2 ways to ticket Delta One business class seats

 

In 2021 Already It's only been two months, but if I had to pick the most depressing news of the year, it would have to be Virgin Miles devaluation.

Until last year, you could get a nonstop US-South Korea flight in Delta One business class on Delta Air Lines for 60,000 Virgin Airlines miles.

As a result of the sudden chart change on January 1, Seattle-Incheon now requires 130,000 miles per one-way, while Atlanta-Incheon, Minneapolis-Incheon, and Detroit-Incheon require a whopping 165,000 miles per one-way.

16.5k is a lot of mileage deduction for this, right?

The problem is that Delta's route advantages are too significant to completely eliminate Delta One as an option just because the deductions are huge.

1) First of all, (as you're well aware) Delta has the most nonstop flights to South Korea of any U.S. airline with four routeswith Delta. Not to mention the time savings for those who live in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Detroit, and Seattle, who have a one-stop connection to Delta.

2) Detroit-Incheon in particular has been flying consistently with very few cancellations during the pandemic, so if you really need to get to Korea this summer or winter, this is a great option to reduce the ticketing variables.

With that in mind, in today's post, I'm going to show you two options for ticketing Delta One for relatively cheap miles.

It doesn't compare to Virgin's 60,000 mile ticketing, but I think it could work in a pinch, like a chicken instead of a pheasant.

1. Korean Air 140,000 miles for a roundtrip ticket on Delta One

First, create a The easiest way is to use Korean Air miles for a round-trip ticket.

Korean Air and Delta are both members of Skyteam, so just as you can book a Korean Air flight with Delta miles, you can also book a Delta flight with Korean Air miles. (It's not possible to convert miles per se, i.e., Delta miles to Korean Air miles.)

Since you can usually fly Korean Air directly with Korean Air miles, you don't often choose the Skyteam partner mileage ticketing option.

A round-trip US mainland-Hawaii economy ticket for 25,000 Korean Air miles is the most common use I can recommend.

However, there are times when it makes sense to use this option to ticket Delta One.

1) First, if you need to travel from US to Korea or Korea to US during Korean Air's peak season.

Korean Air has a very long peak season, and the 50% mileage surcharge is in place during peak season. If you're going to Korea for summer or winter vacations, you're stuck with 50% more miles.

However, there are no additional surcharges when you use the Skyteam ticketing option to book Delta One, so even in peak season, you can book Delta One Business for 140,000 miles roundtrip if space is available.

2) You've accumulated more Korean Air miles than you realize, in which case a Skyteam ticket makes sense.

Korean Air had originally planned to implement the increased mileage redemption rates starting with tickets issued this April, but due to the pandemic, the airline has announced a two-year extension, starting in April 2023.

The new chart shows that a business one-way, which is currently 62,500 miles, will go from 80,000 to 90,000 in the off-peak season, depending on the region, so if you've accumulated more Korean Air than you think, it's probably a good idea to get rid of it within the next couple years.

That's why Delta One ticketing as a Skyteam option is also an alternative.

2. Korean Air Site Ticketing Method

Ticketing Delta One on Korean Air's site isn't difficult.

1) Go to Korean Air's site and log in first, then click Bonuses in the ticket search bar on the right side of the screen and select SkyTeam Rewards from the new submenu.

2) On the ticket booking screen, select your origin, destination, and dates, the number of people traveling, and the cabin class you'd like to fly in. For Delta One, this is Prestige Class, Korean Air's business class.

3) For SkyTeam awards, it's not possible to search for multiple dates at once on the Korean Air site (as far as I know), so it's convenient to first search for available dates on the Virgin Air website with the Price Calendar feature, then enter those dates on the Korean Air site and search.

For the image below, the dates listed as 165,000 miles are the dates that DTW-ICN is available nonstop.

4) A search on Korean Air's site shows that it's possible to fly Delta One in Prestige. The cost is 140,000 miles roundtrip and $346.01 roundtrip with fuel surcharges and taxes.

5) You might be surprised to see the amount of $346.01, which is the fuel surcharge of $$260 for a round-trip flight from the US.

6) This fuel surcharge is only applicable to round-trip flights from the U.S., so if you book the same route as a round-trip flight from Korea, you will only pay KRW 53,300 in taxes, as shown below.

