Diehard Delta flyers know it all too well: Unless you luck out with a Delta SkyMiles flash sale, Delta's award rates can exorbitant – especially in business class. There could be a better way to book.
Whether you're booking a quick domestic flight, a trip out to Hawaii or down to the Caribbean, or even a lie-flat seat across the Atlantic, your best bet these days is booking through Air France/KLM Flying Blue instead. Because they're both part of the SkyTeam alliance, you can book Delta-operated flights using Air France miles … for a fraction of what Delta itself is charging in SkyMiles.
For example, Delta is charging more than 130,000 SkyMiles for a roundtrip on its nonstop from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Honolulu (HNL) this spring. But you can book that exact same flight – same seats, same dates, same everything – for just 51,000 miles total: less than half the mileage!
The savings are enormous, but it's not always a slam dunk to get them. Critically, you need to find award availability: Delta flights that you can actually book using Air France/KLM miles … and that can be be hit or miss.
Let us do the legwork for you. We find and send Thrifty Traveler Premium members alerts to utilize this workaround all the time, whether you're looking to fly economy for fewer miles or hoping to make your way overseas in a Delta One business class seat without forking over 300,000-plus miles.
To top it all off, Air France miles are even easier to earn than Delta SkyMiles, as they're a transfer partner with all the major banks like Chase, American Express, Capital One, and more. Plus, we routinely see transfer bonuses of up to 30% to Air France – something that never happens with Delta.
Take a look at just how good these deals can get.
Delta One to Europe & Beyond from 50K Each Way
This is the cream of the crop. And while it can be difficult to actually pull off, the potential reward is enormous.
Finding award availability to book Delta One flights through Air France or any partner programs has gotten harder and harder over the years. But this year we unearthed an unprecedented amount of award space to book deeply discounted Delta One seats for a fraction of the miles Delta is charging over to Europe (including this summer), down to South America, and even all the way to Asia.
But it can be done.
After going months without seeing a single Delta deal like these, we've sent a half-dozen of them of them to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members:
- Lie-flat seats to Italy, Portugal, and Spain for as low as 60,000 miles each way, even this summer
- Another round of summer Delta One deals to Europe – this time to cities throughout Germany as well as Ireland, Scotland, and England – for as low as 60,000 points
- And Delta One seats down to South America for as low as 50,000 points each way!
- Delta One Suites from Seattle (SEA) to Tokyo-Haneda bookable for just 89,000 miles each way
Why fork over more than 250,000 SkyMiles for this flight from Boston (BOS) to Edinburgh (EDI) in September when you can book that exact same flight for just 60,000 miles via Air France instead? Heck, you can even choose between transferring 200,000-plus Amex Membership Rewards points from a card like the American Express® Gold Card to Delta SkyMiles … or transfer less than a quarter of that sum to Air France instead!
But fair warning: Deals like these come and go quickly.Thrifty Traveler Premium Getting an alert from in your inbox could be the difference between snagging a Delta One award for 60,000 miles … or coming up empty-handed.
Availability tends to come in waves: Sometimes it's easy to book a Delta business class flight using Air France miles, other times all your searches will come up empty. Exactly how many points you'll need to book these Delta flights will vary: The longer the flight, the more miles Air France/KLM typically charges.
That's why this Delta One deal to Tokyo next year costs a fair bit more: 89,000 miles each way. Then again, that sure beats the 440,000 SkyMiles Delta is charging for the exact same flight.
Going south, you can book one-way fares to cities like Sao Paulo (GRU), Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Buenos Aires (EZE), or even as far as Santiago (SCL) in Chile starting as low as 59,500 miles each way. Throw in a well-timed transfer bonus, and a Delta One Suite could be yours for as few as 50,000 points.
But even if you're not set on flying up front, there are still savings.
Book Mexico For Less
Need a winter warmup? Turning to Air France can save you a small (and even not so small) mountain of miles on Delta flights down to Mexico and back.
From Mexico City (MEX) to Cancún (CUN) to Puerto Vallarta (PVR) and San Jose del Cabo (SJD) and beyond, there can be significant savings by booking using Flying Blue miles instead of Delta's own program. Take, for instance, the nonstop Delta flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Mexico City. As you can see, Delta is charging 28,000 SkyMiles each way.
But that exact same flight – nonstop to Mexico City on March 3 – is bookable through Air France for exactly half the miles: just 14,000 miles each way instead!
Sure, you'll pay a bit more in taxes and fees, but it's well worth it to book for 14,000 fewer miles. And those savings are even bigger than it may appear:
- Using SkyMiles, the cheapest fares are always a basic economy award ticket – meaning you don't get a seat assignment, board last, and can't cancel your ticket without a hefty fee
- But booking through Air France/KLM, you always get at least a main cabin fare flying Delta
That's right: A better fare for fewer miles.
