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Airline Partnerships

Together with our strategic airline partners, we are growing our global network as the demand for travel continues to increase, giving customers access to more than 275 destinations on six continents.

These strategic investments with our partners are transforming our ability to improve travel for our customers, enabling us to deliver a seamless travel experience alongside offering our customers an unrivalled network between North America and premier markets worldwide.

Air France is the Official Airline of the 2024 Olympics

Air France signed an agreement with the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 Organizing Committee to be the official partner of the 33rd Olympics coming next summer. 

EXPLORE  |  Air France

Renovated KLM Crown Lounges Now Open in Houston and Toronto

KLM opened their beautifully renovated Crown Lounges at both Houston and Toronto airports in September. Both feature new furniture, flooring, wallpaper, fixtures, and bathroom upgrades. Visitors can enjoy a meal at the redesigned buffet offering hot and cold options, or refresh with a selection of beers, wine and spirits.

READ  |  KLM

Korean Air to Restore and Expand Network for the Winter Season

Korean Air will expand its operations for the winter season to meet resurgent travel demand by resuming services and increasing operations to China, Japan, Southeast Asia, North America and Oceania. The airline will also be launching a new scheduled service to Phu Quoc, Vietnam on Nov. 26.

  READ |   Korean Air

‘Sustainable flight is too difficult’ Challenge Accepted!

On Nov. 28, Virgin Atlantic’s Flight100 will fly from London Heathrow to New York and become the world’s first trans-Atlantic flight flown on 100% sustainable aviation fuel. If you're not lucky enough to be onboard, follow its progress through Virgin Atlantic's socials.

LEARN  |  Virgin Atlantic

30%+ Increase in Seats Between the US and Mexico

Starting January 2024, Aeromexico will gradually introduce 17 new routes from seven airports in Mexico to nine destinations in the U.S., all of them supported by Delta codeshare. The Aeromexico-Delta JCA will deliver over 30% more seats year-over-year, widening options for passengers to travel between the U.S. and Mexico.

READ |   Aeromexico Business

Six New Routes, 15,000 Flights and 3 million Customers: Delta and LATAM Celebrate Their One-Year Joint Venture Anniversary

With the mission to significantly enhance connectivity and the customer experience for travel between North America (U.S. and Canada) and South America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay), LATAM and Delta are celebrating the milestone and looking to the future with the launch of new routes and increases to current routes.

EXPLORE |   LATAM

WestJet Endorses Sustainable Aviation Fuel

At the World Petroleum Congress in Calgary, WestJet Group Chief Executive Officer, Alexis von Hoensbroech, addressed the airline’s ambitions to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and the vital role sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plays in the future of decarbonizing aviation.

READ  |  WestJet

China Eastern

Delta’s partnership with China Eastern serves customers traveling to and from China through an extended network. Headquartered in Shanghai, China Eastern Air has been among China’s major air transportation groups since 1957.

Learn more about Delta and China Eastern's partnership on  delta.com , including shared benefits, terminal information and more.

SkyTeam is the alliance dedicated to providing passengers with a more seamless travel experience at every step of their journey. Our 19 member airlines work together across an extensive global network to welcome 437 million customers each year on more than 10,770 daily flights to 1,060 destinations in 166 countries.  Learn more. 

Earning with Airline Partners

Our mutual customers can fly with more than 20 trusted airline partners anywhere in the world to earn miles that customers can use for Award Travel, upgrades and more. Any eligible flight that is not Delta-marketed will earn miles according to these partner airline rules.  Explored shared benefits. 

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Enjoy more peace of mind with no change fees when you purchase a Main Cabin or above ticket on flights originating from the United States, Canada, or the Caribbean . For tickets where travel begins outside of these regions, change and cancel fees may apply depending on your origin location and type of ticket.

When changing your ticket, sometimes your new flight may cost more than your original flight. If this happens, you will need to pay the difference in price. In cases where the price of your new flight is less than the original price or if you choose to cancel your flight before departure, you will receive an eCredit for the difference between the price of your original ticket and the price of your new ticket.

As a reminder, Basic Economy tickets cannot be changed in most cases. You may cancel before departure for a cancellation charge which is deducted from the value of your ticket and the remaining value will be issued as an eCredit to use toward a future Delta ticket.

Visit My Trips or the Fly Delta app to make your changes.

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In keeping with our longstanding policy, we will first attempt to rebook you on a new flight if your current flight is canceled, significantly delayed (> 120 minutes) or impacted by a qualifying significant schedule change.

If we cannot find an alternate flight for you and we cancel your ticket, or you choose to cancel the new flight you have been rebooked on, you have the following options:

• Receive an eCredit for the value of the ticket, seat upgrade or Preferred Seat
• Adjust your itinerary in My Trips ; or
• Request a refund to your original form of payment once your ticket is canceled

Visit delta.com/redeem where you’ll be able to verify your eCredit value, expiration date and redeem online for future travel.

Review our how-to page for tips on managing eCredits.

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If you are a U.S. citizen who has reviewed all required travel documents and determined you need to receive or renew your passport ahead of international travel, please visit the U.S. Department of State’s travel website to fill out the necessary forms. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time as passport processing often takes several months and could take longer during peak travel periods. Processing is often 10 weeks for routine requests and 6 weeks for expedited service. 

In addition to needing a passport for international travel, some countries have also imposed temporary health-related entry requirements. To find out more about your destination's health requirements, please use our interactive map.

We want you to arrive prepared, so please visit the Delta Discover Map to learn about potential travel requirements for a trip you are planning or have booked. The information is up-to-date and personalized based on your specific circumstances.  Entry and exit requirements are imposed by governments and may change before departure, so please be sure to check back close to your intended travel dates for the latest requirements.

Also, if you book an international flight, your trip may be eligible for  Delta FlyReady SM which makes managing travel requirements faster and easier by guiding you through the process.

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Review full requirements and exceptions . 

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Our partner airlines have introduced measures to ensure a hassle-free, seamless experience from start to finish with an increased focus on cleanliness and your safety. Visit our partners’ websites for all the latest information. 