In this case, the fuel surcharge is calculated as zero.

3. Points to note when redeeming Korean Air miles

At 140,000 miles roundtrip, it's not quite as good as the old Virgin roundtrip ticket of 120,000 miles, but it's a much better option than the current redemption of 330,000 miles.

Also, while not without its limitations, U.S. domestic connections can be ticketed as part of the 140,000 miles without a separate mileage deduction, saving miles for those who would otherwise have to ticket a domestic connection separately.

Also, the change fee is very low, around 3,000 miles, as it follows Korean Air's rules.

However, it's not without its drawbacks.

1) First, it's important to remember that one-way tickets are not available.

In my opinion, this is the biggest downside, which is a shame considering that Asiana's Star Alliance ticketing is one-way.

2) For multi-stop itineraries that are not simple round trips, there are multiple constraints.

For starters, you can make a maximum of four layovers on a round trip, with "two layovers per direction between origin and destination." That means you can fly up to three times each way, so a trip with three or four connections is out of the question (and no one wants that).

Also, for domestic connections, only flights that connect within 4 hours are considered transit, so I guess that's something to keep in mind.

4. How to earn Korean Air miles

Back in the days when the Chase UR to Korean Air option was alive and well, earning Korean Air miles wasn't that difficult.

However, now that this option is gone, the options are much narrower.

1) Korean Air partner cards issued by US Bank 

First, there are several Korean Air cards issued by US Bank.

The $95 annual fee Skypass Visa Signature card is the best option, with 30,000 miles for a free home offer, and the occasional 40,000, 45,000, or even 50,000 mile home offer if you're lucky.

You must have a US address on your Korean Air account to receive this offer, so if you still have an old Korean address, you may want to update it to a US address.

2) Bonvoy Cards 

Of the convertible points, Marriot Bonvoy is practically the only option that can be converted to Korean Air miles.in the file.

While other hotel points either don't convert to airline miles at all, or if they do, the conversion rate is abysmal, Bonvoy points earn 1 mile for every 3 points and a bonus of 15,000 points (=5,000 miles) for every 60,000 units. Bonvoy Points 25,000 miles for $60,000, 120,000 is 50,000 miles.

Bonvoy cards are currently being issued by Chase in two personal cards (Boundless and Bold) and by Amex in one personal card (Brilliant) and one business card.

For Chase personal cards,  

  • The annual fee is $95 for the first year, but the second year comes with nightly stays (up to 35,000 points) that can really bump up the annual fee. Boundless cardsin the list.
  • There's a Bold card with no annual fee, but it doesn't have a high sign-up bonus and no nightly stays.
The best ever!Marriot Bonvoy Boundless (issued by Chase)
Welcome Bonus5 nights for $50 when you spend $5000 for 3 months.
Annual night voucher (up to 3.5k points hotel redemption) upon card renewal starting 1 year after card issuance (starting in year 2)
Bonvoy points can be converted to miles on most airlines at a 3:1 ratio
For calculating elite status Receive 15 Elite Night Credits each year. Plus an additional one for every $5,000 spent. Note that these Night Credits can't be used for actual stays. 
Be aware that there are a number of restrictions if you have other Bonvoy affiliate cards, such as not being eligible for the sign-up bonus.
The annual fee is $95 for the first year.
Ball Home LinkApplication link

 

As we all know, Chase cards are affected by 5/24, so if you have to choose between these two cards, I think the Boundless card is the better option. As of this writing, the standard offer is 30,000 miles if you transfer 75,000 points = Korean Air miles.

For Amex cards, 

The offer for both cards is 75,000 points as of this writing.

We've emphasized many times that there are a number of caveats to applying for a Bonvoy card. 

Despite the different issuing card companies, we recommend that you read the terms and conditions, as holding certain cards can sometimes prevent you from applying for and being issued other cards.

5. Buy a one-way ticket on Aeromexico for 140,000 points (= MR 87,500 points)

The second way to get a relatively cheap Delta One ticket is through Club Premier, Aeromexico's mileage program.

Aeromexico is probably the first airline I've ever written about in my 10+ years of running a wear site, and I've never read an actual review (that I'm aware of), even for a wear board that claims to have all the information you need.

I think the reason for my lack of interest can be summarized by saying that I don't find the mile chart compelling enough to offset the hassle of having to call to make a reservation when redeeming miles.

