Best Ways to Book Delta One Business Class with Points and Miles

Most U.S.-based travel enthusiasts have flown with Delta Air Lines at one point or another. However, for many of us, Delta One business class is just a pipe dream, a section that we walk by and envy on our way to our economy-class seats.

Delta One includes amazing amenities like a 180-degree lie-flat seat with cozy bedding and a lumbar pillow that doubles as a mattress pad, priority treatment at the airport, lounge access, an amenity kit containing luxury self-care products and premium dining paired with a selection of curated wines. For all of these reasons, Delta was named the eighth-best business-class airline in the world, according to a 2024 Skytrax ranking.

However, as you know, all of that luxury comes at a high cash price. Even on domestic routes, Delta One seats can cost several thousand dollars. However, you can get the Delta One experience at a low out-of-pocket cost by booking Delta One seats with points and miles through certain frequent-flyer programs. So, even economy-class travelers can get a taste of Delta’s business-class product.

Let’s take a look at the best loyalty programs through which to book Delta One awards, taking into consideration the rates charged by each program as well as how easy it is to earn miles with each program. We’ll also take a brief look at what you can expect when flying in Delta One business class.

What to Expect in Delta One Business Class

Delta Air Lines first began offering its Delta One product on long-haul flights operated by Airbus A350-900 and Airbus A330 (A330-900neo, A330-300 and A330-200) aircraft. Later, the Atlanta-based carrier began retrofitting some of its Boeing 767-400ER and Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with modified versions of the Delta One suite. However, the best version of the Delta One product is still found on Airbus A350-900 and Airbus A330 aircraft. Delta One suites onboard Boeing 767-400ER and Boeing 767-300ER don’t have a sliding door and therefore don’t offer as much privacy.

It’s also worth noting that some of the Airbus A350s in Delta’s fleet were former LATAM aircraft that don’t offer a Delta One suite. You can distinguish these Airbus A350 aircraft because they have a 2-2-2 seat configuration in business class whereas A350 aircraft that offer Delta One have a 1-2-1 seat configuration.

The exact dimensions of your Delta One seat will vary based on the type of aircraft you’re flying. The following chart shows the width and length of Delta One seats on each type of aircraft:

The seat lengths in the chart above refer to the length of the seat when in a fully flat position.

Regardless of which type of aircraft you’re flying, all Delta One seats are equipped with a USB port and an AC port to keep your devices charged, and Delta One passengers generally have access to complimentary in-flight Wi-Fi.

Most Delta One seats have a personal touchscreen entertainment monitor of 18 to 18.5 inches. This screen gives you access to more than 1,000 hours of free entertainment from Hollywood films to TV shows, music and podcasts.

As mentioned above, Delta One suites on Airbus A350 and Airbus A330-900neo aircraft also feature full-height doors and privacy dividers to give you a sense of complete privacy and peace. Unfortunately, these doors and dividers are not available on Boeing 767 aircraft.

On long-haul international flights, Delta One passengers will receive an amenity kit upon boarding the aircraft. This amenity kit was designed in collaboration with renowned Italian fashion brand Missoni and includes custom socks, slippers and an eye mask. You’ll also receive a pen with Delta One branding as well as a bamboo toothbrush, Marvis toothpaste and earplugs, and skincare products from Australia-based brand Grown Alchemist. All of this comes in a classy zigzag textured bag that you can take home with you.

Delta One passengers also receive a Missoni duvet with a white sleeping pillow and a sleeping pad that doubles as a lumbar pillow if you’re sitting upright. On particularly long flights over 12 hours, you’ll also receive an additional memory foam cuddle pillow.

In terms of in-flight dining, Delta One passengers are able to choose from a printed menu of local seasonal entrees that have been designed by culinary experts around the world. If you’re flying internationally in Delta One, you’ll also be treated to a selection from the dessert cart, which includes opera cake with chocolate ganache, fruit and cheese platters, and build-your-own ice cream sundaes.

You can choose to pair your meal with a selection of complimentary wine from around the world. You also have access to beer, premium spirits (including Du Nord Vodka, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select and Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select Bourbon) and non-alcoholic beverages. And, of course, you can request complimentary snacks like Biscoff, Sun Chips and more at any time during your flight.

The Delta One experience begins even before you board your flight. All Delta One passengers will receive Sky Priority access at the airport, which includes accelerated check-in, expedited security lane, priority baggage handling and more.

Additionally, Delta One passengers have complimentary access to Delta Sky Club lounges (where available), which have a selection of complimentary food and beverages. If you’re flying out of an eligible airport, you can access the Delta One Lounge, an elevated lounge experience that includes massage chairs, nap pods, exceptional dining and more. These Delta One Lounges are currently available in Boston (BOS), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK) and Seattle (SEA).

