No Result
View All Result
Eye of the Flyer
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Learn how to book DELTA LOW LEVEL seats to Europe and beyond even summer!

René by René
November 19, 2011
in Delays, Giveaways, Seats, SkyMiles
27

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

 Today we look at award booking. One of the reasons I love DELTA is how simple it is to collect a ton of miles. The reason most dislike DELTA is their hopelessly broken DELTA.com web site to search for free tickets. Many in the frequent flyer community call it DELTA.dumb. Why? Let’s say I want to visit my mom in Sweden. I would like to fly from Kalamazoo MI (AZO) to Gothenburg Sweden (GOT). Let’s see what I find on July 4th this summer in BUSINESS CLASS?

Ugh – 245,000 miles per person. Yuk.

But, look at this. If I first search AZO-ORD in coach I find low level seats 25,000.

Next I look for seats from ORD-GOT in business I find low level seats for 100,000!

We need to understand the rules and that we can have up to 5 legs each way as a “legal” routing. So, with the above info in hand, if I call DELTA and they put this into one trip, it will cost me just 100,000 all-in for the trip.

Now I really don’t want to fly 5:40 AM from Kalamazoo to Chicago via Detroit (DTW) in coach before I fly business the rest of the way to Sweden. But, I bet you missed the best part in the photo’s above. Notice we only have a 33 min connection in DTW! The minimum legal connection is 30 min. Why is this a good thing?

THE MIGHTY Schedule change rule!

That far out, and with regional airline partners, schedules change all the time! Once that happens and you can not make your connection the “miles requirement” for your frequent flyer ticket goes out the window. Then, we can simply ask for the flights that would have cost 245,000 and avoid ORD all together! Now there are times this does not work and you may have to fly some crazy routes but when that happens I just look at is as extra “bumportunities” or a chance to give up my seat for DELTA $$$ or ETV’s towards my next trip.

Crazy, sure, but it works! BTW you must do this searching for a one way trip. Then the same on the dates for the way back home. It takes some time and work on your part and then phone time with a few reps but worth it for the points savings! There you have it. You now know the way to get low level seats in business class to Europe on DELTA in the middle of summer.

Get 500 free DELTA miles in no time when you pick DELTA as your program here:
eMiles survey site
(let’s see that’s 1500 free points for the last 3 days – not too bad!)

And I want to have another give-a-way. So, leave a comment (by 10PM EST) below for a chance to WIN this DELTA PGA pin! – René

 

Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.

Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Tags: Classic
Previous Post

Delta Connection Captain locked in bathroom above NEW YORK!

Next Post

Winner of the DELTA PGA TOUR PIN is….

René

René

René de Lambert is a contributing writer for EyeoftheFlyer.com - He is an avid Delta and SkyTeam flyer who has held Delta’s top Diamond Medallion status for many years and flown millions of miles.

Next Post

Winner of the DELTA PGA TOUR PIN is....

Comments 27

  1. Aleks says:
    14 years ago

    Rather than calling, it’s often possible to input your individual low-level flights into the multi-city search and get the website to price it out correctly.

    Reply
    • deltagoldflyer says:
      14 years ago

      Hi Aleks, yes, sometimes that can work as well. Sometimes to get coach part you want and biz the rest of the way a rep has to do it. Thanks for your input!

      Reply
  2. Simon says:
    14 years ago

    Have you ever been able to find low level availability LAX to SYD?

    Reply
    • deltagoldflyer says:
      14 years ago

      Looks like a few days in DEC for low level. The 6th & 7th showing seats direct in biz class outbound (are you looking for biz?). Not so much on the return in biz but a coach on the 15th. Most of the pro points bookers use V Australia for good availability but I have to say I have never been down under or attempted to book a trip!

      Reply
  3. Naif Fareed says:
    14 years ago

    Nice blog….

    Reply
  4. Simon says:
    14 years ago

    Yeh, flew V Australia biz in Sept using Delta miles. Next Sept my wife and son (30 months) will be with me so looking for cheapest (oh, and most comfortable) options. Next to no availability even in coach on QF, UA, DL, AC. Will call V Australia for coach avail in the next few days. Thanks for your feedback.