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In general, you can use My Trips as the quickest way to resolve most ticket changes and issues. However, the following scenarios cannot currently be changed via My Trips and you will have to call for assistance:  

• A form of payment used includes a combination of cash and miles or an upgrade using miles or certificates
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Miles and points are my favorite currency

How To Book Delta Flights With Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Advertiser disclosure : The Miles Genie has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products.  The Miles Genie and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Editorial disclosure : Opinions, reviews, analyses, and recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

If you have ever looked at the Chase Ultimate Rewards airline transfer partners, you may have noticed that Delta Skymiles is not a direct transfer partner. You may or may not be surprised to learn that you do not need Delta Skymiles to book a flight operated by Delta. If you have transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points, there are 3 other ways to book Delta flights.

Transferable bank points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points are my favorite type of credit card rewards. Chase Ultimate Rewards points are easy to earn and easy to redeem.  There are several redemption options thanks to Chase’s airline and hotel transfer partners.

When you use an airline co-branded card, you only earn miles for that airline program. For example, if you only have a Delta co-branded card, you only earn Delta Skymiles. Airline miles generally to not transfer to other airlines; you cannot transfer Delta Skymiles to other airlines. Airline co-branded cards are great for welcome bonuses and for benefits such as free checked bags. For everyday spending, it usually makes more sense to accumulate transferable points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership rewards points.

The most common argument is “but I fly [insert airline] so I need [insert airline] miles”. This seems like a reasonable argument, but most people overlook the fact that transferable points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards have airline partners.

American Express Membership Rewards points transfer to Delta Skymiles. So it’s pretty easy to argue that Amex Membership Rewards are better than Delta Skymiles because I can transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to 17 different airlines including Delta.

Delta Skymiles is not one of the 11 airline transfer partners of Chase Ultimate Rewards, so I can’t really make that argument.

You cannot transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Delta, but I’ll explain why you don’t need Delta Skymiles to book Delta flights. There are 3 ways to book Delta flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards points. No Skymiles necessary.

You do not need Delta Skymiles to book Delta award flights

There are three ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for Delta flights

• Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for Delta flights by booking via the Ultimate Rewards redemption portal.
• You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic to book Delta flights.
• You can also transfer to KLM/France to book Delta flights

With Chase Ultimate Rewards partner, you can book some Delta flights for significantly less than the amount of Delta Skymiles required

The way Delta Skymiles prices award tickets often makes Skymiles have a pretty low value. The amount of miles required for some tickets gets pretty insane. There are some great deals occasionally, but without Delta publishing any type of award pricing information, it’s hard to predict. As you’ll see in an example below of a roundtrip Delta flight from the US to Paris, you would not want to use Delta Skymiles even if that is an option. This particular flight would be 98,000 Delta Skymiles. But Chase has 2 partners that can book the exact same Delta flight for 60,000 miles or less.

How to earn transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points

These 3 cards earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred to Chase’s airline partner programs:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred ®
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Chase Ink Business Preferred®

Tip: If you have one of those 3 cards, you can also earn bonus points by making purchases online in the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal.

Earn your first 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points

No matter what your travel goals are, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the first card I suggest for almost anyone. The welcome bonus of 60,000 is worth at least $750.  But you can potentially get even more value out of those points by using transfer partners as I’ll discuss in this post.

Bonus categories and benefits have recently been added and/or improved!

• Earn 5 points per dollar on travel purchased via Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Earn 2 points per dollar on other travel purchases
• Instead of the old earn rate of 2, you can now earn 3 points per dollar on dining (including eligible delivery services and takeout)
• 3 points per dollar on online grocery purchases (this excludes Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
• 3 points per dollar on select streaming services
• Earn 1 point per dollar on all other purchases

Also, receive credit of up to $50 annually on hotel stays purchased through Ultimate Rewards. New cardmembers will receive this credit immediately and existing cardmembers will start earning after the next anniversary.

Each anniversary, you’ll receive bonus points equal to 10% of total purchases made the previous year. This excludes any sign up bonus points, so it’s only on points earned from spending.

The annual fee is $95, but the welcome offer alone is worth a lot more than that.

Transfer partners are generally the most valuable way to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points. But first, I’ll explain the Ultimate Rewards booking portal option.

Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for Delta flights using the Ultimate Rewards redemption portal

You can use your Ultimate Rewards points to ‘pay’ for all or part of your airfare by booking through the Ultimate Rewards  redemption portal . Note that you can also use Ultimate Rewards to book hotels and cars through the redemption portal. This portal is powered by Expedia, so they should have the same options for flights, hotels, rental cars, and tours as what  Expedia.com  offers.

The advantage to this (as opposed to transferring to airline partners) is that you have lots of options in terms of airlines and routing. You do not have to worry about award seat availability since the ticket is issued as a paid ticket, not an award ticket. This also means that you will actually earn miles for the flight the same way you would on a paid ticket.

The disadvantage is that you will be redeeming the points at a fixed rate. Sure, there are no blackout dates to worry about. You also don’t have to worry about award seat availability. The problem is, a more expensive plane ticket is going to require more miles/points. This can be a problem if you’re trying to book travel on peak dates such as holidays.

How much are Chase Ultimate Rewards points worth if I redeem via the redemption portal?

Ultimate Rewards points are worth 1.25 cents per point or 1.50 cents per point, depending on which card you hold:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred: 1.25
• Chase Ink Business Preferred: 1.25
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 1.50

Redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points for travel via the Ultimate Rewards redemption portal is a good option when paid fares are low, but tickets with higher fares may require more Ultimate Rewards than you care to redeem.

Tip: There are other Chase cards, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited, that earn Ultimate Rewards points but those points cannot be transferred. The no annual fee Chase Freedom Unlimited is basically a cash-back card on its own, but pairing it with a CSP, CSR, or CIBP is a great way to boost your earning potential.  

If you also have one of the three Chase cards that earn transferable Ultimate Rewards points (CSP, CSR, or CIBP), then any points earned from the Chase Freedom Unlimited can be redeemed the exact same way you would redeem your transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Pairing one of the transferable Chase Ultimate Rewards earning cards with the CFU gives you the potential to earn a higher return on your spending when you redeem through the redemption portal than what the Chase Sapphire cards alone would give you. Click here for more information .

How to book via the redemption portal

I’m using a nonstop Delta itinerary between the US and Europe for this and other examples throughout the post. You will be able to see that each of the three ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for Delta flights will result in a different redemption price. The best way to book depends on routing, paid fares, and availability.

