Most domestic flights in the U.S. will run you 20,000 SkyMiles round trip, if not much more. But we've unearthed another amazing unadvertised SkyMiles flash sale that can get you to South America and back from just 12,000 SkyMiles round trip.
You'll find the best deals flying into Bogota, Colombia (BOG). And the cheapest rates at 12,00 SkyMiles are available from Florida hubs like Orlando (MCO) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL).
But there are huge discounts to get to northern South America nationwide. Get from Boston (BOS) to Bogota (BOG) for 22,000 SkyMiles, or Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Bogota (BOG) for 24,000 SkyMiles. Want to check out Ecuador? Fly from Austin (AUS) or Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) to Quito (UIO) for only 24,000 SkyMiles round trip. There are some steals to fly into Lima, Peru (LIM), too!
This is just a sample of what's available, so be sure to search from your home airport for where you can go for cheap. You'll generally find the best rates from September into January.
We're not kidding when we say these fares are dirt cheap. You can't get to Las Vegas (LAS) and back for these rates, and you may never find a cheaper way to get to South America. Most airlines charge at least 50,000 miles round trip for similar flights.
And this isn't a case where you're using SkyMiles on cheap cash fares. You'll generally get between 2.5 to 3 cents per mile on these flights, making them a fantastic way to use your Delta miles.
These aren't basic economy award fares, so you'll get free seat selection, meals, and even a free checked bag. Most flights require just one quick stop through Atlanta (ATL) on the way south.
Fly from Boston (BOS to Bogota (BOG) for just 22,000 SkyMiles!
Or get from Austin (AUS) to Bogota (BOG) for 24,000 SkyMiles.
You can even fly from Florida airports like Fort Lauderdale (FLL) down to Quito, Ecuador (UIO) for 12,000 SkyMiles, too.
Even smaller airports like Providence (PVI), Syracuse (SYR), Rochester (ROC), Akron (CAK), or Raleigh-Durham (RDU) get some love, with rates between 20,000 to 24,000 SkyMiles round trip.
And then there some cheap rates from the West Coast as well, like 22,000 SkyMiles to fly from San Diego (SAN) to Bogota (BOG).
The list goes on and on. Be sure to check your home airport to see what kind of deals you can get.
These tickets will all be hit with a taxes and fees that range from roughly $60 to $100, depending on where you're heading. But those fees are an unavoidable part of using miles to fly almost any foreign country. And at these low SkyMiles rates, they're easily worth paying.
Thrifty Tip: When booking with SkyMiles, make sure to select “Calendar View” and “5 weeks” to maximize the dates viewable.
Availability into Bogota, Quito, Lima
- Travel September – January and beyond
- To book these fares, head to Delta's booking page and enter your cities and dates.
- Restrictions: None
Departure Cities
Albany (ALB) – 24k
Allentown (ABE) – 24k
Austin (AUS) – 24k
Baltimore (BWI) – 34k
Boston (BOS) – 22k
Buffalo (BUF) – 22k
Burlington (BTV) – 24k
Charleston (CHS) – 22k
Chicago (MDW) – 24k
Chicago (ORD) – 24k
Cleveland (CLE) – 38k
Dallas (DAL) – 24k
Dallas (DFW) – 24k
Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) – 12k
Harrisburg (MDT) – 24k
Las Vegas (LAS) – 24k
Los Angeles (LAX) – 28k
Miami (MIA) – 24k
Newark (EWR) – 36k
New Orleans (MSY) – 23k
New York City (JFK) – 36k
New York City (LGA) – 36k
Orlando (MCO) – 12k
Portland (PDX) – 34k
Portland (PWM) – 35k
Providence (PVD) – 20k
Raleigh (RDU) – 20k
Richmond (RIC) – 22k
Rochester (ROC) – 24k
San Antonio (SAT) – 26k
San Diego (SAN) – 22k
San Francisco (SFO) – 30k
Syracuse (SYR) – 22k
Tampa (TPA) – 34k
Washington D.C. (BWI) – 34k
Washington D.C. (DCA) – 36k
Washington D.C. (IAD) – 36k
Our Analysis
When travel experts and big-time bloggers say Delta SkyMiles are worthless, don't believe them. And a great deal like this is part of the reason why.
Delta SkyMiles are confusing and frustrating. Finding deals like this takes some extra legwork, but that's why we're doing it for you.
And flying down to South America for as little as 12,000 SkyMiles is beyond cheap. Even at 22,000 SkyMiles and up, it's still an amazing deal. You'll often pay at least 25,000 miles on any airline for a flight round-trip flight within the U.S. And considering these flights to South America generally cost more than $500, you're also getting quite a lot of juice out of your SkyMiles by cashing them in on this sale.
It's a great time to head to South America. Especially a wonderful country like Colombia, which has transformed into a fun, vibrant hub of the continent.
Bottom Line
We keep finding these amazing SkyMiles flash sales, yet this one stands out as one of the best yet.
These sales are one of the main reasons why we value SkyMiles more than most. Delta can be tough to grasp because it doesn't have an award chart, and that means they often charge an arm and a leg for an award flight. But that freedom also comes with an upside. So take advantage and get to South America and back for 12,000 to 32,000 SkyMiles.
Lead photo (CC BY 2.0): Delta via Flickr
“These tickets will all be hit with a taxes and fees that range from roughly $60 to $100, depending on where you’re heading. But those fees are an unavoidable part of using miles to fly almost anywhere.”
No they aren’t. I recently used 30K AA miles to fly o/w to South America. As usual, total fees $5.60
Some of these itineraries as usual with Delta “flash sales” do not really represent savings
That’s because you booked a one-way fare departing the U.S. If you booked round-trip as shown here, or booked the fare departing South America, you would have had substantially more fees.
Yes it’s totally possible. I recently purchased two one way tickets with AA miles to Chile from west coast and coming back via Argentina. I paid total ~ $100 in fees per person (almost all of it, as you said because daparting South America on the way back) but it gives me flexibility to visit both countries and plan the trip. Im happy at the end.
Any idea how long these flash sales tend to last?