But this time, when I was going through the Virgin situation, I was checking airlines one by one to see if there were any other alternatives. Found this article on flyertalk about how Aeromexico has changed forever.and read it.

To summarize this article

1) Unlike before, tickets from partner airlines can also be booked online for advance ticketing.

2) If you are switching Amex MR, you can switch in real-time and use the

3) Mile redemptions also seem relatively cheap since Delta and other Skyteam airlines have been jacking up their redemptions

I think it can be summarized as

In addition to this, the One-way ticketing is a big plus.

So the Aeromexico siteand did a search.

1) I go to the site and it says to call if you're a US customer, but Flyertalk says it's online, so I give it a shot.

2) I see the search options: one way, round trip, multicity. I searched for DTW-ICN using one way, and entered the dates I had searched on Virgin's site beforehand to see if there were seats available.

3) I get a bunch of options, and the first one is DTW-ICN direct, which costs 85,000 points in Economy and 140,000 points in Business, plus an additional 3,611 MXN = $173 USD, which is probably due to fuel surcharges from the US.

4) To confirm, I changed the direction to Incheon-Detroit and the price dropped to 1,569 MXN = $75 USD, so it looks like the fuel surcharge is correct.

Here, wait.

"Uh, 85,000 one way in economy, 140,000 in business, isn't that a lot of money?" You might be thinking.

That's a very good question.

The secret is The beauty of using Amex MR is that you can get Aeromexico miles at a relatively cheap rate.

Amex has 18 points transferable airline partners, the vast majority of which have a 1:1 ratio.

However, as you can see in the image below Aeromexico converts at a rate of 1:1.6will be.

If you take advantage of the 25% extra bonus promotion that comes around once or twice a year, you can transfer points at a 1:2 ratio, bringing the effective difference down to MR 70,000 points instead of MR 140,000 for a business one-way.

I'd say that's a decent option for something you're in a hurry to use.

6. Tips for ticketing with Aeromexico

I haven't done any ticketing myself, so I don't know if It's hard to say exactly what the drawbacks are, but basically the following points are mentioned.

1) First off, the change and cancellation fees are not cheap: 2,900 MXN = $140 USD for a cancellation and 1,930 MXN = $93 USD for a date or schedule change.

2) And from what I've read on the internet, it doesn't seem like this would be easy to resolve if I had to make a phone call. I'm guessing it's probably about the same level of difficulty as Lifemiles, but again, it's hard to tell until I have actual experience.

3) Aeromexico says that the points themselves will expire after two years of inactivity.

4) Finally, click I think you're going to have to give some thought to whether or not it's best to go over 87,500 MR points and ticket on Delta One..

MR points transfer 1:1 to ANA Airlines US-South Korea business roundtrip for 95,000 miles on Star Alliance ticketing with ANA milesbecause it does.

In other words, you're deciding whether to fly one-way or roundtrip for roughly the same number of points, so unless you absolutely have to fly Delta One (and the seats are available), I think the answer is to flip to ANA and do a roundtrip ticket, from a cost/benefit perspective.

7. Earn Aeromexico miles = MR is best

We've only talked about switching from MR to Aeromexico points above, but you can switch from other transformable points as well.

Citi's ThankYou points are redeemable at a 1:1 ratio, Capital One points at 2:1.5, and Marriot Bonvoy at 3:1.

However, as you can see from the conversion rate, I think MR makes sense in terms of the cost/benefit ratio, and the other options don't make sense at all.

So if you're considering Aeromexico as an option, it's probably a good idea to accumulate MRs. MRs can be transferred to ANA, etc. even if you don't need them, as mentioned above.

Currently Among MR earning cards, the Business Gold Card is the only one with a 70,000 points + $300 advertising/shipping credit promotion..

Amex Business Gold Card
Basic features100,000 MR for 3 months of $15,000
You can designate 2 specific items that earn 4 points per dollar spent. Items include advertising, shipping, gas stations, restaurants, etc. (up to $150,000 per calendar year)
Credit up to $20 per month. Eligible items are available at FedEx, Grubhub, and Office Supply Stores. Pre-registration required.

Earn 251 TP3T points back when you use MR points to buy a ticket on Amex Travel (up to 250,000 points per year.) 

