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There's lots to love about the SkyTeam alliance, but the SkyMiles price tag Delta puts on alliance partner tickets isn't one of those things.
Delta's sky-high award rates have made a lot of SkyMiles redemptions on partner airlines all but unaffordable. No matter who you are, forking over a few hundred thousand Delta SkyMiles for a one-way business-class flight to anywhere is no small task — nor is it a great idea under virtually any circumstance.
If you want to fly on a SkyTeam airline, you'll routinely get better value from using partner loyalty programs to make these redemptions. Here are the programs you'll want to know about.
The SkyTeam Alliance
SkyTeam is a truly global alliance, connecting more than 166 countries and 1,000 destinations through 10,000+ daily flights. If you need to go anywhere, there's a good chance that a SkyTeam airline can get you there.
There are 20 airlines in the SkyTeam alliance, but only three offer a compelling use case for booking partner awards. They are:
As alternatives to Delta and its SkyMiles program, Virgin Atlantic, Air France–KLM, and Aeromexico each feature frequent flyer programs that are worth your award redemptions. Each program is easily accessible via various transferable point programs, and it's possible to book tickets through each without a major headache, which is a huge plus on its own.
Historically, Korean Air SKYPASS has also presented great value for SkyTeam travel. Unfortunately, long gone are the days when the carrier was a transfer partner of any major flexible rewards program. You still can transfer Marriott Bonvoy® points to SKYPASS at a 3:1 clip, but there are better uses of Marriott points than this.
Since SKYPASS miles have become increasingly more complicated to earn, we'll temporarily put Korean Air on the back burner and focus on the three programs that you're most likely to use. Let's dive into what you should book with each of these three.
Related: What Are the Best Flexible Rewards Points?
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
As a relative newcomer to the SkyTeam alliance, Virgin Atlantic has a unique frequent flyer program called Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. As a transfer partner of four of the five major flexible rewards currencies, it's easy to rack up a hefty balance of miles that you can put towards a wide variety of SkyTeam partner flights.
Virgin Atlantic economy to London
Of all the routes flying today, New York to London is one of the most iconic. There's stiff competition, given the sheer number of carriers that fly between the two cities, but what's not competitive is Delta's pricing for an award flight in economy.
If you book New York-Kennedy (JFK) to London Heathrow (LHR) with Delta SkyMiles, you can expect to redeem between 33,000 and 41,000 miles plus a few dollars in taxes and fees for a one-way economy ticket. Alternatively, if you booked via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, you could redeem 10,000 Virgin points plus about $150 in taxes and fees. Despite the high fees, this is still an incredibly competitive rate to get across the pond.

Delta Air Lines economy to Tokyo
Sticking with economy-class redemptions, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club also presents substantial value for flights to Japan. If you want to fly Delta from Seattle to Tokyo, your best and most cost-effective bet is booking with Virgin Atlantic. You'll pay 27,500 Flying Club points plus $5.60 in fees — a far cry from the 115,000 SkyMiles that Delta routinely charges on this one-way flight.

ITA Airways business class to Rome
ITA Airways is one of Virgin Atlantic's newer mileage redemption options, offering great value to get to Europe in business class. At 75,000 Flying Club points for a one-way flight between Washington, D.C. and Rome, the rates are hard to beat. Comparatively, business-class awards to Rome booked with Delta SkyMiles can cost 375,000 miles on average. Flying Blue offers comparable value to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club on this route, and we'll cover that program shortly.

Virgin Atlantic business class to Cape Town
To get to Cape Town, South Africa from North America, you'll have to do a lot of flying. And if you can do it in business class, you're in for a far more comfortable ride. If you had an option between booking Atlanta to Cape Town with SkyMiles or Flying Club points, going with Virgin Atlantic is a no-brainer. In business class, Delta charges upwards of 495,000 SkyMiles — over 4X the 105,000 Flying Club points that Virgin Atlantic asks for.
Although you'll be on the hook for about $600 in fees by booking with Virgin Atlantic, it's a reasonable amount for a trip that lasts about 30 hours and costs more than $6,000 if booked with cash.

