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About the Promotion
Delta previously ran a 72-hour flash sale on Asia routes, with U.S.-Asia economy awards starting at just 12,700 miles one way. Prices like this are indeed rare for Delta award tickets, but the promotion itself has already ended.
I organized a few key details below for quick reference:
- Core award pricing: economy class (Basic Economy) started at 30,000 miles roundtrip, plus about $40-$45 in taxes and fees. Exact pricing varied by origin and destination. One-way bookings were also available for half the roundtrip mileage.
- Cardholder discount: members with a Delta co-branded credit card at the Gold level or above could receive a 15% mileage discount. That means a 30,000-mile ticket would cost only 25,500 miles, which is an excellent deal.
Destinations and departure cities:
- Taipei (TPE): the lowest pricing was the most widely available here, with 30,000-mile roundtrips from Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle.
- Hong Kong (HKG): 30,000 miles from Las Vegas; 49,000 miles from Boston; and from San Francisco, Main Cabin (44,000 miles) was even cheaper than Basic Economy (47,000 miles).
- Tokyo Haneda (HND): starting at 68,000 miles from Las Vegas.
- More options: this sale also included Seoul, Sydney, Auckland, and more.
Things to keep in mind
- Cabin choice tip: the 30,000-mile ticket was for Basic Economy (BE), which does not allow advance seat selection, changes, or refunds, and boards last. If you want free checked bags and seat selection, you could choose Main Cabin for 44,000 miles.
- Final reminder: before redeeming, it is best to compare the cash price on the same route. Sometimes paid fares are already cheap, in which case using miles may not be the best value.
Award Availability
I checked, and there is still plenty of award space right now.
- LAX-HKG had a lot of availability in September, starting at just 15,000 miles, and other dates were not much higher either.
- LAX-HKG also had availability in November, starting at 22,000 miles, with some other dates pricing at 27,000 miles.
- The reverse HKG-LAX direction also had availability, with plenty of September dates starting at 15,000 miles. If your schedule is flexible, a roundtrip could work well.
Delta Credit Card Discount
If you have a Delta Gold, Platinum, or Reserve card, you can get a 15% discount on the miles required for all Delta award tickets. A ticket that normally costs 10,000 miles would require only 8,500 miles. That is a very solid benefit. This discount could also stack with the flash sale. Since the discount applied in both directions, a 12,700-mile U.S.-Asia flight was an amazing deal.
Right now, the Delta card lineup also has limited-time welcome offers. The most compelling option is the Delta Gold, with a 90,000-mile welcome bonus and no first-year annual fee. On paper, that bonus could cover 7 one-way U.S.-Asia flights at these sale rates.
First two checked bags free; Delta flight perks, plus $100 hotel reimbursement each year
- Welcome bonus: Up to 80,000 miles (spend $2,000 in six months)
- Rewards: Delta purchases, supermarkets, restaurants 2x; everything else 1x
- Redemption: Redeem for Delta flights and SkyTeam partner award tickets; 15% off redemptions
- Annual fee: $150（Annual fee waived for the first year）
- Apply now>>
If you are interested in the other cards, or are not sure which one to choose, you can read our analysis here:
The six cards are listed below:
First two checked bags free; Delta flight perks, plus $100 hotel reimbursement each year
- Welcome bonus: Up to 80,000 miles (spend $2,000 in six months)
- Rewards: Delta purchases, supermarkets, restaurants 2x; everything else 1x
- Redemption: Redeem for Delta flights and SkyTeam partner award tickets; 15% off redemptions
- Annual fee: $150（Annual fee waived for the first year）
- Apply now>>
First two checked bags free; $390 in annual reimbursement + a companion ticket, solid Delta perks
- Welcome bonus: 80,000 miles (spend $4,000 in 6 months) + 20,000 miles (spend another $2,000 in 6 months)
- Rewards: Delta purchases, hotel purchases 3x, restaurants and supermarkets 2x, everything else 1x
- Redemption: Can be redeemed for Delta flights and SkyTeam partner flight tickets; redemptions get 15% off
- Annual fee: $350（Some legacy cardholders: $250）
- Apply now>>
First two checked bags free; annual companion ticket + $610 reimbursement, with generous premium Delta perks
- Welcome bonus: 100,000 miles (spend $6,000 in six months) + 25,000 miles (spend another $3,000 in six months)
- Rewards: 3x on Delta purchases, 1x on everything else
- Redemption: Can be redeemed for Delta flights and SkyTeam partner airline tickets; redemptions get 15% off
- Annual fee: $650（Some legacy cardholders pay $550）
- Apply now>>
AMEX Gold Delta Business Credit Card
First two checked bags free; Delta flight perks, $150 hotel reimbursement each year
- Welcome bonus: 60,000 Delta miles (spend $4,000 in the first 6 months)
- Rewards: Delta purchases, supermarkets, restaurants, shipping, advertising 2x; other purchases 1x
- Redemption: Can be redeemed for Delta flights and SkyTeam partner flights; redemptions get 15% off
- Annual fee: $150（No annual fee for the first year）
- Apply now>>
AMEX Platinum Delta Business Card
First two checked bags free; $440 in annual statement credits + one companion ticket, a card with generous Delta business benefits
- Welcome bonus: 70,000 Delta miles (spend $6,000 in first 6 months)
- Rewards: 3x on Delta purchases and hotel purchases; 2x on restaurants and supermarkets; 1.5x on transportation, shipping, and large single purchases; 1x on everything else
- Redemption: Can be redeemed for Delta flights and SkyTeam partner airline tickets
- Annual fee: $350（$250 for some existing cardmembers）
- Apply now>>
AMEX Delta Reserve Business Card
First two checked bags free; annual companion ticket + $610 reimbursement, Delta's top-tier business card
- Welcome bonus: 80,000 Delta miles (spend $10,000 in six months)
- Rewards: Delta purchases 3x; transportation, office, shipping 1.5x; other purchases 1x
- Redemption: Can be redeemed for Delta flights and SkyTeam partner flight tickets; redemptions get 15% off
- Annual fee: $650（Some legacy cardholders: $550）
- Apply now>>
Award Ticket Discussion Group
We first discussed this deal in our award ticket WeChat group, and some people already booked several tickets.
If you are interested, you can also join our Knowledge Planet community, where we share many great award alerts. Members can also discuss deals in the group and look for various mistake fares and sweet spots.
