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Through August 16, 2017 (tomorrow) at 11:59 PM ET, you can book roundtrips between the United States and Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing in Delta’s new Premium Select Cabin for 80k Delta miles roundtrip, or 65k roundtrip in economy. The travel period for the sale depends on the route but many months are available in fall, winter, and spring.

What the Heck is Premium Select

Delta is debuting an Airbus A350 on October 30 of this year on an inaugural flight from Detroit to Tokyo Narita, which will feature the first Premium Select cabin and the Delta One suite product enhancement.

Premium Select looks like this:

The seats have 38 inches of pitch, up to 19 inches of width, and up to seven inches of recline, along with adjustable leg rests and head rests. To learn more details about the cabin, read Delta’s News Hub. For these long flights to Asia, the Premium Select seats look a lot more appealing than the economy cabin.

Sale Routes

Delta states that the sale applies to roundtrip award flights in Premium Select and economy from the United States with the following destinations:

  • Tokyo, Japan (NRT)
  • Seoul, South Korea (ICN)
  • Beijing, China (PEK)

Premium Select is only available from Detroit to these cities (on an A350), but you can find award space on sale with connections from other cities to/from Detroit. For example, here’s the outbound of a 80k roundtrip flight in Premium Select that departs Chicago with a connection in Detroit before flying on to Tokyo (the day after the inaugural flight).

Travel Dates

You’ll find awards on sale during the following periods:

  • Flights from the United States to Japan: October 30, 2017 to January 31, 2018
  • Flights from the United States to South Korea: November 18, 2017 to January 31, 2018
  • Flights from the United States to China: January 17, 2018 to April 17, 2018

The Discount

While Delta doesn’t publish award charts anymore, we know from charts maintained by people like us online (Renes Points has a series of spreadsheets) that the lowest level Premium Select award price to Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing is normally 99,000 SkyMiles roundtrip, and the lowest level economy award price to Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing is 70,000 SkyMiles roundtrip.

As for the Premium Select sale, 80k miles roundtrip is a little more than a 19% discount off of a 99k regular price. That’s a big discount, and a good price (especially if you value Delta miles less than other miles you might use for domestic awards, which you probably do). The economy sale isn’t quite as good–65k roundtrip is a little more than a 7% discount off of a 70k regular price. That’s a minor discount, but it does knock it down to a lower price than what American or United charges roundtrip to the same places (and again–you probably value Delta miles less than either of those miles).

Award Space

I searched a couple routes to show what availability in Delta’s Premium Select Cabin looks like during the travel dates of the sale. Most of my searches yielded plenty of 80k roundtrip awards to Tokyo and Beijing, but less award space on sale to Seou. All the calendars below are for two travelers, roundtrip, with flexible travel dates for a 10 day trip displayed.

Detroit <> Tokyo

Detroit <> Beijing

Blackout Days

There are no blackout dates for travel in Delta’s Premium Select Cabin. The economy award sale does not apply to the following origins/destinations and travel dates:

  • Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT): December 7 – 28; December 30, 2017 – January 11, 2018
  • Tokyo, Japan (NRT) to Atlanta, GA (ATL): November 11 – 23; November 25 – 29; December 6 – 23; December 26, 2017 – January 18, 2018
  • Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Shanghai, China (PVG): February 17 – 28, 2018
  • Tokyo, Japan (NRT) to Portland, OR (PDX): December 18, 2017 – January 11, 2018
  • Portland, OR (PDX) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT): December 9 – 29, 2017; January 1 – 11, 2018

Are You After Delta Status?

Don’t forget that the Delta Reserve Card from American Express currently comes with 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) and 40,000 redeemable SkyMiles for spending $3,000 on the card within three months of opening it. While the MQMs are the primary reason you should get your card, if you’re chasing status, now’s the time to get this card if you haven’t already. You can only get the sign up bonus once in a lifetime and the 40k redeemable mile part of the bonus is the highest on record (the MQM level doesn’t change).

Read about who the Delta Reserve Card is appropriate for in Attention Delta Status Chasers: Amex Reserve Card Has a New Bonus.

Bottom Line

Today and Wednesday only (through 11:59 PM ET August 16) you can book Delta Premium Select on Delta’s new A350s to Asia with a 19% discount (80k roundtrip versus the standard 99k). Economy awards are also (just slightly) on sale as well, for 65k SkyMiles roundtrip instead of 70k). The travel dates on sale depend on the route. Your trip must be completed by the end of the indicated valid travel period–you couldn’t start the award at the end of the travel period and complete after the travel period.

Delta’s prices for international award travel tend to be scandalously expensive. If you have a stash of SkyMiles, these kind of flash sales are exactly what they’re good for. Burn em while you can.

Hat Tip Rene’s Points