You can find those same savings no matter where you're seeking the sun down south. This workaround is a lifesaver for travelers based in Atlanta (ATL), who routinely get punished with Delta's hub penalties in the form of some atrociously high SkyMiles rates. And yet they can book flights to Cancún (CUN) for under 12,000 SkyMiles each way!
& Belize, Costa Rica & the Caribbean
Are you seeing a pattern yet? No matter where you want to go, booking Delta flights through Air France/KLM instead can save you a boatload of miles.
That includes both Belize (BZE) and San Jose (SJO) and Liberia (LIR) in Costa Rica. In each case, booking through Air France is your cheapest option.
And ditto for Aruba (AUA), where nonstop flights are bookable for as low as 30,000 Flying Blue miles roundtrip!
Savings on Short Domestic Hops
Even in those times where you just need a quick domestic flight, Air France miles can be a real savior.
Seeing sky-high SkyMiles rates for that positioning flight to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD)? Check out Flying Blue, where domestic flights get as low as around 6,000 miles each way.
SkyMiles rates are typically better for these short jaunts … but if you don't like what you see, check out Flying Blue miles to see if they can save you. You can also turn to fellow SkyTeam partner Virgin Atlantic for these short flights, but Air France is almost always cheaper these days.
& Even Japan!
While shorter flights tend to be the key for outsized savings, Air France/KLM miles can even help you save some serious mileage for a long-haul trip. And that includes Japan.
Aside from the occasional SkyMiles flash sale, roundtrip rates to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) typically top 100,000 miles roundtrip with Delta. With Flying Blue miles, you can book those same nonstop flights for as low as 62,000 miles total!
The relatively short flights from Seattle (SEA) price out the cheapest – well, unless you live in Honolulu (HNL). But there can be savings from all of Delta's hubs with nonstop service to Tokyo – in fact, Flying Blue is significantly cheaper than any other option.
Tips to Earn Air France Miles & Book
Flying Blue miles are some of the easiest airline miles to earn – you can transfer points from all the major transferable points programs.
This means if you're earning Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Venture Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou® Points, or Wells Fargo Rewards, you can instantly transfer those points to Flying Blue miles at an even 1:1 ratio. Earning points on rent with Bilt Rewards? You can transfer those points to Air France/KLM Flying Blue as well.
Here are some of our favorite credit cards that earn points which can be converted to Flying Blue miles.
If you're just starting out with points and miles, we consider the *chase sapphire preferred* the best travel rewards credit card for beginners. bonus_miles_full
And with 3x points per dollar spent for dining and 2x points for travel purchases, it's really easy to rack up a ton of Chase points that can be instantly transferred to Flying Blue miles.
Learn more about the *csp*.
We can’t say enough good things about the *venture x*. It’s the bank’s first premium card, so it's loaded with benefits such as access to Capital One Lounges and Priority Pass lounges, a $300 Capital One Travel credit, up to $120 in credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (credit increasing to $120 effective Oct. 1, 2024), great travel and rental car insurance protection, and more. The annual fee clocks in at $395 a year, but the benefits can easily outweigh that.
The best part is that you can currently earn 100,000 Capital One Miles after spending $10,000 in the first six months. Considering you earn at least 2x for every dollar you spend on the Venture X Card, you’ll earn a total of at least 120,000 Capital One Miles, which can be transferred instantly to 120,000 Flying Blue miles. That alone is enough to fly business class to Europe from anywhere in the U.S.
Learn more about the *venture x*.
The *amex gold card* is currently offering as high as 100,000-point welcome bonus after spending $6,000 in the first six months. Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer – but you'll know if you are (and which offer you're eligible for) before applying and having your credit pulled.
Beyond that bonus, this card is easily one of the best all-around travel cards on the market thanks largely to an unbeatable 4x return on up to $50,000 in spending at restaurants worldwide and 4x points on up to $25,000 a year spent at U.S. supermarkets – and 1x points after that.
Learn more about the *amex gold*
Once you've got the points, you're almost ready. Here are a few quick tips to find the
- Get Thrifty Traveler Premium and we'll shoot you an email anytime we see lots of flights bookable through Air France – with all the instructions you need, from start to finish
- Use this handy trick to pull up months' worth of award availability on Air France's site, even when you're trying to book Delta for less
- Focus on nonstop routes. While you can book Delta flights with connections, it can be harder to find award tickets – plus, it'll always cost more
Bottom Line
Scan this list and the value of using miles from one of Delta's partner airlines to book your next Delta flight is obvious. In almost every instance, you're using half the miles (or even less!) compared to what Delta charges in SkyMiles to book the exact same flight by turning to Air France/KLM Flying Blue.
It's ridiculous, but it's real. This is what Thrifty Traveler Premium is all about: Alerting you when these flights are available to book using your points and showing you the absolute best way to do it.
