Delta One To South America, Up To 9 Seats
I don't talk about Delta much since they don't often release business class (re. Delta One) award space. Plus, SkyMiles rates are often terrible. However, they release some business class space to Bogota and there are even reasonable SkyMiles award rates on many dates.
One thing to note is that the including a connection within the US often reduces the award rate and by quite a bit and there are a bunch of connecting options. For the non-stop, you might be better off booking with a partner program.
Shoutout to point2travelexpert for flagging some space.
Now, let's get into the details!
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Well, this is an old A330 photo. I took this on my flight in November 2015.
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: ATL/JFK-BOG
Operating airline: Delta
Class of service: Business class
Dates: October 2023 - March 2024
Seats available: Up to 9
Cabin layout: 1-2-1
Book with (per person, round-trip):
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue: 55,000 miles
- Amex & Chase 25% transfer bonus
- Delta SkyMiles:
- One-way: From 64,000 miles
- Round-trip: From 116,000 miles
- 15% off if you have an Amex Delta Card
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club: 52,500 points (non-stop only)
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- From US: ~$21
- From BOG: ~$87
Bank transfer partners:
- Air France/KLM: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
- Delta: Amex, Marriott
- Virgin Atlantic: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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Available Dates
JFK-BOG
Oct: 29-31
November: 1-9, 11-12, 14-30
December: 1-11, 29-31
January: 1-31
February: 1-29
March: 1-29
BOG-JFK
Oct: 29-31
November: 1-12, 13-16, 18-24, 27-30
December: 1-24, 26
January: 17-19, 22-27, 30, 31
February: 1-3, 5-10, 12-16, 22, 29
March: 1, 2, 5-7, 14, 20, 21, 28
ATL-BOG
Oct: 30, 31
November: 12, 6-9, 13-16, 20-23, 27
December: 28
January: 1-3, 15-18, 22-25, 29-31
February: 1, 5-8, 12-15, 19-22, 26-29
March: 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28
BOG-ATL
Oct: 29-31
November: 1, 2, 6-9, 13-16, 20-23
December: 4-7, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28
January:15-18, 22-25, 29-31
February: 1, 5-8, 12-15, 19-22, 26-28
March: 4-7, 11-14, 18-21,25-28
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Flight Experience
Delta's business class cabin is arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 layout on their Boeing 767. It's not their best, but it's lie-flat and every seat has direct aisle access. That's more than enough for the 6-hour flight from New York or just under 5 hours from Atlanta.
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Best Ways To Book
Virgin Flying Club: Best One-Way Non-Stop Award Rate
For a one-way non-stop award ticket, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is your best option at 52,500 points. Plus, you can transfer points from all bank programs. It's also your best option for a round-trip at 105,000 points - unless you have a Delta Amex Card.
Chase's 30% transfer bonus makes Virgin points your best option for a non-stop even if you're booking round-trip. You'd only need 41,000 or 81,000 Chase points for a one-way or round-trip, respectively.
Delta SkyMiles: Best With A Connection
If you include a domestic connection, the award rate is often lower than the non-stop rate. With a connection, Delta is the best option. Even with transfer bonuses to Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic, Delta is often the best option if you want to connect within the US.
If you have a Delta Amex, you'd only 96,800 miles for a round-trip award on the nonstop routes. Without a Delta Amex, you'd need 116,000 miles.
With a connection, you might be able to get the one-way down to 43,000 miles or 88,000 miles round-trip and that's without the Delta Amex 15% discount.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue: Best With Amex Transfer Bonus
Flying Blue requires 55,000 miles for a one-way, non-stop business class award. However, if you have Amex points, you can transfer points with a 25% bonus at the moment. Similarly, if you recently transferred Bilt points with 100% bonus, this could be a great use of your Flying Blue miles.
With a 25% transfer bonus, you'd only need to transfer 43,000 Amex/Chase points for a one-way. For a round-trip, you'd only need to transfer 85,000 points.
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How To Book
Booking with any of these programs is straightforward as they will all show the available award space. However, if you're including a connection, I would run a search with Delta first then compare to the points you'd need with Flying Blue or Virgin. Don't forget to factor in the transfer bonuses!
You might want to take some notes on each option to compare before booking.
Run your search with whichever program you plan to use to book your ticket.
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Final Thoughts
We don't see a ton of lie-flat options from the US to South America nor do we often see many great options on Delta, so it's nice to see this pop up with plenty of available dates.
Happy Booking!
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