The Extra Mile, July 24: A Trick for Cheap Flights to Hawaii, Hong Kong from 29K SkyMiles Roundtrip & More

🌺 My Favorite Points Workaround to Fly to Hawaii

This is the redemption so nice, I’ve used it … thrice. (That’s three times, not the post-hardcore band).

I’ve been hooked on Hawaii ever since my first trip back in January 2020 – before the world shut down. It lives up to the hype and then some.

… but Delta knows that we Minnesotans are desperate for a trip to paradise come winter, so you can safely expect some highway robbery rates whether you’re paying cash or forking over SkyMiles.

Check out these rates for a roundtrip in economy on the nonstop from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Honolulu (HNL).

Gross. Let’s do better, shall we?

We’ve got a mantra here at TT HQ: When Delta rates are sky-high, check out Air France/KLM Flying Blue. This partner airline has more stable (and far more reasonable) rates for booking Delta-operated flights, whether you’re jumping on a quick domestic flight, flying across the pond, or over to Hawaii.

It can be tough to find the availability actually bookable at those rates – though Air France recently made that easier with a handy calendar trick: Just leave your date blank when you search for Delta-operated flights!

So those exact same January-to-February flights pricing out at 142,000 SkyMiles? How’s this?

Read our full guide on this workaround to fly Delta for less!

That’s right: Exact same flights – same Delta nonstop route, same dates, same seats – for less than half the mileage. Factor in a 25% transfer bonus from Amex to Air France available at the time, and I booked for 42,000 points apiece.

That’s exactly 100,000 points below what Delta itself was charging.

Honestly, this is why I love this crazy world of points and miles. My wife and I used this workaround for the third time to make a return to Kauai a reality next winter.

Can you say “Aloha”?!

– Kyle Potter, executive editor

🤝 Deal of the Day: Hong Kong from 29K Delta SkyMiles Roundtrip!

Heat scale (out of 3): 🔥🔥🔥

Why we love it: Delta is at it again with another SkyMiles flash sale that’s breaking our brains: Flying to Hong Kong (HKG) for 44,000 miles roundtrip or less!

Flying from dozens of U.S. cities. The best fares can be found this fall, including Thanksgiving availability from several cities.

Sign up now to get all the details on this deal & don’t miss the next flight deal alert.

Already a member? Log in to see all your deals. (Not seeing it? Remove your airport filters to see every deal.)

– Gunnar Olson, Thrifty Traveler Premium deal analyst

⏳ We Have a Date: Chase’s Huge 100K Bonus Ends Soon!

We’ve got a hard deadline now, and it’s coming up fast: the 100,000-point bonus after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months of card membership on the *csp* is ending Thursday, July 30, at 9 a.m. ET!

This is only the third time Chase has ever offered this bonus – the last time was over a year ago, and before that, all the way back in 2021. Needless to say, opportunities like this don’t come around often.

Combined with the card’s new perks (3x on gas, 3x on vacation rentals, a $120 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck or NEXUS credit) and a modest $95 annual fee, we’ve been calling this the best credit card offer of all time. Now there’s an actual expiration date attached to that claim.

At a minimum, 100,000 points are worth $1,000 toward travel booked through Chase. Transfer them to partners Virgin Atlantic, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, or many others instead, and that same stash can go much further.

Eligibility is the wrinkle: Chase recently loosened its rules so you can now hold both Sapphire cards at once, but if you’ve had the Preferred before, you likely won’t earn another bonus on it.

The Chase 5/24 rule still applies too. Five or more new cards in 24 months, from any bank, and you’re out regardless of credit score.

If this card’s been on your radar, don’t wait too long to pull the trigger.

Read our full story here

– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder

📡 On Our Radar: Iceland, Mistake Fares, & SkyMiles

Welcome to On Our Radar – a weekly look at the news and trends we’re watching lately! This week, I’m devoting the whole section to Iceland – a place I’m obsessed with, and that punches way above its weight in terms of airfare relevance. (That’s me in the picture above! 📷)

🇮🇸 Iceland Rules the Cheap Flights World

In a world where airfare is crazy high everywhere, there’s an island in the Atlantic that is our saving grace. Iceland is the king of cheap flights right now. 👑

Icelandair is the reason why – dropping fares into the $300s roundtrip for nonstop flights to Reykjavik (KEF) this fall. Its connecting flights onward to Europe and Scandinavia were in the $400s, too. Not to mention one of the craziest flight deals I can remember …

⚡ $380 Roundtrip from the West Coast: Was it a Mistake Fare?

Below is a screenshot from our Thrifty Traveler Premium deal rounding up these mind-boggling roundtrip airfares to Reykjavik (KEF) this fall. I’m certain these are record low fares from all of these cities.

Here’s why I think this was a mistake fare:

💰 1. Icelandair wanted more than $900 for the same flights. These fares were Alaska flights to Seattle (SEA) connecting to the Icelandair flight to KEF. The $380 fares were only bookable through Alaska.

