The Best Delta SkyMiles Sweet Spots (e.g. Air France Business Dubai-Paris for 42,500 Miles + €32 o/w)

Delta‘s miles are not exactly worth a lot. Especially Delta SkyMiles‘ dynamic prices have made the “sky pesos” become a pretty worthless currency, with long-haul business prices of over 300,000 miles per direction being common. However, there are a couple of interesting redemption options on other parts of the planet, where prices aren’t dynamic. And even with Delta, there are a couple of routes that can be worthwhile.

Middle East ↔ Europe Business Class for 42,500 Miles + €32 o/w

Flights between the Middle East and Europe merely cost 42,500 miles in business class. Add the fact that the fees are very low, and you’ve got a fantastic deal. Flying from Dubai to Paris in Air France’s business class (a flight of almost 8 hours) only comes with fees of €32!

Vietnam Airlines: Europe ↔ Australia Business for 90,000 miles + €51 o/w

Vietnam Airlines is a great option if you want to use your miles to fly from Europe to Australia. In business class, you’d only spend 90,000 miles + very low fees of €51 – a more than acceptable price for roughly 20 hours of lie-flat business class. The surcharges of €51 are available from Milan. From other European airports, such as Paris and London, they’re quite a bit higher.

South America to Europe in Business Class for 105,000 miles + $25 o/w

Flights from South America to Europe have a few advantages. They’re long, giving you quite a lot of time to enjoy your business class seat, and the fees are low. Airlines such as Air France, KLM, and LATAM charge as little as US$25 (~€22)! Business class flights cost 105,000 miles per direction, economy class costs 60,000 miles. Sadly, the fees are much higher in the other direction, starting at €400.

China Airlines & Korean Air: Business within East Asia for 30,000 miles + €23 o/w

China Airlines & Korean Air’s inner-Asian business class is even cheaper than Garuda’s. However, only as long as you stay within East Asia, where the flights aren’t as long, with usually no more than 3 hours of flight time. If you want to maximise the business class time, you can choose a routing with a layover, giving you 2 business flights instead of one non-stop. Many routes even have lie-flat seats.

The economy class price of 17,500 miles + roughly NT$500 (~€14) can also be worthwhile on some dates. It’s not as great as the 7,500 between Japan and Korea, but still ok.

Korean Air: Korea ↔ Japan Business Class for 15,000 Miles + €16 o/w

Let’s begin with the sweet spot that I’ve personally used the most. Almost every time I visit Korea or Japan, I use the opportunity to visit both countries. Every time, I’ve used my SkyMiles for flights connecting both countries. The fees are very low at only ₩24,000 (~€14), and Korean Air offers great service, even serving a hot meal with meat in economy class on these relatively short flights. There are a lot of routes to choose from, such as from both Seoul airports to Osaka and Tokyo, and even Okinawa-Seoul is possible for the same price. It’s also a great way to test Korean Air’s lie-flat business class.

Garuda Indonesia: Business in Asia for 40,000 miles + €16 o/w

Our third airline, our third Asian airline, but now we’re even further down south. Garuda Indonesia‘s business class prices are quite good, especially for their long routes. You can cross Asia, e.g. flying from Seoul to Bali for only 40,000 miles + ₩24,000 (~€14).

Other Mildly Attractive Options

We’ve now left the “sweet spots” behind us. From now on, these are acceptable prices at most. None of these are ideal ways to use your SkyMiles, but could save you some money on expensive dates. Or if you don’t intend to travel much within Asia and the US.

USA ↔ Australia Economy for 30,000 miles: Delta’s long-haul flights can be relatively attractive in basic economy. An acceptable option is flying from the Western US to Sydney for only 30,000 miles + US$39 (~€34). Main cabin (i.e. seat selection and luggage) costs 10,000 miles more.

Southeast Asia ↔ Europe Business for 80,000 Miles + €15 o/w: Both Vietnam Airlines and Garuda Indonesia (on its only route to Amsterdam) offer a quite good value for your miles when flying between Southeast Asia and Europe in business class. While 80,000 miles is not something to die for, the surcharges of only US$16 (~€14) make this a nice deal. Sadly, Saudia and Air France-KLM aren’t an option on these routes, as they charge fees in the hundreds.

Delta Domestic Flights Starting at 5,000 Miles: There are a couple of short domestic flights that sometimes start at only 5,000 miles (for basic economy). In some cases, they may be worthwhile on routes with little low-cost competition. Usually, you get a value of about 1.1 – 1.2 cents per mile.

Taipei ↔ USA for 31,000 miles: While not as attractive as the flights to Australia, Delta’s basic economy flights from Taipei to Western USA (e.g. Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City) at 31,000 miles + NT$1,075 (~€30) are also an acceptable use of your miles. It’s roughly the same value per mile as Delta’s domestic short-haul flights.

Conclusion

If you want to spend your SkyMiles with good value, start planning your next trip to Asia. Sadly, there aren’t many other good alternatives. However, if you’re fine with spending them at an acceptable value, there are more options than one might have thought.

While earning enough miles in economy class is not so easy nowadays, if you often fly in premium economy or business class with SkyTeam members other than Delta, you’ll quickly have enough miles for most of these award flights. And at least the fees are mostly pretty low.

Cover Picture: KLM business class | Ditmar Lange