Related: The Trick To Using the Virgin Atlantic Monthly Award Calendar
Air France-KLM Flying Blue
We'll go ahead and pivot to Flying Blue, which is the loyalty program that belongs to both Air France and KLM. Like Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, Flying Blue also boasts a long list of card issuer partners that allow for point transfers.
Flying Blue miles are easy to earn and use on SkyTeam partner redemptions. Here are some examples.
Delta Air Lines economy to Dakar
On a one-way flight between the United States and Dakar, Senegal, Flying Blue offers quality value in economy class. For 27,000 miles, this Delta-operated flight will get you to western Africa without breaking the bank. Comparatively, you can redeem between 105,000 and 130,000 SkyMiles if you booked an identical itinerary through Delta.

Air France–KLM business class to Europe
A few weeks ago, we covered a positive change: the standardization of Flying Blue award rates between the U.S. and Europe. This award price adjustment was great news for business-class flights, which now start at 50,000 Flying Blue miles. If you want to fly between Austin and Amsterdam in KLM's business class, you can do so for 50,000 miles plus $200 — a great deal.
If booked through Delta, this route routinely costs 50,000 SkyMiles in economy. Business-class awards command an average of 375,000 SkyMiles, which is an astronomical amount. Although you'll only pay about $6 in taxes and fees if you book through Delta, the mileage difference won't be worth the cash savings for most people.

KLM business class to Riyadh
Continuing with the value trend in KLM's business class, we'll spin the globe and look at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Flying business class from Washington, D.C. to Riyadh with a layover in Amsterdam requires 75,000 Flying Blue miles plus about $300 in taxes and fees. Delta commands a much higher price tag at 94,000 SkyMiles on average (plus $30 in taxes and fees) in economy or 400,000 in business class (plus $800).
The difference is striking, again highlighting the value of booking through a SkyTeam partner program.

Related: How to Find the Cheapest Air France-KLM Flying Blue Awards Using the Award Calendar
China Airlines business class to Xiamen
Delta business-class awards to Asia press upwards of 400,000 SkyMiles, which encourages us to take a look at what Flying Blue can offer. China Airlines flies itineraries between Xiamen (XMN) and Vancouver (YVR) for only 88,000 Flying Blue Miles. You'll pay $225 in taxes and fees, but this is an excellent deal for a long-haul business-class flight.

Aeromexico Rewards
The third partner SkyTeam loyalty program we'll look at is Aeromexico Rewards. One of the more unheralded programs in this post, Aeromexico has conventionally been complicated to use. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't.
Aeromexico Rewards is accessible through multiple transfer partners, which is convenient for boosting your loyalty program balance. American Express Membership Rewards is the main transfer partner to look at, due to its better transfer ratio. A 60% boost on the Membership Rewards you move to Aeromexico, compared to the other transfer partners, means your points will go a lot further.
Delta Air Lines economy to Punta Cana
Using Aeromexico Rewards to book economy flights between New York and Punta Cana presents steady value. Aeromexico generally charges 28,000 points for this redemption, plus about $75 in taxes and fees — or 17,500 Membership Rewards transferred at the 1:1.6 ratio.
Delta will charge between 13,000 and 30,000 SkyMiles for the route, plus $50 in taxes and fees. In peak season, prices are a lot higher, which provides more encouragement to take advantage of the partner program. If you want to transfer points to either Delta or Aeromexico to book this itinerary, the transfer ratio could be the deciding factor. Delta's 1:1 ratio from American Express is much less competitive than the 1:1.6 transfer to Aeromexico.

Aeromexico business class to Buenos Aires
Aeromexico business awards between Mexico City (MEX) and Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) also present great uses of miles. You'll redeem 100,000 Aeromexico Rewards (or 62,500 Amex points) on the low end, which is a great deal if you want to fly this SkyTeam partner.
Delta prices these Aeromexico business-class awards anywhere between 135,000 and 225,000 SkyMiles, which is substantially higher than you'd find booking with the partner program.

