Carissa served in the U.S. Air Force where she developed her love for travel and new cultures. She started her own blog and eventually joined The Points Guy. Since then, she’s contributed to Business ...
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Update: The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.
Who here likes business class? Kidding … we already know the answer to that. Everyone would rather be up front than squished into row 42.
Well, today you’re in luck because Delta One availability has opened up from a few airports, even on the West Coast (as first spotted by Thrifty Traveler Premium). These routes can be booked using Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club program for just 39,000 points each way if you act quickly.
Let’s take a look at the details.
Delta One Fare Deal — Details
These seats come courtesy of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which charges just 50,000 Flying Club miles one-way for Delta One seats from the U.S. to Europe.
Here’s some more information about the available deals:
- Routes: Detroit (DTW), New York (JFK), Minneapolis (MSP), or Portland (PDX) to various European cities
- Dates: November 2022 to March 2023
- Rates: 39,000 miles + $5.60 in taxes and fees
You can find these flights via Virgin Atlantic’s website — and there’s fairly widespread availability:
Even better, many of these are nonstop flights:
As you can see in the screenshot above, you’ll be flying Delta’s top-of-the-line Delta One business class product. If you were to pay cash, you’d have to fork over more than $3,600:
Earning Flying Club Miles
Now, we’ve said that you’ll be able to book these flights for just 39,000 points one-way. As you can see, Virgin Atlantic is charging 50,000 miles for a flight (which is still a steal!).
However, thanks to a transfer bonus from American Express, you’ll get 30% more Flying Club miles when transferring your Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic through September 30, 2022. Since Virgin is an Amex transfer partner at a 1:1 ratio, with this bonus, you’ll be getting a 1.3:1 ratio. This drops your total out-of-pocket cost to just 39,000 points.
At this rate, you’ll be redeeming your points for a whopping 9.3 cents each. This is more than 4 times our current valuation of Amex points at 2.2 cents apiece.
Don’t worry if you don’t have Amex points. You can still take advantage of this deal from Virgin Atlantic by choosing to transfer points from one of its other partners, including Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Miles, Marriott Bonvoy, and Citi ThankYou Rewards.
Chase, Citi, and Capital One all transfer at a 1:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 points you transfer.
Hot Tip: Looking for other ways to redeem your Virgin Atlantic points? Have a look at our guide to the best ways to redeem Virgin Points for max value!
Final Thoughts
This is an excellent deal for transatlantic flights in business class, made even better by the transfer bonus from American Express. Take advantage of this quickly to score seats — even from the West Coast — for just 39,000 points out of pocket.
Otherwise, you can still book this deal by transferring over points from one of Virgin’s many partners, including Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Marriott.
Featured Image Credit: Delta
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About Carissa Rawson
Carissa served in the U.S. Air Force where she developed her love for travel and new cultures. She started her own blog and eventually joined The Points Guy. Since then, she’s contributed to Business Insider, Forbes, and more.
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3 comments
Dakota
September 28, 2022
Good Morning,
I am struggling to find award availability in December from Detroit (DTW), New York (JFK), or Minneapolis (MSP) to anywhere. I have tried from all airports above to several cities in Europe, one way, flexible dates, using points, 2 tickets, and I use the date December 5. Every search I get an error “Sorry, no reward flights are available for your search, some flights don’t operate every day. Try selecting flexible dates to see more availability.#101638_A”
Any advice?
Jarrod West
September 29, 2022
Hi Dakota,
I see that you are selecting flexible dates, but have you tried changing the set date from December 5th? Usually, if no results appear, it is because there is no award availability for 2 seats with +/- 3 days from the date you entered. So try plugging in more date options, if your schedule permits, to see if that opens anything up. Best of luck!
Jeff Fanelli
July 01, 2023
My experience is the same as “Dakota” above. Of the 200-300 searches I’ve done in the VA web site for award ticket availability over the last six months, 1% returns any search results.
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