Annual fee375 for the first year
Shortcuts About page in English

 

For personal cards, the Gold Card has a maximum 75,000-point offer on the When it pops up in the blank You might want to open the Incognito window to check it out.

For the Personal Green Card, targeted offers are going out for 6.5k, so you might want to keep an eye on your email or mail.

For the offers that are currently available, the 4.5k points offer seems to be the best one.

Amex Personal Green Card
All Information about this card has been collected independently by MileMoa. Issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.
Basic featuresWelcome bonus: 40,000 MR points after spending $3,000 in 6 months
MR points can be converted 1:1 to airline miles on Delta, ANA, etc.
Earn 3 points per $1 spent on dining, travel (air, hotels, AirBnB, etc.), and Transit (worldwide for dining, US only for delivery or takeout)
Annual fee is $150 for the first year 
No international usage fees
Rates & Fees. Terms Apply
For more infoAbout page in English

 

Let's wrap up today's post.

It's a far cry from the days of ticketing with just Virgin 6, but for those who absolutely must fly Delta One, Korean Air and Aeromexico are worth a look.

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18 Comments. Leave new

  • I didn't know much about Aeromexico before, other than the route selection tips, but it looks like there's a way to get on Delta One. Star Alliance 95K is not comparable at all, but as you said, it's good to know that there are options like this when considering one-way. Thanks for the great information.

    Reply
    • No problem, I think you can get away with 7 one-way on Korean Air if you transfer points well during the promotion period, which could make it a better situation than Korean Air miles for Korean Air flights after 2023, assuming no Aeromexico devaluation of course.

      Reply
  • Thanks for the info, I hadn't thought of Aero Mexico, but I think I'll stick with ANA.

    Reply
  • That's a lot of time for a single post, thank you for your efforts.

    Reply
  • Sourfeather
    March 1, 2021 4:47 pm

    I hope the ANA chart doesn't change for a long time, it's really hard to do business with miles!
    Thanks as always for the great information.

    Reply
    • Yeah, I mean, I think the economy stays more or less the same, but the business is really going up in difficulty.

      Reply
  • Well, there's always the next best thing...
    The world of ticketing is a crazy place...lol
    Thank you, Mamo.

    Reply
  • That's a lot of information I didn't know, thank you so much!

    Reply
  • Thanks for your posts as always Mamo - I was wondering if you could tell me how to ticket domestic US connections? Do I have to search as a multi segment, and if I do, do I have to ticket the domestic connection as business as well, but without the extra mile cost?

    Reply
    • 1. You can either do a multi-city search or start at the beginning and enter your domestic departure airport.

      2. It is my understanding that Korean Air does not deduct extra miles for domestic flights.

      Reply
  • Thank you so much for the good information. I'm trying to book a peak season ticket with SkyTeam bonus miles on Korean Air's website, but it says I can't use SkyTeam miles during peak season, so I'll have to use Korean Air miles to fly to Dallas, which is the only place I can fly Korean Air. ;;;;

    Reply
    • You're flying Korean Air, right? My understanding is that SkyTeam Miles can be redeemed for peak Korean Air travel, but not for flying Korean Air. In other words, you can't avoid the extra mileage charge on Korean Air peak periods.

      Reply
      • Yeah, that's what I was hoping for, I was trying to avoid the extra miles for Korean Air peak season, but it didn't work ^^;
        Wow, that's a lot of deductions, including peak season! I'm going to have to start stealing Korean Air miles.
        Rather, I tried to do it with Delta or UR miles, but it adds a mileage deduction?? ㅠㅠ
        Thanks for the answer, I'm going to study more and get to know it better!

        Reply
        • 1. airlines are meticulous ;;

          2. I don't think there's a particularly cheap way to fly Korean Air during peak season. If you're in the Dallas area, flying AA or JAL with AA miles is a decent option. (JAL is assuming that the Gimpo-Haneda route will be reinstated soon).

          Reply
  • Hi Mamo,
    I currently have the Amex SkyMiles Platinum, and I got an email saying that upgrading to the Reserve will give me a bunch of benefits, so I'm a little torn. Is it better to upgrade or just open a new...

    I thought you might be familiar with the details of this upgrade, so I thought I'd ask.

    Reply
    • It's generally accepted that it's best to get one signup as a new user and then another as an upgrade.

      Reply

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