    Reply
  5. Simon says:
    14 years ago

    Interesting – those dates in Dec (6th & 7th) both price at 150k one-way. Is that correct, or delta.com bug?

    Reply
    • deltagoldflyer says:
      14 years ago

      Yes. I see that too. Both those dates at low level biz seats. At this point you would have too come back on the 15th in coach and the total price would be 150,000 per ticket. If you are PM or DM you can keep looking for biz low level coming back and then change. If not it would cost $150 each to change it but maybe worth it if low level biz opens up.

      Reply
  6. Craig New York says:
    14 years ago

    Hi Rene — We need more info on Delta so I am looking forward to your blog!

    You presented an interesting idea with seeking tight connections and the hope that they would later become impossible, creating an opportunity for a manual override. However, isn’t that risky? I would think that it might only work 25% of the time, at best. If the flight times are not changed, or the gap between flights increases, then no dice!

    Reply
    • deltagoldflyer says:
      14 years ago

      Hi Craig. Well I can tell you my experience. Every single trip ever I have done this way, has worked. There are many ways to work this game if you know the rules. If you can get 2 regional flights back to back you are GOLD for changes that will help you. Also know you need MIN – 90 min from last flight to your INTERNATIONAL flight – so that can help a ton too in this game!

      Reply
  7. Jimgotkp says:
    14 years ago

    Very interesting! Thanks indeed! Will remember this once I decide to get some Skypesos! 🙂

    Reply
  8. Pingback: Improving Delta Award Itineraries When Schedules Change - View from the Wing
  9. Derek says:
    14 years ago

    Speaking of V Australia and LOW awards LAX-SYD in Biz, I lucked out on a DL mistake. Apparently when I ticketed my J award ticket LAX-SYD round trip on V Australia, something got gooned up. Months later V Australia bumped me off their outbound flight so DL had to rebook me on their metal. No LOW availability on DL metal, but that didn’t matter since the ticket was gooned up. Sometimes you do get lucky with airline mistakes or errors. I’d also echo schedule changes are great for optimizing award tickets.

    Reply
  10. Jason says:
    14 years ago

    welcome to boarding area!

    Reply
  11. Vinyl Slider says:
    14 years ago

    The image for the AZO-ORD leg shows the 33 min connection in DTW, not MSP. You might want to correct that to avoid confusion.

    Reply
    • deltagoldflyer says:
      14 years ago

      Hi Vinyl – YES my old PIC had it via MSP and I did was looking at that photo so nice catch. I changed it to ORD via DTW where the 33 time is. Thanks for help I have update the post.

      Reply
  12. Murtuza says:
    14 years ago

    Can I have a break journey included on delta partner flights? I want to take a trip from SFO – BOM via DXB with 1 week break in DXB. Is that possible

    Reply
  13. ItalyLovers says:
    14 years ago

    You wrote “Get 500 free DELTA miles in no time when you pick DELTA as your program here”.

    How do you come up with 500 points? I didn’t see anything like that.

    Reply
    • deltagoldflyer says:
      14 years ago

      Just go to eMiles and pick DELTA as your “reward” https://www.e-miles.com/enroll.do?ic=emiv2
      It will take about a week to answer enough of there free surveys to get the points free!

      Reply
  14. Jerry says:
    14 years ago

    Very nice blog!
    Could you please elaborate on this? How do you exactly do this and why it only costs 100,000 miles?
    “We need to understand the rules and that we can have up to 5 legs each way as a “legal” routing. So, with the above info in hand, if I call DELTA and they put this into one trip, it will cost me just 100,000 all-in for the trip.”

    Reply
    • deltagoldflyer says:
      14 years ago

      Hi Jerry. Low level seats from USA to EUROPE, if you can find them, is 100,000 miles. So, if you can find a route, like the one I found, it will price for DELTA reps at 100,000 miles.

      Reply
  15. Philip Falkowski says:
    13 years ago

    I have the same question as Jerry and didn’t understand your answer. It looks to me like the AZO to ORD segment is 25,000 miles and the ORD to GOT segment is 1000,000 miles. Doesn’t that add up to 125,000 miles? What am I missing here?

