Delta question re booking with frequent flyer miles

[Best Aunt]

I've been watching the price of a Delta flight for this summer.

If I want to pay with cash: the price went down $10 since yesterday.

But if I want to pay using frequent flyer miles: the number of miles required went UP by 7,000 miles since yesterday.

Is that normal for Delta? Or common?

I assumed that if the cash price went down, the number of miles required to book also would go down.

 

[Klismania]

Not necessarily. It's kind of like spinning a roulette wheel. You have to know your prices and when to jump if you see something spectacular. For example:

I was pricing out flights from Kalamazoo to MCO, First Class. I jumped at a "lower than normal" $888 ticket, but when I went to use my miles, it came out to $715, which made it a REALLY good deal!

Keep track of what the prices would normally cost and occasionally start to "book" your ticket to see what the FF miles will get you. Sometimes it's higher, sometimes it's lower. Good luck!

 

[EACarlson]

Delta SkyPeso prices are loosely related to the cash price but it's not a ratio you can pin down like is with SW. Sometimes this results in fantastic deals, sometimes it results in horrible ones. Last year I got over 2 cpp for a flight to MCO, this year I'm looking at 0.75.

 

[elgerber]

I've been watching the price of a Delta flight for this summer.

If I want to pay with cash: the price went down $10 since yesterday.

But if I want to pay using frequent flyer miles: the number of miles required went UP by 7,000 miles since yesterday.

Is that normal for Delta? Or common?

I assumed that if the cash price went down, the number of miles required to book also would go down.

If you are booking with miles, you can rebook if the number of miles goes down, and get the excess miles back. I have done it many many times, as recently as last weekend.

 

[_19disnA]

Delta has various classes of ticket prices for either $$ or miles. Flights to the same destination at different times of the day can have a different price based on which seats are still available. Every seat on a given flight is not available for purchase with miles, they set aside a certain number and I don't think there is any way to know how many that is. If the 9 am flight (as an example) is no longer available using miles, then the price you would pay for the 2 pm flight could be higher.

 

[Mrs.AMC]

Look for the letter designation they give for the flight. Y, X, etc. It’s buried in there somewhere. Different letters are different point categories. I have leaned this since I started earning and booking companion fares