Log in to Ultimaterewards.com using your Chase username and password. On the main menu, select travel.

Type in your dates and destination. All available flights will populate. You can filter by airline, nonstop, etc. The cheapest nonstop route is $1285.

A nonstop Delta flight from Atlanta to Paris is just over $1,285 on these dates. That would require 85,238 points if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve (points are worth 1.5 cents each). If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Ink Business Preferred, the price would be 102,789 points as pictured above (points are worth 1.25 cents each).

Depending on which Chase Sapphire credit card you have, this itinerary is 102,789 points or 85,238 points

Using points to book in the redemption portal is a good option when fares are low. Even if you feel like the fare and thus the redemption price is low, it’s always a good idea to check transfer partners for award ticket availability as well. This is how you can get more than 1.25 or 1.50 cents value out of your Ultimate Rewards points. To put it another way, this is how you can potentially book the same flights for significantly less points.

This exact ATL-Paris Delta itinerary that requires 85,238 points or 102,789 in the Chase redemption portal can be booked for just 58,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you use one of Chase’s airline transfer partners to book.

Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to airline partners

The second way to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards for flights is to transfer them to airline partners. Transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards to airline partners is how you can potentially get more value out of your points. Once transferred, your Ultimate Rewards become miles for the program to which you transfer. You can redeem the miles according to the policies of the airline program.

You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to these 11 programs at a 1:1 ratio.

Chase Ultimate Rewards has 11 airline partners, but Delta Skymiles is not one

Delta Skymiles is not a transfer partner of Chase. You cannot convert Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Delta Skymiles. But you can still book a flight operated by Delta.

This is possible because Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue are transfer partners of Ultimate Rewards. Both of these airline programs have a partnership with Delta. As a result, you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club and AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue. Then you can use miles of either program to book a flight operated by Delta.

The best part is, using these programs sometimes results in a better redemption price than if you were to use Delta Skymiles.

Can I transfer Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue miles to Delta?

No.  But you can use the loyalty program of either to book award flights operated by Delta (subject to availability).

Award ticket pricing when booking Delta flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners

When you use a partner program to book a Delta flight, your redemption price is determined by that partner program, not Delta Skymiles:

• If you use AirFrance/KLM miles to book a flight operated by Delta, AirFrance KLM Blue determines your award ticket price, not Delta Skymiles.
• If you use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles to book a flight operated by Delta, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club determines your award ticket price, not Delta Skymiles.

Each airline program has its own way of pricing award tickets

You can read more about the different types of award ticket pricing here.

Most frequent flyer/airline loyalty programs I discuss on this blog fall into one of these categories:

• Region/Zone based 
• Distance-based
• Dynamic pricing
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club uses a zone-based award ticket pricing model for US-Europe routes operated by Delta. Other Delta routes booked with Virgin Atlantic miles have a distance based pricing model. You can find Virgin Atlantic’s redemption pricing for flights operated by Delta here .
• AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue is distance based for partner flights such as Delta

Depending on your route, one type of pricing may be better than another.

Each of these programs will likely have a different redemption price for the exact same Delta flight. Sometimes zone-based results in a lower redemption price, but other times distance-based may be lower.

The great thing about transferable points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points is that you can choose the partner that results in the lowest redemption cost. If you only have miles with one airline, you don’t have a choice because you can only redeem the miles with that airline.

Comparing award pricing of AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

I’ll give 3 different examples to show the differences in pricing.

1. Delta nonstop flights from the US to Europe

I’ll use the roundtrip nonstop flight in economy from Atlanta to Paris from the redemption portal example. Remember, this would have been $1285 or 85,238 or 102,789 Ultimate Rewards points (depending on which card you hold).

I can use Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles or AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue miles to book the Delta flight. This itinerary happens to be available, but keep in mind that not all Delta flights are going to be available for partner bookings. I’ll discuss that more in a moment.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (zone-based) is 60,000 miles roundtrip

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club award ticket pricing

This is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club’s award chart for Delta operated flights between the US and Europe, excluding the UK. These are the one-way prices for nonstop US-Europe routes operated by Delta. Virgin Atlantic allows you to connect on a Delta flight (subject to availability) but more miles will be required when the itinerary involves a connection.

AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue (distance based for partner flights such as Delta) is 58,000 roundtrip

AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue award ticket pricing

Flying Blue has moved to a dynamic pricing model for flights operated by KLM and AirFrance. This means that it’s pretty tough to predict the amount of miles required for any given route.

See also: Dynamic pricing

But for partner flights, their website states “You can also use Miles to book flights for yourself or the person of your choice in Economy and Business with SkyTeam partners and other partner airlines. On all partner flights, the price in Miles is based on the booking class and flight distance.” So, for partner airlines, it’s distance based pricing. There may be slight variations in pricing (similar to peak and off peak pricing). There is no award chart like Virgin Atlantic has for Delta flights, but at least Flying Blue’s prices seem a little more stable than Delta Skymiles pricing.

It’s unclear how distance is calculated and the impact a connecting flight may have. You’ll see in the next section (itineraries with a connecting flight) that Flying Blue did not require more miles for a connecting flight for the route and dates I searched. In an older version of this article, about 5,000 miles extra for the roundtrip were required when the itinerary to Paris had a connecting flight. So adding a connection may or may not have an impact on the redemption total when you’re redeeming Flying Blue miles for Delta flights.

Delta Skymiles award tickets have dynamic pricing. For this particular itinerary, you would need 98,000 Skymiles.

This wouldn’t even be an option since Chase points do not transfer to Delta Skymiles, but I wanted to show why even if Delta was a partner, this flight is better with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles or AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue miles.

Your options for this itinerary with Chase Ultimate Rewards are:

• Redemption portal: 85,238 or 102,789 Ultimate Rewards points (depending on which card you hold).
• Virgin Atlantic-60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferred to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
• AirFrance/KLM-58,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferred to AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue

2. Delta flight from US to Europe (with a connection)

This is a roundtrip flight in economy from New Orleans to Paris. There is one stop each way. The entire itinerary is operated by Delta. The lowest paid fare on the dates I searched for a decent itinerary (meaning 1 connection and/or reasonable layover times) between New Orleans and Paris across all available airlines is $1170.

