One Day Left to Book Award Travel to Europe for 30% Fewer Miles

Ten days ago Delta started pricing awards weird. No, not the kind of weird where Delta charges 830,000 miles for a business class trip to Australia.

The kind of weird where Delta charges fewer miles than they’re ‘supposed to’ for flights to Europe (‘supposed to’ in a world where award charts still existed, natch).

Only Delta elites and co-brand credit card holders were able to see these lower prices for the first day. But then a day later they became available to everyone: coach for 21,000 miles each way and business class for 43,500 miles.

Delta published terms and conditions and revealed it as an award sale during the off season.

Travel between the continental U.S. and “select cities” in Europe prices 30% off between October 20 and February 29.

They only give ‘sample cities’ but don’t actually detail all of the cities (it almost makes you wish Delta was consistent about that transparency thing). And there’s a ton of blackout dates which are route specific.

Blackout Dates | Main Cabin:
Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU): December 16, 2015 – December 24, 2015; December 16, 2015 – December 24, 2015
Brussels, Belgium (BRU) to Atlanta, GA (ATL): December 13, 2015 – December 28, 2015; December 13, 2015 – December 28, 2015
Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Stuttgart, Germany (STR): December 15, 2015 – December 20, 2015; December 15, 2015 – December 20, 2015
Boston, MA (BOS) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG): November 25, 2015 – December 1, 2015; November 25, 2015 – December 1, 2015
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG) to Boston, MA (BOS): December 30, 2015 – January 5, 2016
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Baltimore, MD (BWI): November 19, 2015 – November 25, 2015
Baltimore, MD (BWI) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH): November 19, 2015 – November 25, 2015; November 19, 2015 – November 25, 2015
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (DFW): November 24, 2015 – December 2, 2015; November 24, 2015 – December 2, 2015
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG) to Detroit, MI (DTW): December 26, 2015 – January 5, 2016
Detroit, MI (DTW) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG): December 14, 2015 – January 6, 2016
Detroit, MI (DTW) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA): November 19, 2015 – November 25, 2015; November 19, 2015 – November 25, 2015; December 15, 2015 – December 29, 2015
Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to Detroit, MI (DTW): October 26, 2015 – October 31, 2015; October 26, 2015 – October 31, 2015; November 19, 2015 – November 26, 2015
Detroit, MI (DTW) to London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR): November 19, 2015 – November 24, 2015; November 19, 2015 – November 24, 2015
London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR) to Detroit, MI (DTW): November 19, 2015 – November 30, 2015; November 19, 2015 – November 30, 2015
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Jacksonville, FL (JAX): November 23, 2015 – November 29, 2015; November 23, 2015 – November 29, 2015; December 17, 2015 – January 4, 2016
Jacksonville, FL (JAX) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH): December 25, 2015 – December 31, 2015
New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA): November 17, 2015 – November 25, 2015; November 17, 2015 – November 25, 2015; December 15, 2015 – December 30, 2015
Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH): November 19, 2015 – November 25, 2015
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL): November 19, 2015 – November 25, 2015
London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR) to San Jose, CA (SJC): October 23, 2015 – October 29, 2015; October 23, 2015 – October 29, 2015; November 18, 2015 – December 1, 2015
San Jose, CA (SJC) to London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR): November 19, 2015 – February 29, 2016
London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR) to Sacramento, CA (SMF): October 23, 2015 – October 29, 2015; October 23, 2015 – October 29, 2015; November 19, 2015 – December 2, 2015
Sacramento, CA (SMF) to London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR): November 19, 2015 – December 5, 2015; November 19, 2015 – December 5, 2015.
Delta One:
Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU): October 21, 2015 – November 17, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 17, 2015; December 1, 2015 – December 6, 2015; December 15, 2015 – December 27, 2015; December 31, 2015 – January 5, 2016
Brussels, Belgium (BRU) to Atlanta, GA (ATL): October 21, 2015 – November 17, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 17, 2015; November 25, 2015 – December 1, 2015
Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Stuttgart, Germany (STR): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015; December 2, 2015 – December 7, 2015; December 16, 2015 – December 21, 2015; January 13, 2016 – January 18, 2016; January 20, 2016 – January 25, 2016; January 27, 2016 – February 1, 2016
Boston, MA (BOS) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG): October 21, 2015 – December 22, 2015; October 21, 2015 – December 22, 2015; December 27, 2015 – January 10, 2016; February 10, 2016 – February 16, 2016
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG) to Boston, MA (BOS): October 21, 2015 – November 18, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 18, 2015; November 20, 2015 – November 27, 2015
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Baltimore, MD (BWI): November 2, 2015 – November 16, 2015
Baltimore, MD (BWI) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (DFW): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG) to Detroit, MI (DTW): October 21, 2015 – November 25, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 25, 2015; December 3, 2015 – December 14, 2015; December 26, 2015 – January 8, 2016; January 21, 2016 – January 26, 2016
Detroit, MI (DTW) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, France (CDG): October 21, 2015 – December 3, 2015; October 21, 2015 – December 3, 2015
Detroit, MI (DTW) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015
Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to Detroit, MI (DTW): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015; November 18, 2015 – November 25, 2015; November 29, 2015 – December 19, 2015; December 29, 2015 – January 5, 2016
London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR) to Detroit, MI (DTW): October 26, 2015 – November 1, 2015; October 26, 2015 – November 1, 2015
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Jacksonville, FL (JAX): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015
Jacksonville, FL (JAX) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH): December 25, 2015 – February 13, 2016
New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA): October 21, 2015 – January 12, 2016; October 21, 2015 – January 12, 2016
New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH): January 13, 2016 – January 20, 2016
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015
Philadelphia, PA (PHL) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015
Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to Philadelphia, PA (PHL): October 21, 2015 – November 16, 2015
London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR) to San Jose, CA (SJC): October 23, 2015 – November 2, 2015; October 23, 2015 – November 2, 2015; November 4, 2015 – November 9, 2015; November 11, 2015 – December 23, 2015; December 26, 2015 – January 12, 2016
San Jose, CA (SJC) to London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR): October 21, 2015 – November 2, 2015; October 21, 2015 – November 2, 2015
London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR) to Sacramento, CA (SMF): October 23, 2015 – November 2, 2015; October 23, 2015 – November 2, 2015; November 17, 2015 – November 24, 2015; November 27, 2015 – December 23, 2015
Sacramento, CA (SMF) to London-Heathrow, United Kingdom (LHR): October 21, 2015 – October 28, 2015; October 21, 2015 – October 28, 2015; November 17, 2015 – December 23, 2015.

But travel to London, Zurich, Frankfurt, Paris, Stuttgart, Brussels, and elsewhere will cost you a whole bunch fewer SkyMiles if you book by tomorrow.

This will even cause some folks to transfer points into Delta (instantly) from American Express Membership Rewards.

Here’s New York JFK – London Heathrow in February for economy and business:

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Hi Gary,

    I actually booked a trip during this sale because I had a bunch of skymiles and figured this was about as much value as I could get out of them.

    I can’t seem to find any reviews of the first class cabin on Delta’s newer A330 from ATL – FRA ( or really anywhere in Europe). Would love to see what we’re in for on this trip.

    Know of any reviews I should check out?

Comments are closed.