The secret trick to upgrade to Delta One (Business Class) on flights to Europe for $700

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Flights to Europe are increasingly expensive, especially if you are trying to fly in the top cabins such as Delta One (aka Delta’s Business Class). The beauty of a Business Class seat is the lie flat bed experience which can make the all-elusive sleep on a flight much more attainable, and in turn prevent horrible jet lag when you arrive in Europe at 7am. But at a ticket price of over $7,500 per seat…not everyone can justify such a cost especially if you have multiple people flying. Enter in: Mileage Award Upgrade. This “secret” hack allows you to purchase a Main Cabin fare (~$1500), and then upgrade to Delta One for 60,000 miles (cash equivalent of $672).

If this sounds too good to be true, I promise it isn’t – but it does require you know the inside scoop to redeem the award.

First we will start with the basics

How to qualify for a Mileage Award Upgrade (MAU) on an international flight:

  1. Have a Delta Skymiles account with at least 60,000 miles in it. For more on how to open a Skymiles membership here and how to accrue miles please refer here.

  2. Purchase a fare in one of the following classes: Y, B, M, H, Q, K (Main Cabin), or C+ (Comfort Plus), or PS (Premium Select).

  3. 72 hours before your flight, check if there are any open Delta One seats

If you have met all the following criteria then you must take the following steps to upgrade to Delta One

  1. Call the Delta customer service line 800-221-1212

  2. Tell the representative you want to use a Mileage Upgrade Award to upgrade from your cabin to Delta One and ask them if any of the Delta One seats have been released into the OY class yet

    1. OY class means that the revenue team (aka those charging the full fare cost of the seat for $7,5000), have realized they won’t be able to actually sell those seats for full price and thus they are open to a reduced payment of ~60,000 Skymiles. This only happens if the seats aren’t sold within 72 hours of the flight time. Also, the existent of the somewhat secret Mileage Upgrade Awards is the main reason why even if you have status you almost never get upgraded to Delta One. It’s because people like me (and now you), know there is a cheap way to upgrade into unsold Delta One seats and so there are rarely any left for true “free” upgrades for those with status.

  3. The representative will confirm your fare class qualifies for a Mileage Upgrade Award and then they will debit your Skymiles account for 60,000 bonus miles.

  4. So there you have it, you just secured a Delta One ticket for your Main Cabin fare + 60,000 Skymiles worth a total of $672.

Important note: your Main Cabin ticket has to be in Y, B, M, H, Q, K. You can find the underlying fare class at the final booking screen before you click buy, there's a small text link View Fare Rules, Change & Cancellation Policies. The first letter after Fare Code is the underlying fare class.

Happy flying!

— Galavant