To book this ticket in the redemption portal, you would need either 78,000 Ultimate Rewards points or 93,600 Ultimate Rewards points, depending on which card you have.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club redemption price is 75,000 miles roundtrip

Nonstop flights are definitely the best value with Virgin Atlantic miles because if the flight requires a connection, the additional amount of points for that particular segment is required.

For example, Atlanta to Paris is 60,000 miles. But a flight from MSY that connects in Detroit, Atlanta, or anywhere in the US would require additional points/miles for the MSY-ATL segment which is 15,000 roundtrip. Virgin Atlantic has a distance based chart for Delta segments within the US, and for segments less than 500 in distance, the price is 7,500 Flying Club miles each way. MSY to ATL is just under 500 miles, but if the connecting segment is more than that, you’ll need even more miles.

So the total for the roundtrip would be 75,000 instead of 60,000.

AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue is 58,000 roundtrip

This is the same as the nonstop ATL-CDG.

So your options with Chase Ultimate Rewards for this itinerary are:

• Redemption portal- 78,000 or 93,600 points, depending on which card you have
• Virgin Atlantic- 75,000
• AirFrance/KLM- 58,000

3. One more example- US-Hawaii (and US domestic flights)

Of course, you should also check paid fares. For example, at the time of publishing (June 2021) the LAX-KOA roundtrip flights below are less than $400 on the dates I searched. For that price, you could book in the portal with ~32,000 or ~26,700 points, depending on which card you have. The lowest I could find for DFW-KOA was more like $700 which would be ~56,000 or ~46,700 points in the Ultimate Rewards portal, depending on which card you have.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club pricing for US-Hawaii on Delta is as low as 30,000 miles roundtrip

Whether or not Virgin Atlantic is the best way to book a Delta domestic flight depends on two different things: Nonstop vs. connecting itinerary and distances.

Virgin Atlantic has switched to a distance based pricing model for domestic Delta flights. The distance is calculated by adding each sector’s redemption price. For example, LAX to Kona, Hawaii on a nonstop Delta flight falls in the 2,000-3,000 distance band, so each way is 15,000 miles (see chart in previous section).

But if there is a connection, more Virgin Atlantic miles are required. For example, DFW to Kona via LAX would be priced as:

• DFW-LAX (distance falls in 1,001-1,500 range which requires 11,500 miles each way) plus
• LAX- Honolulu (requires 15,000 miles each way)
• Your total would be 26,500 each way (15,000 plus 11,500
• Roundtrip is 53,000 Virgin Atlantic miles.

AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue is going to be the better option in this scenario.

AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue is 35,000 miles roundtrip for either of these US-Hawaii itineraries

For LAX-KOA, you would be better off either redeeming Virgin Atlantic miles since the price is 30,000, or redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points in the redemption portal if fares are low. But for DFW-KOA with a connection at LAX, AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue would be the best way to book the ticket.

Air France does pass on some sort of airport tax for these flights (see below), but 35,000 miles for the DFW-KOA route is much better than what Virgin Atlantic would require (53,000 miles)

So your options with Chase Ultimate Rewards for these itineraries are:

LAX-KOA nonstop

• Redemption portal- if the ticket is $400, you would need 32,000 or 26,700 points, depending on which card you have
• Virgin Atlantic- 30,000
• AirFrance/KLM- 35,000

DFW-KOA (connection at LAX)

• Redemption portal- if the ticket is $700, you would need 56,000 or 46,700 points, depending on which card you have
• Virgin Atlantic- 53,000

Ready to book Delta flights with Chase Ultimate Rewards partners?

If you are planning to transfer your Ultimate Rewards to a partner program such as Virgin Atlantic Flying Club or AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue, do not transfer yet.

Do not transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to any airline until you have confirmed price and availability

Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to airlines are permanent. You need to make sure your dates are available and you will want to confirm the exact amount of miles needed before transferring. Transfers are usually immediate, so there is no reason to transfer before you find availability.

Once you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to partner airlines or hotels, you cannot get them back

When you transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to a partner airline or hotel, your points become the currency of the airline or hotel program.  For example, if you transfer 20,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, you now have Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles.  Those miles are now subject to the rules and policies of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

You CANNOT transfer those points back to Chase Ultimate Rewards.  If you transfer and then the Delta (or other partner) flights that you want are not available, you are stuck with 20,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles.  If you wait to transfer, you can check other Chase Ultimate Rewards partners for other options if a Delta flight is not available.

Award ticket availability

Award seats are not always going to be available on any given flight , especially when the flight you’re trying to book is a partner flight.

If you’re using a partner program, such as Virgin Atlantic, to book a Delta flight, Delta only makes a certain amount of seats available. In other words, just because a seat is available to book with Delta miles, it doesn’t mean a partner Virgin Atlantic will have that seat available to book with Virgin Atlantic miles. The same applies to other partner programs with which you can book Delta flights.

If you’re trying to book a Delta flight, you most likely will always be able to book it with Delta Skymiles since that program has dynamic pricing. However, you may end up having to redeem a lot more miles than what a “saver” ticket would require. Once the lower level, or saver, seats are gone, Delta will still let you redeem miles for a ticket, but the redemption cost is usually going to be too high to consider. Anyway, that doesnt even matter since Delta Skymiles isn’t a partner of Chase.

The best way to check price and availability is to search online with each partner program you’re considering. You can search for and book Delta flights online with Virgin Atlantic and AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue. You should not have to call to book.

Tip: In general, if a flight is available with one partner, it will be available to other partners. For example, if a Delta flight is available to book with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles, it should also be available to book with AirFrance/KLM Flying Blue.

Final thoughts

You do not need Delta miles to book Delta award flights. If you have Chase Ultimate Rewards, you can still book flights operated by Delta. The great thing about having flexible points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards is that you have options. If you only have a Delta-cobranded card, you only earn Delta Skymiles. You cannot transfer Skymiles to any airlines. Your redemption options are limited to the Skymiles program.

