Delta Frequent Flyer Question

[Emil 0]

How many miles are needed for a free R/T flight to LOS from California?

 

TIA,

Emil

[bangkapiboy 5]

60k RT for low award level.

[js007 795]

60k RT for low award level.

 

What's the "low award level"? Economy? I think I've got about that many miles saved up, but when I looked into RT fares to asia using points, I got the impression it would take about 125000 points.

[rb 20]

it's "supposta" b 60k, but unless ur platinum or atleast gold the 1-2 seats on the 1-2 flights they put out you'll never see. it takes 120k to get a USA-asia flight these days

[LBJ 533]

it's "supposta" b 60k, but unless ur platinum or atleast gold the 1-2 seats on the 1-2 flights they put out you'll never see. it takes 120k to get a USA-asia flight these days

 

 

I got a 60K flight in Feb 2010 but I booked it in May 2009. To get the 60K seats you have to book way in advance.

[Landshark 11]

Delta sucks for international award tickets. You will have a hard time finding an award ticket for the lesser miles.

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

I don't fly Delta much these days, but have about 30,000 SkyMiles. I plan to use them to pay for my hotel in Bangkok next trip or to pay for rental cars in the U.S.

 

Evil

[Emil 0]

Thanks for the info. For the guys that stated that they had trouble getting these flights, were you looking for departures dates that were on Friday to Sundays only or any day?

[LeoTex 29]

Delta sucks for international award tickets. You will have a hard time finding an award ticket for the lesser miles.

 

 

I guess I have been lucky, because I have gotten 'miles' tickets for just about all the times I have requested them. I will say that a few times more miles (120,000) were needed for RT from Houston than what I wanted to use. I have always done the looking several months in advance and I'm sure thats what makes the difference.

 

I used miles (90,000) for my September trip plus the $42 for taxes. I booked it back in February. The nice part if that it's business/first all the way back and who knows, could get a bump on one of the outbound legs. I have looked at December using miles and I think 120,000 for my dates, but decided to pay for the tickets to keep my elite status up for next year and then use the miles next year.

 

Emil, I would think that you would need a few less miles by flying into the West Coast.

 

LeoTex

[Emil 0]

Also regarding difficulty in getting flights for 60K, did that problem happen after the Northwest merger?

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

Also regarding difficulty in getting flights for 60K, did that problem happen after the Northwest merger?

 

 

It was almost impossible to get award flights from NYC to BKK for under 100,000 even in the NWA World Perks days.

 

Evil

:

[ichy2 429]

I have many miles with Delta.

 

Good luck in finding any realistic dates for 60k. The last time I looked (6 weeks ago), there was one date to fly there in January 2011, but no dates to fly back. It'll cost you 120k miles in order to book a decent R/T flight with Detla miles.

[LBJ 533]

I got a 60K flight in Feb 2010 but I booked it in May 2009. To get the 60K seats you have to book way in advance.

 

 

Also I wanted to add you need to be really flexible because the exact dates you want are near impossible to get.

[Zeus 56]

Delta Sux for getting international FF awards. They are not too bad for domestic. I was a NW FF member and flights were tough to get then, but if you looked hard you could find them. Now that NW is Delta I can't find economy LAX-BKK under 120K (medium level). I used to get a business class seat on NW for that - now that was a great value. I have about 160K that I need to expend on Delta, then I am defecting to United for FF miles.

 

In general, FF programs aren't what they used to be. We just need to make the best of it......

 

Zeus

Edited August 24, 2010 by Zeus

[Emil 0]

The reason I asked this question is that I had about 25K miles with Northwest which for some reason didn't have an expiration date. After the merger with Delta the miles expire in 18 months. I also received info about a credit card that would give me I think 30K miles for signing up plus 1 miles for each dollar spent so I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to get the creit card and use it awhile to reach 60K miles for a free flight to LOS. From the replies it appears that it would be highly unlikely that I could get a flight.

 

Currently I'm with United. Free flights are 65K (were only 60K prior to 2009) and have received about 16 freebies to LOS since 2004. I've only failed once when trying to get a freebie and that was my fault because I waited until about 2 weeks prior to the trip which was last summer. I'm retired so I do have the luxury of selecting low load days of the week.

