts and lack of transparency – Delta deliberately hides its award charts, preventing members from knowing the true cost of awards and making it easier to increase mileage requirements without scrutiny View from the Wing .
- High mileage “sweet‑spot” closures – When partners like Virgin Atlantic offered cheaper redemption options, Delta responded by raising its own SkyMiles costs (sometimes to 150,000 miles one‑way for Europe) to close those loopholes God Save the Points .
- Partner award pricing disparities – While Delta’s own awards are expensive, some SkyTeam partners still price business class at pre‑pandemic levels (e.g., 75,000 points one‑way from Mexico City), highlighting that Delta’s own pricing is unusually high compared to its allies Eye of the Flyer .
- Revenue‑centric program structure – The SkyMiles program is described as “strictly revenue based,” meaning fewer low‑cost award opportunities and consistently higher mileage requirements for long‑haul business class One Mile at a Time .
- Past fuel surcharges (now removed) – Historically, Delta added cash co‑pays to award tickets from Europe, further inflating the effective cost of redemption, though these fees have recently been dropped View from the Wing .
These practices combine to make Delta’s transatlantic mileage redemptions among the most costly in the industry.
Delta Rolled Back Last Night’s Devaluation, Transatlantic Business Class Back to 70,000 Miles
Last night Delta began charging 86,000 miles each way for business class awards between the US and Europe on Delta’s own planes. What’s bizarre — aside from the 23% no notice increase — is that it meant Delta flights were more expensive (by 1000 miles) than flights on partners. There was also a suggestion that Delta increased the price of South Asia (eg India, Sri Lanka) business class awards on partners to 120,000 miles one way. But that’s the absurd and extortionate price they imposed back in April. When Delta makes a change you never know whether it’s
Booked: 99,000 Delta SkyPennies Business Class Award Ticket to Europe!
You may have seen over the past few weeks a California couple who was remodeling their home when they happened upon some 1 million pennies in bank bags. The only downside of this find is trying to get value out of them because most banks will not accept that many coins. It is funny to me this comparison to Delta points, that is SkyPennies, that I also started, not so long ago, with around 1 million points but have been slowly burning them finding the best value I can along the way. As many big blogs have posted recently,
Virgin Atlantic Restoring 2020 Award Pricing For Delta Transatlantic Non-Stop Flights
On New Years Day Virgin Atlantic updated its award pricing for travel on Delta. One of the few bright spots in Virgin’s Flying Club program was inexpensive Delta awards, so this was disappointing in the extreme. Prices went up in some cases more than 100%, largely focused on longer distance premium cabin awards. Then, two days later, their spokespeople started saying that transatlantic awards wouldn’t go up as much as they had published and there would be an update. They’ve now said non-stop transatlantic awards to places other than the U.K. will revert to their earlier inexpensive pricing, but
Great Delta One award availability to Europe (from 39k with Virgin transfer bonus)
Virgin Atlantic currently has access to some great award availability in Delta One across the Atlantic. If you take advantage of the latest transfer bonus from Chase, that can reduce the cost to as low as ~38,500 points per person each way. 50,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points is the standard award rate when booking Delta One flights across the Atlantic, but it can be hard to come by availability which is why this latest batch of seats is notable. It’s even more enticing if you’re able to take advantage of the latest transfer bonus from Chase which is
The Formula Airlines Use to Decide to Release Saver Awards
In order to understand why you’re seeing saver awards at a given time on a given flight — and why you’re not — we need to understand how airlines think about award space. The idea of the capacity controlled saver award: Airlines want to release awards at the saver level that they won’t sell for cash. When a seat takes off empty, there’s no revenue, and so accepting a low number of miles doesn’t trade off with paid tickets for them. And even on flights that always have empty seats, some airlines won’t release saver awards every flight because
Delta Raises Roundtrip Europe Business Awards to 164,000 Miles
Last month I asked why people still collect SkyMiles. There has to be some limit to how much programs can devalue their currency. When Delta rolled back an accidental 3 day advance purchase requirement for all awards not starting or ending in the US or Canada back in January a spokesperson told me I should know that Delta always gives its members notice of changes, so should have assumed the restriction was an error. I stood there, talking on the phone, but felt like I was in a Kurosawa film. At the end of 2017 Delta started charging
Virgin Axes Big Points ‘Sweet Spot’ For Booking Delta Flights
Update: Virgin Atlantic tells GSTP some changes on the website may have appeared in error. In short, changes for pricing across the Atlantic (as below) may not be as bad as they appear. The changes will however impact flights like US to Asia, and vice versa, on routes where Virgin Atlantic and Delta don’t have a joint venture partnership. Take the examples for US-Europe flights with a grain of salt, but expect the rates to stick for things like LA to Tokyo. Virgin Atlantic is getting the buzz kills out of 2021 early, and fast. Onwards and upwards? The
Delta Finally Drops Fuel Surcharges On Award Tickets From Europe—Here’s What You’ll Save
Delta SkyMiles is one of the least valuable frequent flyer programs for mileage earning and redemption. It’s that way intentionally. But it has been even worse for Europeans, and for members who want to book one-way tickets back from Europe. That’s because not only does Delta charge sky high mileage prices for its awards – even for saver awards, and even when partner programs charge a fraction of the miles for the same flight – but they’ve also added fuel surcharges to tickets that originate in Europe. Fortunately, Delta has stopped adding these cash co-pays to redemption tickets
What’s The Best Way To Redeem Delta SkyMiles For Maximum Value?
In the miles & points world, people often joke about the value of Delta SkyMiles, going so far as calling them “SkyPesos.” In Taylor Swift terms (and I’m no Swiftie, but it seems appropriate), you could say that SkyMiles is kind of the anti-hero. But here’s the thing — not everything about SkyMiles is bad. I wanted to address that in a bit more detail in this post. What does SkyMiles get such a bad rap, and what’s the best way to redeem this currency? In this post: There are plenty of people who like the Delta
Your Complete Credit Card Transfer Guide of Reward Partners
Here’s a credit card transfer guide that helps you understand how (and the value) of moving points between reward programs to other reward (airline, hotel) programs. It’s no secret that airlines are devaluing your miles as each day passes. Some airlines (cough, cough, Delta) often make changes without any notice. There are two distinct strategies against this trend. The first strategy is to “earn and burn” those miles as they accrue. That way your earned miles are redeemed for the best current valuations, and before the next devaluation! The second strategy involves changing your mindset about the