There are three ways to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for Delta flights:

Redeeming Ultimate Rewards points for travel via the Ultimate Rewards redemption portal is a good option if paid fares are low (option 1). But you may be able to redeem less points by using transfer partners (options 2 and 3). Transferring to airline partners is how we’re able to get max value out of Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Earn your first 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points when you open a Chase Sapphire Preferred

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Table of Contents

Which Chase Sapphire transfer partners are the best?

Chase airline transfer partners: the complete list, chase hotel transfer partners: the complete list, chase points calculator, how to earn chase ultimate rewards® points, chase travel cards with transfer partners, how do you transfer chase points, using chase transfer partners: is it worth it.

Chase Ultimate Rewards® are some of the most valuable transferable points available. Called Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, they can be redeemed for travel through Chase's travel portal for 1 cent each on certain cards. However, they can be redeemed at a higher value of 1.25 cents each if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or an even more impressive 1.5 cents each if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve® . That type of exchange on its own makes for an excellent way to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards® points .

However, that's not necessarily the best way to redeem Chase points because three specific Chase cards available in 2024 offer what might be potentially far more value.

The cards at play here are the:

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card .

Chase Sapphire Reserve® .

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card .

» Jump to learn more about these card options .

With those cards, you have the additional option to send those points to one of Chase's transfer partners , which are generally hotel chains and airlines. And assuming you hold (or someone in your household owns), one of those three Chase cards, you'll very likely unlock even greater value out of your spending rewards when you use one of the Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer partners. That's because converting Chase points to hotel points or airline frequent flyer miles can often maximize their value.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

Before we dig into the best Chase Sapphire transfer partners, here's a complete overview of the estimated value of transferring Chase points to each transfer partner, sorted in alphabetical order:

Using that estimated value stated above, here's the ultimate NerdWallet power ranking of the six best Chase transfer partners (with No. 1 being the best) are:

World of Hyatt.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

JetBlue TrueBlue.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards.

Air Canada Aeroplan.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue.

Best airline partner for Chase points

As far as Chase's airline transfer partners go, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is Chase' best airline transfer partner. Even still, you can easily get more than 1 cent per point in value from Chase points when you transfer points from Chase to fixed-value programs like Southwest Rapid Rewards and JetBlue TrueBlue.

Other airline transfer partners can be hit-and-miss, such as Emirates, which is generally a miss when points are transferred to book Emirates economy class . But, it's usually a massive hit if you can transfer Chase points to be used for booking the incredibly-swanky Emirates business class on points.

Best Chase hotel transfer partner

Meanwhile, World of Hyatt comes out on top as the best Chase hotel partner. And not only is it the best hotel partner, but it's the best travel partner period given that eye-popping value over 2 cents.

NerdWallet's estimated value is exactly that — an estimate. You might find individually great redemptions while using other Chase transfer partners for specific trips.

Of the 14 Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer partners, 11 are airline mileage programs, which are:

Aer Lingus AerClub

Aer Lingus AerClub became one of the Chase travel partners in 2017. While not officially part of the Oneworld alliance, Aer Lingus partners with several Oneworld airlines — most notably British Airways, Iberia and Qatar .

Air Canada Aeroplan

There are plenty of reasons not to overlook Aeroplan — the newest of the Chase Sapphire airline partners. Air Canada is a Star Alliance member, so you can use Aeroplan points to book award flights on any Star Alliance airline, including United.

Seek out those Aeroplan sweet spots to help boost the value of Aeroplan points to 1.4 cents for award tickets.

» Learn more: A guide to Air Canada’s Aeroplan rewards loyalty program

Air France-KLM Flying Blue

Flying Blue is the loyalty program of Air France, KLM, Kenya Airways and a few smaller airlines. Because many Flying Blue airlines are members of the SkyTeam alliance , you can transfer points from Chase to Flying Blue to book award flights on other SkyTeam member airlines, such as Delta Air Lines.

The Flying Blue program offers a monthly Promo Rewards promotion that discounts certain routes by up to 50% — which can make Flying Blue sweet spots even a better deal.

» Learn more: A points collector’s guide to Air France-KLM Flying Blue

British Airways Executive Club

Most travelers might think of flights to London when thinking about British Airways. However, that's not where the value of British Airways Avios lies. In fact, most British Airways Avios sweet spots don't involve flying British Airways.

Instead, use this Chase transfer partner to book inexpensive awards on American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and other Oneworld partners — including flying to the Caribbean .

» Learn more: The complete guide to the British Airways Avios program

Emirates Skywards

Dubai-based Emirates Airlines is best known for its glitzy business- and first-class products. And while premium cabins command huge cash prices, paying with miles through the Emirates Skywards loyalty program is possible and considered the best use of miles (as opposed to using miles to book in the Emirates economy class ). A NerdWallet analysis found that you only get about 0.6 cent per mile in value for Emirates economy, but the value of Emirates miles jumps up if you redeem an award in Emirates business class.

Unfortunately, the Emirates Skywards sweet spots are limited — particularly on partner airlines. That said, the Skywards program is one of only a few ways to book Emirates first class with points since the airline restricts award availability through partner airlines.

» Learn more: The guide to Emirates Skywards

Iberia Plus

Just like British Airways, Iberia is a member of the Oneworld alliance and uses the Avios program. And after Iberia's recent overhaul to its award chart , award rates to book American Airlines flights match the British Airways Executive Club’s rates on partner airlines. However, other Iberia sweet spots include some incredible gems. Iberia often offers among the cheapest business class awards to Europe .

» Learn more: What to know about Iberia Airlines Plus loyalty program

JetBlue TrueBlue

JetBlue uses a revenue-based TrueBlue points program in which the required number of points for an award roughly equates to the cash price of the flight. That means you can't get outsized value from redeeming TrueBlue points.

However, just because the program doesn't have an upside doesn't mean JetBlue isn't a good Chase transfer partner. TrueBlue points are worth 1.5 cents per point — making it a valuable currency for economy flights among U.S. airlines.

» Learn more: The complete guide to the JetBlue TrueBlue rewards program

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Singapore Airlines is another Star Alliance Chase travel partner that can provide excellent premium cabin redemptions. Singapore KrisFlyer sweet spots include flights to Europe and Hawaii, and flights within the continental U.S. Luxury travelers also flock to KrisFlyer, as it's typically the only way to book the award-winning Singapore first class product with points.