Aeromexico business class to Paris
Business-class flights between Mexico City and Paris also present quality value, given their price of 150,000 Aeromexico Rewards (93,750 Amex points). Booking with Delta means paying 320,000 SkyMiles — double the cost of using this partner program. Both itineraries require moderate taxes and fees, but the point difference is the focal point in this award example.

Bottom Line
If you've got a balance of flexible rewards points and want to fly a SkyTeam airline — or you're considering building a balance for future travel — one of the best things you can do is familiarize yourself with partner loyalty programs. There's a great chance you'll find better value using partner programs than booking SkyTeam awards with Delta SkyMiles.
What are your favorite SkyTeam loyalty programs? Let us know in the comments.
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Very useful information! Thanks much, this will save me some miles!
Thanks, Howie!
I am interested in going from NY to kiev and see 30,000 delta miles one way. Do you recommend doing that or is there a better way to use delta miles?
That is a good use of Delta miles as far as I’m concerned.
Like the article states, Delta is the lemon in US award travel. Its so true and its getting much worse, Not having a published award chart simply lets Delta charge what ever they want, especially to the most popular destinations, Delta is a joke.
I also find it annoying that Delta doesn’t publish a chart for using SkyMiles for upgrades.
It seems that korean and aeromexico are the best options. And what about flying blue?
Looks like some great options for Skyteam redemptions.
“some partner awards outside the US, dropped as much as 20%”
Which ones?… I can’t find any cheaper routes than before, all are more expensive now…
Flying Tokyo–Bali on Garuda Indonesia, for example, has dropped from 50K to 40K one-way in business class. This is one of the routes where Delta raised the partner award in October 2016, which has now dropped back to the original rate. However, reduced awards are definitely the exception in this case.
This is great, definitely going to transfer to SkyPass instead of Delta from now on!
Thanks for the great tips, have some international trips in the future will take advantage for sure.
I just booked a one-way Seoul to Osaka for 7,500 SkyMiles (will be flying Korean). It was the best deal I found for this leg with the next lowest being 15,000 miles for one way on Asiana, Korean, and American. There definitely are still areas where Delta is OK.
Nice way to get some more value from SkyPesos!
I guess we all need to fly international more 😉
Great blog post . Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for putting this together Howie. My brother is based out of FRA and is such a DL loyalist. I am using this as a tool so he can open up the multiple avenues for award redemptions as he is hard headed and will not entirely take my word for it.
We never consider Delta as part of our travel plans. However, my partner is going on Safari, and traveling with guns, DL direct to Jo’Burg makes the most sense, so he has a front-cabin, revenue flight booked. Planning a trip to Spain next year, and Delta is one of the best ways to fly direct to BCN without flying through the hell that is Newark. Considering booking on Delta if we can get one of the good Business class deals to Europe that have been pretty common on several carriers the past few years.
Just wondering how easy it would be to redeem the SkyPesos for domestic flights. Don’t even want to try to use for International.
I wasn’t even aware of this! Thanks for sharing.
The one issue with Skypass (not sure about AeroMexico) is you can only book for immediate family members. As someone who is unmarried, but travels with my girlfriend, Skypass won’t work for me since I can’t use my point on her. That being said F*** Delta
Good post and update and oh, shame on Delta.
Thanks guys, this is awesome
This is not jut for flights originating in the US. Also for intra-region flights with Skyteam partners the redemption rates are multiples of what for example BA would charge in Europe or TG/SQ in Asia. On top of that the “carrier imposed” fees were in the same ballpark as economy tickets when purchased. Almost completely worthless.
Is there something comparable for oneworld and their partner airlines?
We’re working on that!
Very nice tips! I plan to use Skymiles on China Eastern/Southern
This does affect my view on Delta every time a devaluation occurs. Thanks for those great alternatives!
very detailed info… i am always confused by all this tho
Yet another reason why they are referred to as Sky Pesos
Shame on Delta. Alitalia’s sweet spots sound interesting, but I’d be nervous investing in that program with the airline on the brink of insolvency…