💺 2. These fares were Main Cabin! You got seat selection, a carry-on, a checked bag, and free changes and cancellation for a voucher on these fares. For $380 roundtrip … that makes no sense. Main Cabin flights to Europe are usually $200 more than basic economy.

🛬 3. Why would Alaska undercut its own new route? Alaska has its own nonstop flight from SEA to KEF that launched this year … so why push passengers to Icelandair, even if they are partners? The Alaska flight doesn’t run through the fall like Icelandair’s does, but still… why undermine your own service?

As of now, we haven’t heard that Alaska is canceling these fares, so maybe they were just incredibly good fares and weren’t a mistake. But I can’t believe Alaska would sell those on purpose. What do you think?

🐴 Delta is Competing on Iceland Fares … but Only With SkyMiles

When Icelandair started slashing fares, we saw Scandinavian (SAS) do the same … but that was it.

We were hoping these massive savings would force the other airlines to compete on price. Delta and United would have to slash their own fares to retain customers on the competing routes, right? Well, they held firm, keeping their own fares high … on the cash side.

Delta was competing all along, but only in the background with SkyMiles. Look at these rates on two separate SkyMiles deals we sent to Thrifty Traveler Premium members flying to KEF from the past few weeks.

The second screenshot was the deal we sent out a few days later after some prices dropped and more cities got in on the deal!

With a Delta SkyMiles credit card and the 15% off discount, you could book these fares for as low as 13,000 SkyMiles roundtrip! 🤯 That’s cheaper than what you would pay for just the flight to Minneapolis (MSP) or New York (JFK).

It’s a lot of Iceland for one On Our Radar, I know. But it is one of my favorite places on earth and it’s home to a lot of interesting airfare trends right now. (Also, I watched D2: Mighty Ducks about 7,000 times as a kid, and the lead villain Gunnar Stahl – the captain of Team Iceland – was kind of my hero …)

– Gunnar Olson, flight deal analyst & travel reporter

🎙️ On the Pod: All Things Google Flights

✈️ Booking cheap travel starts and ends with Google Flights, which is why we devoted a full episode of the podcast to how to use our favorite website – including some of the advanced features that can help you book like a pro.

Tune in now on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!

🕑 Pushing the 24-Hour Rule to the Limit

It’s one of the few rights we have as travelers here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. Airlines can leave us on the tarmac for hours on end or lose our bags and we’re not guaranteed compensation or even a hotel stay if we get stuck somewhere overnight, but we have this:

If you cancel a flight within 24 hours of booking, you can get a full refund – not just a credit that might expire in a year or less, but your money back on your credit card. That’s enshrined in federal law.

That’s great for jumping on a price drop, booking a mistake fare before you can check with work or a spouse, or just everyday buyer’s remorse. It’s your window to book now and ask questions later.

But because this is the federal government we’re talking about, airlines are allowed an exception: They don’t have to honor the 24-hour rule for customers booking within seven days of departure … so last-minute bookings may not qualify for a refund.

Many carriers gladly take that full seven-day window, while some others only require passengers to book at least a full day or two in advance. One major U.S. airline stretches the 24-hour rule to the limit … in a good way.

It’s Delta, whose policies are notable for two big reasons:

• You actually have a bit (or a lot) longer than 24 hours. Rather than requiring cancellation within 24 hours of booking, Delta gives passengers until midnight the following day to cancel for a refund. That’s something several other carriers may do in practice, but Delta spells it out.
• You can get a full refund even for same-day purchases! This is something that, to my knowledge, no other major U.S. carrier does. Delta’s only requirement is that you cancel before departure.

Southwest used to be in the same boat, but sadly, it seems the airline changed its own policy earlier this year.

– Kyle Potter, executive editor

🎉 We Just Launched a Premium Slack Community

We just launched the Thrifty Traveler Premium Slack Community – a private space exclusively for our active Premium members to swap strategies, ask questions, and celebrate booking wins together.

So come and join us, and hopefully I’ll see you over on Slack.

Join our Premium Slack community here

– Nick Serati, Thrifty Traveler co-founder

✈️ Other Travel Tidbits

• 💳 Check your Amex Offers. There’s a new targeted offer to earn $40 (or $20) back after spending $80+ on an Airbnb Experience.
• ✈️ Cathay Pacific will raise fuel surcharges on long-haul routes from Hong Kong to North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa by 41% for tickets issued starting August 1, 2026. (LoyaltyLobby)
• 🚫 United is canceling 10 new routes from Chicago O’Hare to Champaign, Kalamazoo, Lansing, La Crosse, Bloomington, Tri-Cities, Erie, Rochester, Marquette, and Wausau. (Ishrion Aviation via X)
• 🛩️ The wreckage of the Pan Am Clipper Endeavor – a DC-4 that crashed off Puerto Rico in 1952, killing 52 of 69 aboard – has been found roughly 2,000 feet underwater after a search effort spanning seven years. (The New York Times)

A Parting Picture

Truer words have never been spoken.