» Learn more: The guide to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer frequent flyer program

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards

Like JetBlue, Southwest uses a revenue-based redemption program, where points prices correlate with cash prices. This means you don't have to seek out sweet spots to get good value from your Southwest Rapid Rewards points.

Instead, the value of Southwest Rapid Rewards is a predictable 1.5 cents per point when redeemed for Southwest flights. Steer clear of other Rapid Rewards redemptions for hotels, rental cars or merchandise though, as the redemption value can drop to 0.6 cents per point.

» Learn more: The complete guide to Southwest Rapid Rewards

United MileagePlus

United joins JetBlue and Southwest as the three U.S.-based Chase Sapphire airline partners. MileagePlus miles are worth around 1.2 cents per mile when redeemed for United economy flights .

In addition to redeeming miles on United, you can redeem United MileagePlus miles for award flights on other Star Alliance partners. Just keep in mind that United can charge more miles for partner awards.

» Learn more: The complete guide to United MileagePlus program

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

London-based Virgin Atlantic is a member of the SkyTeam alliance and it uses a different redemption chart for each partner, meaning the Flying Club sweet spots are just as diverse as its partners.

» Learn more: The guide to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Chase has just three hotel loyalty program parters, which are:

IHG One Rewards

The IHG loyalty program is good, but it's generally a weak Chase transfer partner.

NerdWallet values IHG points at 0.8 cent each. But since Chase points transfer to IHG One Rewards at the same 1:1 transfer ratio as all other partners, that makes for a pretty bad transfer that can actually devalue your points. Unless you find a killer IHG redemption, only transfer points from Chase to IHG to top off your account if you're a few points shy of booking a hotel you want with the rest of your IHG points. Otherwise, you’re generally better off booking IHG hotels via Chase's portal.

» Learn more: What you need to know about IHG One Rewards

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott Bonvoy is one of the largest hotel loyalty programs around. You can redeem Bonvoy points for free nights and room upgrades at over 7,000 properties across more than 30 brands.

However, bigger isn't always better. When NerdWallet analyzed the value of Marriott Bonvoy points , we found that points were worth around 0.8 cent each. That puts Marriott in the same category as IHG, where points often lose their value when you transfer them from Chase to Marriott Bonvoy.

Considering Chase points can be redeemed for 1.25 cents or 1.5 cents each (depending on which Sapphire card you have), make sure that you're getting at least this much value before transferring Chase points to Marriott Bonvoy — which is unlikely. With that, save Bonvoy transfers only for situations where you find an outstanding hotel deal, or if you need just a few more points to book using your existing Bonvoys.

» Learn more: The complete guide to the Marriott Bonvoy program

World Of Hyatt

World of Hyatt is undoubtedly Chase's most valuable hotel transfer partner — and perhaps its most valuable travel partner overall, too. In NerdWallet's analysis, World of Hyatt points are worth 2.3 cents each when used for award stays.

Hyatt is one of a few hotel loyalty programs that still publishes an award chart . That means predictability in planning how many points an award stay may cost. Award nights start at 3,500 points, meaning you can really stretch out your Chase points at Hyatt hotels.

» Learn more: The complete guide to the World of Hyatt loyalty program

Is it worth transferring Chase points to united?

While you might book hotels and airfares with cash or through Chase’s travel portal , it’s clearly often a better deal to put in the extra effort and transfer your points to one of Chase’s transfer partners — especially those named above. That said, folks seeking to maximize value should always calculate the value of the Chase Ultimate Rewards® points relative to the price to pay for airfare or hotel rooms in cash.

Use NerdWallet’s Chase points calculator below to determine the value of your points, based on both the baseline and NerdWallet estimated values:

With a little bit of research, you can get even more value through other Chase Ultimate Rewards® transfer partners versus redeeming points through the Chase portal.

The most common way to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points is through spending on a Chase credit card that participates in Chase Ultimate Rewards®. You might earn points through taking advantage of introductory offers — where you can get a windfall of points upon meeting a certain threshold within a window of time upon card approval — and via ongoing spending.

Just note that not all Chase credit cards earn transferable Ultimate Rewards® points. That said, Chase cards that do earn transferable Ultimate Rewards® points include:

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Chase Freedom Flex℠

Chase Freedom Unlimited®

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Ink Business Cash® Credit Card

Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

Some of these cards offer bonus points in certain categories, so someone seeking to maximize their points earning might have multiple cards in their wallet to use depending on the transaction. To maximize points, you might use the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card to pay at restaurants (it earns 3 points per $1 spent on dining), the Chase Freedom Flex℠ to pay at drugstores (it earns 3% back at drugstores) and the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card to pay the monthly internet bill (it earns 5% back on internet, cable and phone services, up to a combined $25,000 in annual spending).

Even though the latter two cards don't let you transfer your rewards directly to any of the above airline or hotel partners, you can transfer them to another card that you hold (or that someone in your household holds), as long as that card is one of the cards that allows for transfers to partner airline and hotel brands.

The three Chase travel cards with transfer partners are the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card , the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card .

on Chase's website

Annual fee: $95 .

Earning rates:

• 5 points per $1 on travel booked through Chase.

• 3 points per $1 on dining (including eligible delivery services and takeout), select streaming services and online grocery purchases (not including Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).

• 2 points per $1 on other travel.

• 1 point per $1 on other purchases.

Bonus offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Annual fee: $550 .

• 10 points per $1 on Chase Dining, hotel stays and car rentals purchased through Chase.

• 5 points per $1 on air travel purchased through Chase.

• 3 points per $1 on other travel and dining not booked with Chase.

Bonus offer: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Bonus offer: Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,000 cash back or $1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠.

Use this guide to learn how to transfer Chase points between two credit cards you own.

Here's how to to transfer Chase points to family member or spouse .

Once you've got all the points you need in one account, you're ready to then send them to the actual airline or hotel loyalty program you want to convert your Chase points into. Learn how to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to travel partners here.

Chase Ultimate Rewards offers a smaller selection of transfer partners compared to some competitors with transferable bank point currencies like American Express, Capital One and Citi. But some say that size matters not (at least in terms of number of transfer partners).

