Even as Virgin Atlantic nuked other sweet spots to book Delta flights for fewer points, booking a Delta One business class seat between the U.S. and Europe for a flat 50,000 points was the gold standard. Finding the award availability to actually book at those dirt-cheap rates could be a challenge … but with some flexibility it could be done.
But now those days are over.
With absolutely no warning, Virgin Atlantic just quietly raised award rates for many Delta One tickets to Europe to as much as 77,500 points by adding peak and off-peak prices. It gets worse: The airline is also adding a cash surcharge of more than $1,000 on each and every Delta business class redemption.
Only Delta economy redemptions to Europe escape unscathed.
That $1,000-plus cash charge for booking Delta business class awards is positively brutal, negating much of the value of using transferrable credit card points to book a Delta One seat abroad. And it applies to every Delta One redemption overseas.
Worst of all, Virgin Atlantic never directly informed customers of this looming change, giving them no chance to book before these changes took effect. Yesterday, you could have booked a summer flight in Delta One Suites flying from Seattle (SEA) to Amsterdam (AMS) or Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) for just 50,000 points and $5.60 in taxes and fees.
Today, that same redemption would cost you 77,500 points and $1,032.
It's all spelled out in Virgin's new award chart for fights between the U.S. and Europe, excluding the U.K. Take a look.
This award chart doesn't explicitly list what transatlantic flights to and from Midwestern hubs like Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) or Detroit (DTW), though we believe they'll price out at the East Coast rates. And as you see above, rates to book Delta economy to or from Europe remain unchanged: It's still a flat 30,000 points each way, no matter when or where you travel.
Virgin uses a separate award chart for flights to and from London-Heathrow (LHR) and other British cities. This change puts flights to and from the rest of Europe more in line with U.K.-bound flights – including those punishing cash surcharges.
The introduction of peak and off-peak pricing also means that you'll need even more points to book Delta One business class overseas during busier times like summer, Christmas, and New Year's. Here's how it breaks down:
- Standard pricing includes Jan. 4 – March 21, April 16 to June 15, Sept. 3 to Oct. 24, and Nov. 6 to Dec. 6.
- Peak pricing kicks in for Jan. 1 – Jan. 3, March 22 to April 15, June 16 to Sept. 2, Oct. 25 to Nov. 5, and Dec. 7 to Jan. 5, 2025.
That's also a major change for these award redemptions to Europe: In the past, we've sent alerts to Thrifty Traveler Premium members for plentiful business class awards to Europe even during the middle of summer – still for a flat 50,000 points. Now, those same flights will cost at least 57,500 points.
There's just one small silver lining: The shortest flights from the East Coast to Europe during off-peak times drop to 47,500 points each way. But considering those flights are also now subject to more than $1,000 in fees, that's hardly a win.
For nearly a decade, Virgin Atlantic has been the go-to way for travelers to book Delta flights for a fraction of the SkyMiles Delta itself was charging.
While Delta SkyMiles rates are constantly changing (and often exorbitantly expensive), Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers a far more stable – and frequently far cheaper – alternative to book those exact same flights thanks to these separate award charts. That opened the door to booking Delta business class to Europe for just 50,000 points … even when Delta was charging 400,000 SkyMiles or more for the exact same flight.
Plus, those points are even easier to earn than Delta SkyMiles. Virgin partners with all the major travel credit card companies, meaning you could transfer a stash of points from cards like the *venture x*, the *chase sapphire preferred*, the *amex gold*, and more to book flights within the U.S., to Europe, and beyond for huge savings.
But over the past few years, Virgin has eliminated almost every workaround by raising award rates.
It started in early 2021, when Virgin Atlantic drastically raised award rates to book many long-haul Delta flights … in some cases, by as much as 175%. Then late last year, the airline again hiked award rates for many Delta redemptions, eliminating the savings to book many domestic and short-haul hops.
All the while, most flights to Europe remained untouched … until now. Virgin Atlantic just came back to finish the job.
This is a breaking news story, check back for updates.