Even though most of my readers reside in the U.S., a substantial portion don’t. However I post about fare deals originating abroad (1) because they can actually be useful to U.S. residents, and (2) because they illustrate important principles.
To take advantage of a fare that originates in Europe or the Mideast you don’t need to live there. Redeem a one-way award to get there, by the ticket coming back. It doesn’t always make sense to redeem miles when airfares are cheap. Redeem one way. Buy the other direction.
Or better yet redeem a roundtrip to the region, nest a ticket originating there inside the roundtrip, and you have two trips.
And cheap business class fares are the new mileage run, since you earn based on distance rather than fare and you may earn a premium for premium cabin fares.
With that in mind here’s a fare of just over $1000 roundtrip, in business class between Cairo and New York.
This fare is pretty widely available through March.
Key details of fare basis IPRTEG:
- 7 day advance purchase
- Free stopover in Saudia Arabia (if you can get a visa)
- Travel June 20 through July 10 is $300 higher
- Purchase by December 31, 2017
- Because of the blockade, fare rules explicitly prohibit any flight segment from being on Qatar
- This is a changeable ticket with a $53 fee (200 SAR) for reissue and an $80 fee (300 SAR) for refund
When crediting Saudia “I” fares to Delta you earn:
- If traveling in 2017: 150% redeemable miles, 75% elite qualifying miles, and 30% elite qualifying dollars.
- If traveling in 2018: 100% of distance flown for both redeemable and elite qualifying miles. You’ll also earn 20% of the distance flown as elite qualifying dollars.
This is a 14,647 trip and makes a great mileage run if you can position to Cairo. Travel in December will earn almost $4400 qualifying dollars even though the ticket costs only about $1000. That’s the leverage in discount business class partner tickets with Delta SkyMiles, the same principle applies to American AAdvantage.
(HT: Peter Y.)
This one has been around for at least a couple of months. If I remember, it was even around back in April with an expiration date of June 30 so it is nice that they seem to keep extending this one. I just wish the schedule would work on the return segment – would definitely grab it!
It’s definitely a great time to transit Riyadh! And do check out the Ritz if you have an overnight layover–you’ll be CAPTIVated by the luxurious surroundings!
The fare rules seem to indicate that changing the return would cause a re-price, at least if the outbound has already been traveled? Is that not the case. I’m a bit confused by the “USE HISTORICAL PRICING” pieces in the fare rules, so any help deciphering would be much appreciated!
Has anyone had Saudia miles post back to Delta automatically? How long does it take? I have had very difficult experiences with SkyTeam partners in the past posting to Delta.