It's more about their value — and some Chase travel partners are particularly valuable. Just look at Hyatt as an example. Using this Chase hotel partner can morph a point that might be worth a measly 1 cent each when exchanged for Chase to something worth more than 2 cents when used for a Hyatt hotel room. That offer becomes even more tantalizing when you consider that NerdWallet ranks World of Hyatt among the most valuable hotel rewards programs out there.

With that, Chase Ultimate Rewards® points rank among the most valuable transferable points available.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

1.5%-5% Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Up to $300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1%-5% Earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in combined purchases in bonus categories each quarter you activate. Earn 5% on Chase travel purchased through Ultimate Rewards®, 3% on dining and drugstores, and 1% on all other purchases.

$200 Earn a $200 Bonus after you spend $500 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

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The ultimate guide to Delta partners

Many airlines around the world partner with different programs and not all of them are other airlines. That's right; airlines have partnerships with hotels, car rental companies and even other airlines that aren't in their alliance.

Today we're going to talk about Delta Air Lines' partners, which include its SkyTeam members, as well as some lesser-known partnerships it has forged with other brands in the travel industry. You're going to want to know more about these partnerships, as they're crucial to earning SkyMiles even if you aren't flying on a Delta-operated flight.

Here's everything you need to know about Delta partners.

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Alliance partners

Delta is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance , which comprises over a dozen airlines worldwide. You can earn and redeem miles when you travel with a SkyTeam airline. SkyTeam serves 1,150 destinations and touches virtually every part of the globe, with flights landing on six continents.

That means if you wanted to fly from the United States to the remote Indian Ocean archipelago island Seychelles, you could fly there on a SkyTeam partner. For instance, you'd take Kenya Airways from New York to Nairobi or fly Delta through Europe and connect there.

The members are:

• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• China Southern
• Czech Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indonesia
• Kenya Airways
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Middle East Airlines
• Vietnam Airlines

Related: What are airline alliances, and who's in them?

Other partners

Delta has many partnerships beyond SkyTeam members, giving you a ton of different options for earning miles even when you aren't flying on Delta or a SkyTeam airline. While these aren't SkyTeam members, you should still consider these airlines, especially Air Tahiti, which is one of the best options for getting to the remote Bora Bora .

Non-alliance partners:

• Air Tahiti Nui
• Hawaiian Airlines
• Mandarin Airlines
• Shanghai Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• Virgin Australia

Related: Book this, not that: SkyTeam award tickets

Earning miles with partners

You're likely aware of how to earn Delta SkyMiles by flying Delta-operated flights or opening a Delta cobranded credit card . But you can also earn miles by flying Delta's partner airlines. However, how you earn those miles depends entirely on how you booked the ticket.

For example, when you book partner airline tickets, like KLM, on Delta.com, you'll earn miles the same as a regular Delta flight, even though the flight is operated by another airline.

That means those with Delta Medallion elite status will earn at a higher rate than those without it — the higher the status, the more miles you'll earn.

Here's how many miles you'd earn by Medallion status for every dollar spent:

• No status – 5 miles
• Silver – 7 miles
• Gold – 8 miles
• Platinum – 9 miles
• Diamond – 11 miles

For example, let's say I'm booking a KLM economy class ticket (on Delta.com) from New York to Amsterdam. Because I'm not a SkyMiles Medallion member, I'd earn 1,670 SkyMiles for the flight. However, if I were a Delta Diamond member, I'd earn over 3,670 miles.

To complicate this even further, if you book a partner flight on the carrier's website (for example, Air France) and add your Delta SkyMiles number after the fact, you'll earn miles based on the distance flown. However, the exact amount of SkyMiles you'll receive varies based on the partner, booking class and whether you have elite status.

You will also earn elite miles and qualifying dollars based on a percentage of distance flown and that also is based on the fare class you book. So, the more money you spend on a premium cabin ticket on a partner airline, the more you'll get.

For example, say you book a round-trip Virgin Atlantic flight from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow (LHR) in K fare premium economy on Virgin Atlantic's website. According to Delta's earning chart (pictured below), you'd earn 150% redeemable miles, 150% Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM) and 30% Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQD). This flight is 6,902 physical miles round-trip, so you'd earn 10,352 SkyMiles and MQM and $2,070 MQD.

When you find a cheap business class ticket to Italy for $1,200 on KLM , like I did last Christmas, it can be a great chance to earn MQDs towards Medallion status easily. KLM, and to a lesser extent, Alitalia frequently ran cheap business class sales from the U.S. to Europe pre-pandemic, so hopefully, that returns.

You can view full earning rates for partner airlines at this link .

Related: When you will (and won't) earn miles for your flight

Redeeming miles with partners

You'll often get better value redeeming your SkyMiles for awards on partners like Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic instead of Delta metal.

That said, Delta quietly increased the price of many partner awards (again) earlier this year. Delta is now charging more miles for flights booked between 21 and 59 days before departure and even more miles for those booked within 21 days, as TPG found out.

For instance, Virgin Atlantic flights to and from the U.S. used to cost 86,000 miles, but that's been increased to 120,000 miles. Economy tickets have also increased to 40,000 miles one-way from 25,000. We also found business class flights on Korean Air pricing at or above 120,000 SkyMiles.

It's not all bad news, though, at least not yet. Flights from North America to the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and South America can still be booked at reasonable rates when booking at least 60 days from departure on carriers like Aeromexico.

Searching directly on Delta has gotten much easier in recent years, though admittedly, I've had more luck finding KLM, Aeromexico, Air France and Korean Air availability than any other SkyTeam carrier.

Related: 5 things you need to know about Delta SkyMiles

Sweet spots

Here's a look at some of the best ways to use your Delta SkyMiles. Some of these are partner flights, while others are operated by Delta jets.

LATAM economy flights to South America

Cash flights to South America -- regardless of class -- are rarely cheap. Especially to Brazil. Delta SkyMiles members can now book LATAM award tickets at reasonable prices and it's one of the better ways to use miles. Delta and LATAM recently announced a major partnership. Delta purchased a large chunk of the South American carrier under this partnership, and LATAM left Oneworld .

For example, you can use 50,000 SkyMiles to book a round-trip economy ticket from New York (JFK) or Miami (MIA) to Santiago (SLC), Buenos Aires (EZE), or Sao Paulo (GRU) on LATAM. Even better? Some of the routes non-stop. The downside is that there only appears to be economy award space available. Still, 50,000 miles to South America is a great deal.