This is a good article for listing SkyTeam travel options, but if you use Chase UR points (or points from another program), you shouldn’t feel limited to using SkyTeam partners. What I’d be more interested in seeing is a list of the best way to use Delta SkyMiles for those of us currently stuck with a good number of SkyMiles.
Found the biggest advantage of the Delta AmEx card appears to be the “free check bag”. It does same a little amount of bucks.
Any comments about the quality of the first/business class experience of Korean/Alitalia/Aero compared to Delta’s?
I agree, Delta frustrates me with their constant devaluations but their business class experience to Europe, for example, is pretty darn good. Do these other partner airlines have as good of a passenger experience?
Flying first/business on Korean is amazing. Never done it with Delta so I can’t compare but KE is top notch.
I love these sweetspots posts, keep them coming. I almost got a delta Amex card with 60,000 miles sign up bonus but instead opted for British Airways Visa with up to 100,000k Avios and I’m glad I did.
I’m flying back from Japan to SFO on KE 787 8i upper deck prestige class this year. I was tying to do JL or ANA but they don’t allow one way flights on award redemption unfortunately.
Howie,
I’d probably throw out a disclaimer around Alitalia miles seeing as they may not even exist after this summer.
I exchanged all my Delta miles on the website points.com to AA and since then I never flied Delta or transferred any points to Delta again! It is simply the most expensive mile award for me
I exchanged all my Delta miles on the website points.com to AA and since then I never flied Delta or transferred any points to Delta again! It is simply the most expensive mile award for me.
Great post, thank you. Going to Costa Rica /LIR . I have a ton of chase points but wanted to fly delta. Tried thru Korean air but there is no award availability for my travel dates. What do you recommend?
You’ll have to either be flexible on your dates, pony up and pay the extra miles Delta wants or redeem your Ultimate Rewards like cash through UltimateRewards.com
Thanks for this post, this is really useful. Do you have anything similar for Oneworld and star – comparing redemption costs among the members?
We’re working on it!
What is the cheapest way to fly from Den /Chi or NY to Ukraine or Poland? I do have some delta miles.
Any suggestions?
How many is “some”? What other points/miles do you have? Depending on the dates and your flexibility you may actually find a cash booking to be inexpensive as well.
I like Delta, but their Skymiles program is the worst…great post and recommendations!
Regardless of how one feels about DL, this is a great post and provides great suggestions. Thanks!
Thanks for all this great info.
Thanks for putting this together. It is a useful reference.
really need to learn my way around booking using alliance miles instead of direct miles! such a great trick
I was platinum medallion for many years but gave all medallion status up last year. Delta just wants too many miles for flights and half the time you can’t get what you want. Unfortunately I still have 305,000 sky miles I’ll try to use on a partner carrier but Delta even makes that difficult.
I do not have enough Delta miles left for 2 international award tickets to Asia or Europe. I will use the last of my Delta miles for a domestic ticket. I did check for a 25,000 mile awards to Calgary or Edmonton for this July without success.
Overall, I like DL and usually enjoy the flight experience when I’m traveling with them. That being said, and having been a member of their SM program since the early 80’s, I have lost faith in their SM program and redemption rates.
I have to think part of the devaluation of Delta is their no expiration policy on miles. Basically every mile ever accrued is still out there or has been redeemed as long as the person is still alive. Other airline programs expire miles. Even if it is at a 10-20% rate among more casual travelers this adds up and allows other airlines to give more value for their mileage redemption. I would rather see delta expire miles after 18 months or a year of inactivity then keep devaluing their award redemptions.
Thanks for letting us know these possibilities.
I usually have miles in three SkyTeam programmes.
Having miles in more than 3-4 programmes can become very complicated.
Nice post. As many have said, those of us with a choice have long since abandoned Delta and Skyteam.
Unfortunately many people are hub-captive and are stuck with whatever bones Skypesos is willing to throw at them…
Agree, Delta does have some amazing sweet spots. You just need to find them and utilise so jump on any availability as soon as you see them.
as long as the miles not expire, i’ll save only flight miles on delta program I can’t avoid – once in a lifetime I’ll use it 🙂
