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Refundable Delta award tickets next summer for 50k miles

I am seeing a number of US-Europe Air France and KLM flights next summer for 50,000 miles (main cabin) when booked through Delta. The flights have to be on Air France or KLM planes -- Delta flights are much higher in cost. I was able to book four non-stop tickets Minneapolis to Paris next August for 50,000 Delta miles each plus ~$90 in taxes/fees. I found the same pricing on some dates for Minneapolis to Amsterdam, LA to Paris, and Seattle to Paris. It also looks like some itineraries connecting in AMS/CDG are available for the same price.

Per Delta's current terms, "Tickets purchased between March 1 and December 31, 2020, can be changed without a change fee or Award redeposit fees for a year from the date you purchased it." So any award tickets purchased by the end of this year are fully refundable if the travel situation does not improve. I already made one change to my flights and can confirm there were no change fees.

One more tip is that the award tickets book with AF/KLM flight numbers (not Delta codeshare flight numbers), so I was unable to select seats on the Delta website. However, using the record locator, I was able to select seats on the Air France website at no cost.

Posted by
2790 posts

I have found the same using Delta miles to book on Virgin (which I prefer to AF or KLM) out of Atlanta and Boston to London. I booked to London and will buy a "cheap ticket" to whereever once i see if I can actually go anyplace next year!

Posted by
1043 posts

I also took a leap of faith and booked tickets at 50,000 award points on Delta/Virgin Atlantic from STL to LHR via ATL for June 2021. Taxes and fees were a little higher at $240.00 each. I did look at the KLM flight with a transfer through AMS to LHR but figured a little extra cash was worth a direct flight into the UK. I noticed exclusive Delta flights on awards are still at 100,000 + to London from the US. I have a US/UK passport and will be staying with family, so I figured I didn't have much to lose by booking these great deals early.

Margaret

Posted by
2790 posts

As long as you book via Delta they qualify for the "no penalty" refund. However, you may have to call Delta to do it. Having changed frequent flyer tickets a lot in my past I have discovered that you often can't change or cancel online for "partner tickets".

Posted by
26 posts

Carol is correct: Air France tickets booked via Delta cannot be changed/cancelled online. Instead of calling to make a change, I actually used Delta's new texting service, which worked well.

Posted by
2790 posts

Just a note...

I was able to cancel a flight booked on Delta but actually flying on Virgin Atlantic online without any problem.

Rebooked for around Labor Day weekend next year, crossing my fingers.

Posted by
1131 posts

I had to call Delta yesterday and they had the “hold message” playing that said now all points flights booked via Delta’s website, including those on partner airlines, will no longer have the miles redeposit fee if canceled, even less than 72 hours from departure! Great news!