If you decide to pounce on one of Delta’s increased bonus offers, you’ll soon be faced with the problem of redeeming them. While Delta’s award rates can be brutally temperamental, there are still some excellent sweet spots to take advantage of.
Hang tight for flash sales
Hands down, exercising patience is the best way to maximize your points. While its lack of an award chart means rates can be high, it also means they can drop very low at certain times. These Delta Flash sales are the perfect time to pounce.
Keep the deals page bookmarked and check it regularly. These won’t just be good deals by Delta standards; they’re often some of the best you can find.
Clever your domestic travel
Cheap international travel is the dream, but finding good deals with Delta can be tricky. I always advise using Virgin to book Delta for longer trips unless it’s on a flash sale, as mentioned above.
But one area that Delta does do well is short domestic flights. If you have a strong pool of SkyMiles, you can sustain your US travels for a considerable amount of time.
Book partner airlines
While Delta’s rates are volatile, its partner carriers, like KLM and Virgin, are much more stable. It’s not uncommon to find round-trip European flights for around 70,000 miles, even when booked on Delta’s portal.
Treat yourself
It’s arguably one of the worst ways to spend your points from a value standpoint, but if you find yourself in a Delta SkyClub, you might feel like starting your vacation with a bang and a pop. If that rings true, drop a few of your points on some fancy bubbly.
The SkyClub offers bottles of champagne for around 16,ooo points. A bottle is worth about $250 in cash, so it’s a good deal if you’re happy to part with the points.
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