WestJet short hops to Canada

One of Delta's partners is WestJet , one of Canada's largest airlines. This gives Delta loyalists a ton of different options for flying to Canada once the border reopens again. If you're looking to save cash, booking a WestJet ticket with Delta miles is the way to go, as last-minute flights can be pricey.

For instance, I'm seeing flights from LaGuardia (LGA) to Toronto (YYZ) for only 20,500 miles round-trip.

That said, sometimes Delta's dynamic pricing works out in your favor and prices Delta-operated flights at lower rates.

Partner flights to Africa

Similar to South America, flights to many destinations in Africa aren't cheap. It's not unheard of for round-trip flights to creep up to $1,800, even months out in advance. Thankfully, there's another option: Air France and KLM. You can expect to pay 80,000 SkyMiles for a round-trip flight from the U.S. to Africa in economy on one of these partners.

While you can fly nonstop to several destinations on the continent on Delta metal, you'll pay a premium. This flight to Accra will set you back 116,000 SkyMiles round-trip. However, you can also score round-trip tickets to Accra (ACC), Dakar (DSS), Nairobi (NBO) and other destinations throughout Africa for as low as 80,000 round-trip plus taxes on airlines like KLM.

Low-cost domestic flights

The one benefit to Delta's switch to dynamic award pricing is the resurgence of cheap domestic flights. Delta frequently offers the best deals on domestic flights — on many dates, you'll find them priced at just 4,500 SkyMiles one-way. For example, you can book Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) for 4,500 SkyMiles in basic economy or 10,000 SkyMiles in first class.

Alternatively, you can find New York-JFK to Los Angeles (LAX) starting at just 7,500 SkyMiles one-way, even during peak summer months.

Keep an eye out for these cheap domestic award tickets. Due to Delta's dynamic pricing structure, you may only find them on select dates.

Related: Delta SkyMiles sweet spots worth saving up for

Searching partner award space

You have a couple of options for finding SkyTeam partner award space — here are two of your best options.

The Delta search engine is my go-to not just for Delta awards but partners as well.

In my experience, I've found that Delta now does a pretty good job of showing China Airlines, China Eastern, Garuda, Air France, KLM, Saudia, Vietnam, Aerolineas Argentina, LATAM, Aeroflot and Korean Air seats available to partners. I haven't had much luck with any other partner. That said, the Flying Blue engine tends to display more accurate results. However, like Flying Blue, partner awards you see on Delta.com should be bookable by other SkyTeam carriers.

There are a few hangups, however. Delta can show a partner's flights on the award search engine, which doesn't mean it will show all routes — and it may not display accurate seat availability for the partner.

But if you're flexible, you can generally find a solid deal on some routes. In some cases, you may actually find the best deal on certain economy-class tickets when using Delta SkyMiles to book.

Flying Blue

Flying Blue is actually made up of Air France and KLM, but for this guide, I'll be focusing on KLM as it's the one I use most often.

When searching for SkyTeam award space on Flying Blue, you're going to want to select the box on the main search engine that says, "You are looking for a flight around these dates." This will bring up a calendar view — often the only way to get Flying Blue to display award seats for the route you want. In this case, I'm looking for flights from Amsterdam (AMS) to Nairobi (NBO).

Awards for this route are pretty reasonable, but the taxes and fees appear to vary by date. Either way, you're able to see the exact amount of miles as well as how much you'll pay in taxes before you book.

Select the individual date you'd like, and the website will forward you through to the individual flight options. Generally, the results aren't sorted in any particular manner, so make sure you look at trip duration to narrow down the best itinerary.

Sometimes when searching your route with specific dates, the Flying Blue engine will display no results or say it encountered a "technical error." But once you select the above option for flexible travel dates, the engine will often display availability on your requested date previously shown as having no results. Request the class of service you want, though you can also see any class of service available by clicking the date from the award calendar.

Related: The best websites for searching SkyTeam award availability

Reciprocal elite status benefits

If you're a Medallion elite member, you'll get benefits like priority check-in and boarding, preferred seats, lounge access and waived baggage fees even if you're not flying Delta. Perks vary by airline, but if you're a Medallion member traveling on an airline partner, you're entitled to certain benefits.

On Delta's core global airline partners (including Aeroméxico, Air France, Alitalia, China Eastern, KLM, Korean Air, LATAM, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Australia), you'll get benefits like Global Upgrade Certificate Redemption, with select partners, in addition to benefits like priority boarding and check-in.

If you're flying a Global Airline Partner (which includes Aeroflot, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Europa, China Airlines, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya Airways, MEA, Saudia Airlines, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Airlines), you'll get benefits like priority boarding and check-in.

For instance, all Medallion members (in non-basic economy seats) are entitled to complimentary upgrades on all intra-Mexico Aeromexico flights and Aeromexico flights between Mexico and the U.S., Central America, Caribbean, Colombia and Ecuador. Like on Delta metal, your status determines when these upgrades clear.

• Upgrades for Diamond and Platinum Medallion Members will clear beginning 120 hours (5 days) before departure.
• Upgrades for Gold Medallion Members will clear beginning 72 hours (3 days) before departure.
• Upgrades for Silver Medallion Members will clear beginning 24 hours (1 day) before departure.

That said, some benefits are reserved for higher-tier Medallion members. For Aeromexico, Gold, Platinum and Medallion members have access to a priority security line and lounge access, while Silver Medallions do not.

If you're flying Korean Air, Global Upgrade Certificates can be used by Diamond Medallion Members only. However, lower-tier Medallion members also get decent perks like priority airport check-in and preferred seats.

Related: Boost your progress toward Medallion status with select Delta credit cards

Bottom line

Delta has many different partners, making it one of the easiest airlines to earn miles with whether you're a frequent flier or you only fly the carrier a few times a year. One of the easiest ways to earn Delta miles through its partners is through Lyft or the SkyMiles Shopping or Dining programs or by flying on a SkyTeam partner.

When it comes to redeeming miles, you'll get the best deals by redeeming Delta miles for flights on partner airlines even though many of these partner redemptions were recently devalued . However, if you're flying from North America to the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and South America, you're in luck -- these partner awards haven't gone up in price yet.

Additional reporting by Andrew Kunesh