    Reply
    • Delta Points says:
      13 years ago

      @Philip – this will be much clearer after my post Wednesday but that is not the way the math works with delta. Follow this:
      Leg1 coach 25,000 domestic
      Leg2 biz 100,000k to Europe
      Leg3 biz 45,000 inside Europe
      Total cost for this ticket round trip would be 100,000k

      The key thing is the are ALL low level. Thus, when you stick them together as one, they price out at the lowest “BIG” number. Clear?

      Reply
  16. Philip Falkowski says:
    13 years ago

    Thanks for your prompt reply and clear explanation. Your site is truly an eye opener. I’m in the Arts and my wife is an educator. We’d love to travel more. I’m excited to think that it has now become much more financially feasible.

    Reply
    • Delta Points says:
      13 years ago

      @Philip – Sure, please reach out to me any time you need rene@deltapoints.com

      Reply
  17. Brian says:
    12 years ago

    Rene –

    With a mixed class low level business award, what happens when the schedule change is on te economy segments of your booking. Will Delta force you to keep those as economy, or allow you to reroute all in business even thoug you did have business all the way?

    Reply
    • Delta Points says:
      12 years ago

      @Brian – change will be free but can only change from coach to business if space is open same award level.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

➤ Search Eye of the Flyer

No Result
View All Result

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our NewsletterJoin our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

GREAT Travel and Cash Back Card Offers for Spring 2025!

Eye of the Flyer may receive a commission from the links below. See our Privacy Policy

See some of the biggest and best offers now!
Capital One Venture X Business: Earn 150,000 bonus miles once you spend $30,000 on eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Then, earn an additional 200,000 miles after you spend a total of $200,000 within the first six (6) months. That's a total of 350,000 miles. Learn here how to apply.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card: Earn up to 150,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points. First, earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on the card within six (6) months of being approved for card membership. Earn additional 50,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 in eligible purchases on the card within six (6) months of being approved for card membership. Long story short: Earn 150,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 on eligible purchases within the first six months of being approved. (Terms Apply.). Read more and learn here how to apply.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on eligible purchases within three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Learn more here.

 

American Express® Business Gold Card

American Express® Business Gold Card: Earn 100,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points after you spend $15,000 on eligible purchases with the Business Gold Card within the first three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Plus, enjoy a 0% introductory APR for the first six (6) months from the date of account opening on purchases eligible for Pay Over Time, then a 18.49% to 27.49% variable APR. (See Rates & Fees) Terms apply.. Learn more here.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 150,000 bonus American Express® Membership Rewards® points after you spend $20,000 on eligible purchases on the card within the first three (3) months of being approved for card membership. Plus, earn a $500 statement credit after you spend $2,500 on qualifying flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel with your Business Platinum Card within the first 3 months of Card Membership. You can earn one or both of these offers. This offer expires on June 30, 2025. Terms apply.. Plus, enjoy select airport lounge access, statement credit opportunities galore, and more! Read here why we love this card.

Eye of the Flyer partner offer!CardMatch™CardMatch™
Offers may not be available to all users.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Eye of the Flyer with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our NewsletterJoin our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Resources

  • ✍ Editors Disclaimer
  • 💰 Advertiser Disclosure
  • 🔒 Privacy Policy
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉

Copyright © 2025 Eye of the Flyer. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉

Copyright © 2025 Eye of the Flyer. All Rights Reserved.

Cleantalk Pixel
No Result
View All Result
  • BANK & Travel Cards ★
    • Credit Cards
    • CardMatch™
    • Eye of the Flyer Recommended Cards
    • Best Welcome Offers
    • Travel Rewards Cards
    • Airline Credit Cards
    • Hotel Credit Cards
    • Cash Back Credit Cards
    • No Annual Fee Credit Cards
    • Small Business Credit Cards
    • Gas Rewards Cards
    • Balance Transfer Cards
    • Student Credit Cards
    • Visa Credit Cards
    • Mastercards
    • Bad or Poor Credit
    • No Credit or Limited Credit
    • Secured Cards
  • CardMatch™
  • Cruises
  • Rookie
  • Elite Mileage Runs
  • Merchandise
  • αbout US ✉

Copyright © 2025 Eye of the Flyer. All Rights Reserved.