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Delta recently released pricing for a slew of new routes coming late this year, including Atlanta to Cape Town. The airline also launched Premium Select fares on new and existing routes to Hawaii.
We dug into these new routes to figure out the lay of the ground price-wise. While there are some deals, there is also a high degree of variability between peak demand days and off-peak days. The following pricing examples tend to be on the middle to the lower end of the range of what you can expect to pay.
Pricing on Premium Select Routes to Hawaii
Salt Lake City and Maui
Delta is now selling Premium Select service on its existing service from Salt Lake City to Maui. Paying cash, we found round trips for $1,569 all-in.
If, on the other hand, you are looking to redeem miles for the award, then be prepared to dig deep. The same flights in Premium Select price out at 126,000 miles plus taxes and fees.
While that is a decent 1.23 cents per mile redemption rate, it is still not a great use of 126,000 SkyMiles, and you can probably get better value with another redemption.
New York to Honolulu
December 17, 2022 sees the launch of a direct service from New York-JFK to Honolulu (HNL) just in time for the holiday season. Prices are understandably high during holiday times. But booking in January 2023, we found round trip Premium Select pricing at $1,713.
Redeeming miles for these fares is also an extravagant use of your SkyMiles. The cheapest awards still set you back 136,000 SkyMiles plus taxes and fees, netting a 1.25 cents per mile redemption rate. Again you are probably better off using your SkyMiles for a different redemption option.
Atlanta to Maui
Nonstop flights between Atlanta and Maui (OGG) are scheduled to start on November 19 with Premium Select service. Cash pricing for round-trip fares in Premium Select is around $2,249.
Redeeming SkyMiles for these fares isn't going to come cheap. We priced the round-trip award in Premium Select for the same dates at 177,500 miles plus taxes and fees. That's right around 1.26 cents per mile.
A small tweak to the date combination did result in somewhat cheaper awards, but not by much.
Pricing on New Delta Routes
Delta also introduced a few new routes and is bringing routes back that it had previously discontinued.
Atlanta to Cape Town
A new route from Atlanta to Cape Town nonstop will commence operations on December 17, 2022 — which is perfect timing if you want to head to South Africa for some sun or a safari. We found main cabin round trip fares in January 2023 from $1,631.
The prices are substantially greater if you are looking to travel in a premium cabin. Delta One round trips will set you back a huge $9,943.
If you are looking to redeem miles for this flight, there is some excellent value to be had in round trip main cabin awards, which start from 100,000 SkyMiles plus taxes and fees. That's a better ~1.5 cents per mile redemption rate.
Atlanta to Tel Aviv
Delta abandoned its Atlanta (ATL) to Tel Aviv (TLV) route in 2011, but now it's bringing it back starting May 10, 2023. There are some solid deals on main cabin fares, and we found prices around $1,404 round-trip.
Premium travel will have to pay close to 5x that amount with Delta One fares setting you back around $7,964 round-trip.
Main cabin awards start at 118,000 SkyMiles round-trip plus taxes and fees. That sounds like a reasonable redemption for a flight over 12 hours and halfway around the planet. But, it's only 1.15 cents per SkyMile in value.
Los Angeles to Tahiti
A newcomer to the Delta timetable, December 17, 2022 will see the launch of a direct nonstop service between Los Angles and Fa'a'ā International Airport (PPT) in Papeete, French Polynesia. With this launch, getting to Tahiti can be done at pretty reasonable prices. We found roundtrip main cabin fares from $848 in January 2023.
Round trip fares in Delta One are also pretty reasonable, considering the destination. Roundtrip Delta One fares can be had from $5,321.
Awards to Tahiti are a bargain in the main cabin. Round trip main cabin awards can be found from 80,000 SkyMiles plus taxes and fees. Unfortunately, since the cash rate is so low, this ends up providing less than one cent per mile in value.
Los Angeles To Miami
December 17, 2022 sees the relaunch of nonstop service between Los Angeles and Miami. Surprisingly Delta discontinued this service back in 2018 and has waited a long time to put it back in place. Main cabin fares are good value with round-trip fares setting you back $402.
There is some excellent value if you want to redeem SkyMiles for this route. Round trip main cabin awards will set you back 27,500 SkyMiles plus $12 in taxes and fees. At 1.4 cents each, this is one of the better value uses of your SkyMiles compared to the other pricing we have seen Delta announce recently.
Our Take
More routes equal more options to earn and burn your miles and maximize your travel rewards and goals. While some of these new Delta routes are a great value in terms of cash, some provide a decent value using miles.
For instance, Delta award pricing for Premium Select fares to Hawaii generally provides a lower value when you compare them with awards to Tel Aviv or Cape Town. The key to maximizing the new routes is knowing when to use cash when to use miles, and the need to be flexible with your booking dates.
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