Fingers are still crossed someone is going to write up a guide on how to use China Eastern/Southern. Those programs are a nightmare to decode.
Hah! I don’t know about that. We’re trying to focus on programs that have transfer partners, where the points and miles are relatively easy to accumulate.
That picture though looks like it’s a Miss Universe contest.
Sigh. Delta has so much potential…
But determined not to disappoint!
Exactly as per what phillip said!!!!
Don’t travel Delta for all of the above reasons!
The award partners used to be great deal. Now it may be available. But incredibly difficult to obtain. I have a feeling they are constantly adjusting, demand inflation
Award partners still provide a great value!
I want nothing to do with Delta or it’s partners. Once upon a time you could fly first class with Delta miles on any of their partners, now you can barely fly at all. The partners should kick Delta out of the system completely.
Don’t say that! There are some sweet sweet spots 🙂 Use them when it makes sense.
Im sitting on 20K miles with Delta and waiting for something worth it to transfer more points to Delta. Looks like I am gonna need way more.
Marsh,
I’m in the same boat, I’ve had 25k Delta miles for years (never expire), but whenever I think I have a chance to redeem them, there is no “saver” availability.
Someday I’ll figure out how to use my orphaned DL miles!
Post a trade on point.com
I think you can trade it for 30k AA miles, which you can use 7500 x 4 short haul tickets!
All of the above comments advise as to why I am no longer collecting Delta Skypesos nor flying Delta if there is any other choice. I hope Delta understand what there frequent flyer plan decimation is is doing to them long-term and changes its ways.
Doesn’t KE usually impose hefty fuel surcharges on SkyTeam partner award tickets that make their redemption rate not as attractive?
It depends on the city pairs. For example, business class round-trip from the US to London is just over $500 in taxes/fees + 80,000 Korean miles — with SkyMiles for the same flights on Delta you’d pay about half that in taxes/fees but you’d also pony up 140,000 SkyMiles. No thanks! Those same flights with Air France/KLM on Delta would cost you 170,000 miles! GROSS
Is that new? I booked a few weeks ago a one-way LAX-CDG in Delta business class for 70k +$5.
It isn’t new. Again it depends on the airline, route and miles being used.
I haven’t gotten any Delta miles, and at this point I’m not even sure if it’s worth it. Keep getting 50k offers from Amex, but that gets me nothing really.
We use them exclusively for domestic flights. There are sometimes great value to be had on 5,000 or 7,500 mile routes.
The problem with the Delta Amex is that unless you do a ton of travel with Delta (25% of purchases on the card) you aren’t earning any more miles than you would with the SPG card and their 25% miles bonus for airline transfer partners. The SPG card is at the very least an equal card for earning Delta miles from everyday spend as Delta’s own co-branded cards which is sad. I did open the Delta Amex when they had a 70k bonus and $100 statement credit. Since I already had a bunch of SkyMiles it seemed worth it at the time. There is some value there, but the award prices are very inflated if you aren’t extremely flexible.
Exactly. Unless one is a heavy DL flyer, none of the co-branded cards are better for earning miles than the SPG card(s). DL cards are really only good for grabbing the sign-up bonus; then it’s into the sock drawer until it’s time to cancel.
Also using SkyPass you can fly roundtrip from mainland US to Hawaii on Delta for 25k miles.
That and 45k for first class — two of the best redemption options out there.
wow. that’s better than anything Delta ever offered!
Any tips on finding the FC Flights ? I have never been able to find one.
Not all bad. New award availability on WestJet partner means I can fly cross-country Orlando to Vancouver for 25k miles + $11.20
Absolutely! This is a great new add, but for long-haul redemptions, Delta just stinks right now.
Yeah, hoping they run a sale on Delta One RT awards to Europe for 105k like they did last year so I can unload some of my remaining miles. Definitely will be less focused on SkyMiles earning and more focused on transferable points like Chase, Amex, and SPG going forward.
I have over a million delta miles and want to fly my wife business to China and I have over 300k Marriott points. Right now I book on delta thru YYZ to SZX on China eastern business 217k miles could I do better switching points to spg than to Korean???
It depends — but 217k miles sounds like you’re paying a combination of saver rates + a premium for some flights on Delta. I would reach out to our award booking experts (https://awardwallet.com/awardBooking/add) for a hand.