I know, I know. It’s hard to talk about a “sale” in which 74,000 miles each way (round trip required) is a deal when many of us remember well the days when 50,000 in Business Class to Europe was the norm – and this is just a handful of years ago.
However, the reality is that these days, while you can still fly to Europe for 57,500 American Airlines miles or even just 45,000 Turkish miles (or 44,000 ANA miles), 74,000 each easy isn’t THAT bad in context, especially give Delta’s “normal” rates which are, well, high.
You can see what to expect on this Delta promotional page.
I’ll just make a few notes for you to think about:
- The sale is only for the winter months, certainly not the most ideal time for Europe.
- This sale is GREAT if you need to score some MQMs this year. Any MQMs you earn this year will count for this year – and award flights count. A Delta One award will earn at 1.75X your distance flown – meaning that if you fly 10,000 miles, you’re earning 17,500 MQMs. You’ll also earn MQDs based on miles spent, so 148,000 miles spent earns $2,590 MQDs. Also, the MQMs earned (but not the MQDs) will rollover into 2022 (essentially being gifted for next year). So there are definite mileage run qualities here. My own plan is to open a new Delta Reserve credit card next year (or maybe a Delta Platinum card) when the bonus offer includes MQMs and spend the $25,000 for a waiver on MQDs as I’ll have enough MQMs rolled over to easily get Platinum in 2022.
- Many of the fares you’ll find are higher than 148,000 – sometimes much higher, so search carefully.
- Under the current rules, these are freely cancellable up until departure – great if you aren’t sure if you can take a trip.
- It’s hard to get high value with Skymiles, but these should net you 1.5cpm + in value. Of course, their Flash Sales can be just as good or better.
- You may still find much better value on partner flights – though those won’t earn MQMs.
Thoughts?
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