[rogero 4]

Currently I'm with United. Free flights are 65K (were only 60K prior to 2009) and have received about 16 freebies to LOS since 2004. I've only failed once when trying to get a freebie and that was my fault because I waited until about 2 weeks prior to the trip which was last summer. I'm retired so I do have the luxury of selecting low load days of the week.

 

I'm in the same boat ! but there seems to be a science of sorts in picking the best times for your freebies.

You obviously know what you're doing. Can you expand a little about the "low load days" & pass on a few tips ?

 

If we are not restricted to certain dates/times we should be able to maximise the potential ? (avoid weekend/school holidays etc ?)

 

tia

 

cheers rogero

[Emil 0]

I'm in the same boat ! but there seems to be a science of sorts in picking the best times for your freebies.

You obviously know what you're doing. Can you expand a little about the "low load days" & pass on a few tips ?

 

If we are not restricted to certain dates/times we should be able to maximise the potential ? (avoid weekend/school holidays etc ?)

 

tia

 

cheers rogero

 

Here's a few things that I've noticed since I began frequenting LOS in 2001.

 

Busy times of the year.

 

1. Christmas - New Years

2. Chinese New Year

3. Summer months when schools out. Not only are familes taking their vacation but Asian students are flying home until the next school year starts.

 

Best days to fly.

 

1. Tuesday - Thursday Not convient for those that are still working as they would lose a few days in LOS by not using the weekends to lengthen their holiday.

2. Also on certain holidays as most people fly just before or after the holiday.

 

Here's a couple of recent experiences I've had.

 

1. Back in June I wanted to book a freebie departing the states after the 4th of July since I was invited to a 4th of July get together with some long times school friends. Didn't have any success for the 5th through the 9th but the 4th was available so I booked it and told my friends I was off to hunt down bin laden in LOS and would miss the good eats and company.

 

2. While in LOS on that trip I went on line and was looking to book a follow on trip. I entered the dates 8 Sep (Wed) and 21 Oct (Thur). The lowest price was around $1250 + taxes/fees, however if I choose to return on Wed the 20th the price was only $890 + taxes/fees. I decided to shorten the trip by 1 day.

 

I think a large part of my success with getting the freebies at the lower savers award is my frequent flyer program. Not so much United Airlines but that they are part of the Star Alliance program. Out of all my freebies I've only had 3 where the entire trip was flown on United Airlines aircraft. The others had legs where I've been on Singapore, Thai, ANA and Air Canada, so United had more options available.

Edited August 25, 2010 by Emil

[rogero 4]

Appreciate that Emil

 

All good info & saved away for future use.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

 

cheers rogero

[kaiser71 30]

Can you expand a little about the "low load days"....

http://www.delta.com/awards/home.do?EventI...TER_APPLICATION

check box for flexible dates

shows calendar with low, medium, high dates

[Emil 0]

http://www.delta.com/awards/home.do?EventI...TER_APPLICATION

check box for flexible dates

shows calendar with low, medium, high dates

 

Yes, but if Delta is like United it will only show you Delta's aircraft and not the other airlines Delta's is associated. For me to get access to all Star Alliance carriers I need to talk to a United agent who has access to the Singapore, Thai, ANA and Air Canada flights. When I do this, after I've been unsuccessful trying to book online with United, I do have to pay an additional $25 if I book the flight with the agent.

[Sky Miles 0]

I have many miles with Delta.

 

Good luck in finding any realistic dates for 60k. The last time I looked (6 weeks ago), there was one date to fly there in January 2011, but no dates to fly back. It'll cost you 120k miles in order to book a decent R/T flight with Detla miles.

 

 

Hi -

 

Any chance you'd sell me 60k miles? I desperately need to fly back to the states.

 

Thanks,

Gus

[alias 111]

Thanks for the info. For the guys that stated that they had trouble getting these flights, were you looking for departures dates that were on Friday to Sundays only or any day?

 

Delta's award availability blows dead goats. Sure, they advertise a 60k rate, good luck trying to find it. I was looking 8 months in advance, and I found ONE DAY at that rate (which would be 30k, they bill "each way"). One day in nearly a year of dates on their availability calendar. There is a reason Delta miles are called "Sky Pesos". They're essentially worthless.

 

What I ended up doing was burning 67,000 miles on a "pay with miles" feature offered to Delta America Express card holders, and the ticket cost me about 500 dollars (from Montana). On United, 65,000 gets me all the way there, with excellent availability.