Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Virgin Atlantic has wide-open Business Class availability to many airports in the Middle East from multiple airports throughout the US, including the flights to Tel Aviv that Thrifty Traveler Premium reported on. Flights are available out of a plethora of US cities including most major airports on the West Coast and many smaller regional airports. Destinations available in the Middle East include Tel Aviv, Muscat, Amman and beyond. There is quite a bit of 2+ passenger availability and the best part is that it’s bookable on Delta for 85,000 SkyPesos…errr….Miles each way.
First things first. It’s important to be aware that any travel right now, especially international, is somewhat speculative and should be treated as such. So far, I have five trips booked throughout this year and I’m holding all of them with an open hand…but I’m adding another one with this fare.
It’s become increasingly difficult to get outsized value out of Delta miles for anything but flash sales or domestic economy (where it’s admittedly dynamite). Delta has decimated their international premium cabin “chart,” with the Middle East being one of the few strange exceptions. For example, if you take the Tel Aviv flight out of the itinerary below and fly to LHR directly, the price goes UP to 120,000 SkyMiles. This is a terrific opportunity to visit a fascinating region, fly a product I’ve long wanted to experience and burn through some SkyPesos.
Delta is showing open availability from airports across the US throughout the Summer and all the way into the middle of December, depending on the route. There don’t seem to be any fuel surcharges on the TLV flights and some of the other Middle Eastern airports, depending on the connecting carrier.
There are three different aircraft flying to LHR from the US: the Airbus A330s and the A350s have Virgin’s newish Cirrus seats and the 787-9 have the older Super Diamonds. Most folks seem to prefer the new seats, so might be worth it to snag a seat on one of those if the routing works. Regardless, by transiting through LHR you’ll get a chance to check out the Virgin Clubhouse:
How to Book
You can search for open dates a month at a time by going directly to Delta’s website (SEA-TLV calendar linked here) and selecting “flexible dates,” or search for an entire year at a time using Seat Spy. Check out other SkyMiles sweet spots here.
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Is there a big fuel surcharge on these?
Depends on the connecting carrier. You’ll be able to see the total fuel charges listed on the calendar screen before you even check out the flight options. The Tel-Aviv flights are $64 each way.
Skypesos are like crypto. Number go up.
Tim,
I can’t get these fares to display at all. Best I can find is 75K one-way JFK-TLV. How did you enter the flight details to get 85K for bus class?
Hey Geoff, I’m seeing quite a bit. I’ve loaded NYC – TLV in a calendar format here:
https://www.delta.com/flight-search/flexible-calendar?cacheKeySuffix=5b8698fc-0ff2-4f23-89b4-ccb4d1b9e0ea.
Give that a try and let me know how it goes.
Nice traveling guide
I can replicate this but 85K is OW not RT. Mistake in the article or am I doing something wrong?
Typo, fixed. If you find 85k RT, let me know ASAP! 🙂
I am seeing 170k rt
Are you sure the 85k is not ow?
Yep, fixed.