Which flights in Europe can you book with Delta SkyMiles?

One of the greatest benefits of being a member of an airline loyalty program is the ability to access benefits not just on one airline, but across the networks of that carrier and its many airline partners collectively.

For example, a passenger with elite status on one airline might be able to access lounges and other flight benefits while flying with a partner carrier. Furthermore, those with award miles can often book flights with an airline's partners, even if they are not part of a connecting itinerary that includes legs operated by the airline issuing the miles.

While it is well-known that you can use airline miles to book tickets on flights that are part of connecting itineraries which include segments operated by both a carrier and its partners, there are many circumstances when one can even use their miles to book flights not operated at all by the airline they earned the miles from.

However, this is not ubiquitous across all carriers and routes, and attempting to understand exactly which flights you can use your miles to book can be tricky, especially when carriers constantly add and drop award capacity on different routes.

Furthermore, it is even harder to ensure that you are getting a good deal when redeeming award miles for free flights, as these tickets are often far more expensive in terms of miles than they might be if you were just paying in cash by booking with the airline.

In this article, we will take a deeper look at how you can use award miles to book flights within Europe using US airline miles, specifically focusing on how to use Delta SkyMiles to book these kinds of journeys.

Atlanta-based legacy carrier Delta Air Lines has one of the largest and most successful airline loyalty programs in the world, with Delta SkyMiles and its American Express partnership being among some of the most important on the market.

As a result, there are millions of Americans today who have Delta SkyMiles in their wallets and are constantly looking for the best ways to use them for free travel.

It is important to note that, as a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, Delta has extensive relationships with airlines from across the globe, all of which offer a slew of benefits to Delta SkyMiles members. (In exchange, Delta also offers benefits to members of partner airline loyalty programs, such as Air France-KLM's popular Flying Blue program).

While it is well-known that you can use Delta miles to book flights to and from Europe on partner airlines like Air France, what is less often examined is how you can use SkyMiles to book flights within Europe.

Furthermore, if one books flights through Delta on any of these other partner airlines, they will be able to enjoy all the benefits of any premium credit cards or elite status they might have, with a couple of noteworthy exceptions to keep in mind.

Furthermore, these flights can often offer better value for your SkyMiles, especially during high-demand periods like the summer when airlines raise their fares significantly.

The best reason to use Delta SkyMiles to book a flight itinerary that involves connecting to an intra-European flight not operated by Delta is if you are looking to fly to a European city not currently served by Delta but served by partner airlines like Air France or KLM.

Here is a good example of such a flight itinerary that you could book, from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Budapest International Airport (BUD) in Hungary:

As we can see, award space on these flights is not available on all dates, and passengers who have flexible dates for their itineraries are more likely to be able to score the kind of deal that they are looking for.

A deeper look at the options available on this date shows that booking this flight with miles would involve a flight from New York to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport (AMS), followed by a flight from Amsterdam to Budapest, both operated by Dutch flag carrier and SkyTeam Alliance member Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM).

It is important to note that passengers will still be required to pay the applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees when flying on this itinerary, which for these tickets amount to $172. Additionally, the only booking option available to passengers is Main Cabin, so those looking for premium cabins may find it harder to find award space on flights within Europe.

Not all city pairs have award space available for passengers looking to book tickets with SkyMiles, and when award space does open up, it may disappear very quickly, meaning passengers should be ready to pounce.

Customers should be careful to make sure that they are getting a good deal. Delta is currently selling tickets on this route for around $880, meaning that for 66,000 SkyMiles you are essentially getting $708, which gives you a redemption value of around 1.07 cents per mile.

According to NerdWallet, a good redemption value is around 1.2 cents per mile, making this a decent, but not amazing deal.

If you are looking to book flights between two European destinations using Delta SkyMiles, the process is relatively straightforward and one should head directly to the Delta SkyMiles website. You simply look up the two destinations that you are thinking of traveling between, such as London and Geneva:

Here, we see that there is a lot more award space available. While 20,000 SkyMiles for flights between London and Geneva during the beginning of the summer travel season may seem like a great deal, one should be careful as the fees involved could potentially make this "deal" nowhere near worth it.

Just like before, passengers should also be aware that booking flights within Europe using SkyMiles will again likely involve a stopover at a partner airline hub.

On this route between London and Geneva, it would likely be Amsterdam Schiphol or Paris-Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG), the primary hub for partner airline Air France.

Trying to assess whether you are getting a good deal for your SkyMiles is harder than it might initially seem. For starters, this is because there is no cash price to compare with your SkyMiles price.

Delta does not allow passengers to book tickets between European cities like Geneva and London with cash currently. However, one can compare how much their ticket would cost if they booked the equivalent itinerary through Air France.

By taking a quick look at the Air France website, we see that this flight is currently selling for around $240, and prices around those dates are roughly similar.

Considering that booking with SkyMiles involves around $120 in fees, one is essentially getting 20,000 SkyMiles for around $120, which computes to around 0.6 cents per SkyMiles, demonstrating an extremely poor value for your miles.

As a result, we can determine that for this specific itinerary, booking your ticket with Delta SkyMiles does not make any sense. However, for other itineraries, mileage redemption values are far closer to what would make booking such a trip worthwhile.

At the end of the day, Delta can offer its customers the flexibility to book flights within Europe using SkyMiles, albeit for fees that can make doing so a weak way to get the most of your hard-earned miles.

Nonetheless, if you are looking for flights within Europe and are traveling during a peak time when fares are higher, this kind of booking can make a lot of sense for you. Furthermore, this system allows you to use SkyMiles to access all the benefits of the extensive networks operated by carriers like Air France, KLM, and other SkyTeam partners.