Virgin Atlantic No Longer Showing Delta Awards to Europe
One of the best options to use Virgin Atlantic points is to book Delta flights to Europe. You often get much better value than using Delta SkyMiles. You can book a one-way Delta flight to Europe in economy for 30,000 Virgin Atlantic points, and 50,000 points for business class.
Availability however is not always there, but now Thrifty Traveler reports that nonstop Delta awards to Europe have completely disappeared from Virgin Atlantic’s website. Searches for either Economy or Delta One awards turn up empty. Additionally, these Delta awards aren’t currently bookable through any other partner programs either.
It’s not clear if this is a temporary glitch or we’re looking at some permanent changes. But this would be a big hit to the value of Virgin Atlantic points, as this is one of the best redemptions options left. Nonstop Delta awards to other destinations are still available.
Conclusion
While it’s always been difficult to find Delta One business class availability when booking with Virgin Atlantic points, now even Economy awards are gone. That was usually an easy redemption option. Let’s wait and see if this is something permanent, or if things go back to normal.
Let us know if you find out otherwise!
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Any update on this? I’m still looking here in December and I haven’t found any DeltaOne slots on Virgin Atlantic’s site…
I have seen them hit or miss but the awards are a small percentage of what they used to be
I have no problem showing my preferred – already booked – routing SEA-AMS-nonstop in Economy for many additional dates and departures from DL hubs like SLC, BOS, MSP, DTW in the future.
Not a shock – why would any airline allow back door awards that are less than they charge? I’m sure there is a settlement process with their partners and allowing them to undermine the carrier’s award system probably net costs the carrier (Delta in this case) money. While disappointing for many that have used this in the past accept this as the “new normal” with an expectation most, if not all, carriers will either fully block all, or at least the most desirable, awards from partner bookings.