(EXPIRED) Delta deal: biz class to Lima, Peru from $971 RT

Just yesterday, Greg wrote a post attempting to answer the question, “Should Delta flyers credit to Virgin Atlantic?” and we discussed it on our Talking Points live stream. Whichever way you answer that question, you might be interested in this: Delta One has business class on sale to Lima, Peru, including flat bed seats between Atlanta and Lima, from $971 round trip from a number of US cities (note that the cheapest prices have pretty limited availability in September / October, but there are some deals for just a bit more as well). Personally, I’d credit these to Virgin Atlantic — but those chasing Delta Elite status — especially those working on the currently-increased status challenge from Alaska status may be particularly interested.

The Deal

• Delta One sale to Lima, Peru with business class from a number of US cities from $971 round trip
  • Boston to Lima from $971
  • New Orleans to Lima from $974
  • More possible

Quick Thoughts

Lima is a great city to visit, with great food, beaches, nightlife, etc. A sale like this could also make it a good gateway to visit other famous sites in Peru like Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and the Nazca lines — though note that all of those are quite a distance from Lima.

Still, if you have the time, I highly recommend seeing Machu Picchu. The truth is that I personally had no particular interest in going — it was my wife who pushed to go and it was one of the many times she has been totally right (mostly because she agrees with me so often :-D). Fiftysomething countries later, Machu Picchu remains the most impressive thing I’ve seen in my travels. Word to the wise: if you’re tempted to save money by taking the bus between Lima and Cuzco, do yourself a favor and just book it one way and fly the other. After about 22 hours on the bus on the way there, I can almost guarantee you’re going to fly back no matter what your plan may have been, so might as well book that ticket in advance.

TPG reports sale prices around $1,000 from a number of other US cities as well. As the flights I saw all book into Z-class, I believe these should earn 200% mileage flown if credited to Virgin Atlantic. A Boston-Atlanta-Lima-Atlanta-Cincinnati-Boston round trip (as linked above) should therefore earn almost 19,000 redeemable miles with Virgin Atlantic with no status if my calculations are correct. See Greg’s post yesterday for more analysis between that and what you could earn with Delta.

Overall, these are some good deals to get a lie-flat seat to Peru. The best prices are available on select fall dates, but there are decent prices to be found on other dates as well.

H/T: TPG

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