If there are no Delta One Lounges or Delta Sky Clubs at your departure airport, Delta One passengers receive complimentary access to SkyTeam partner lounges. To see if there are any SkyTeam partner lounges at a specific airport, you can use the Lounge Finder tool on the SkyTeam website.

Since Delta is a SkyTeam member, there are several SkyTeam partner frequent-flyer programs through which you can book Delta One business-class award flights with points or miles. Of course, you also can book Delta One awards through Delta’s own SkyMiles program.

However, each of these loyalty programs prices award flights differently, and the same Delta One seat may require more miles through one program than through another. Plus, earning miles with some programs is easier than with others if they allow points transfers from major U.S credit card rewards programs.

With these factors in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best programs through which to book Delta One business-class awards.

How to Book Delta One with Points and Miles

Delta SkyMiles

Of course, you can book Delta One award seats through Delta SkyMiles. Unfortunately, the Delta SkyMiles program uses a dynamic pricing model to price its own award flights. This means that booking Delta One awards through this program will require a lot of miles and typically won’t provide outsized value per mile.

For example, here’s a round-trip Delta One itinerary (operated entirely on Airbus A330 aircraft) between New York (JFK) and Amsterdam (AMS) for 350,000 SkyMiles and about $119 in taxes and fees.

If you were to book the same flights with cash instead of SkyMiles through the Delta website, you’d pay about $5,649.

So, by booking this flight with SkyMiles instead of cash, taking into consideration the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would give you a value of about 1.6 cents per mile. This isn’t a bad value, but it’s not impressive for a business-class redemption.

As you can see from the example above, booking Delta One award flights can be a good move, particularly if you already have a lot of SkyMiles in your account balance (as many U.S.-based travelers do) or if you can’t find your desired award through any other loyalty program. As you might expect, the Delta SkyMiles members have access to more Delta One award space than members of any other frequent-flyer program.

Another advantage of the Delta SkyMiles program is that it’s a 1:1 transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards. So, if you have an Amex card, you’ll be able to earn SkyMiles easily.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

One frequent-flyer program that offers Delta One business-class awards at fixed rates is Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which prices partner award flights according to a series of fixed award charts. And, while Delta One award space is difficult to find, particularly on Delta One routes between the U.S. and Europe, you’ll typically get good value if you’re able to book a Delta One award through this program.

The best way to find Delta One award space through any frequent-flyer program is to use the Seats.aero Delta One Finder tool, which allows you to search for Delta One award spaces between different regions. This tool can be massively helpful in locating Delta One award space through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

Unfortunately, many of the results displayed by the Delta One Finder tool are not true Delta One awards but rather Delta first-class awards. So, before using this tool, familiarize yourself with the different routes that offer Delta One service.

Likewise, many of the results displayed by the Delta One Finder tool are not actually available when you go to search for them through Virgin Atlantic Flying. Although this tool isn’t perfect, it can definitely cut down on the time you spend searching for a Delta One award.

For example, using this tool, we found a round-trip flight between New York (JFK) and Dakar, Senegal (DSS), for 160,000 Virgin points and about $188 in taxes and fees.

If you were to book these exact same flights with cash through the Delta website, it would cost you about $3,238.

So, factoring in the taxes and fees you’d have to pay for the award flight, this redemption would yield a value of about 1.9 cents per point, which is decent for a business-class redemption.

However, the only other option for booking this Delta One award flight is the Delta SkyMiles program, which charges over twice as many miles as the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program. If you were to book these same flights with SkyMiles instead of Virgin points, it would cost you a whopping 375,000 miles and about $188 in taxes and fees.

So, as you can see, it’s a much better move to book this flight through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club than through Delta SkyMiles. The same can be said about many Delta One award flights.

Another major advantage of the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program is that it’s a 1:1 transfer partner of most of the major U.S. credit card rewards programs, including American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards. So, if you have a rewards credit card from one of the aforementioned issuers, then it should be relatively easy to earn Virgin points.

The Bottom Line

Due to the high cash prices charged for Delta One business-class tickets and the luxurious experience that Delta One passengers receive both onboard and in the airport, finding Delta One award availability at favorable mileage rates has become a difficult task.

There’s plenty of Delta One award space available through Delta’s own SkyMiles program. Unfortunately, it uses a dynamic pricing model to price all award flights, including Delta One award flights. This means that you’ll need to spend a lot of miles to book a Delta One award and you won’t get good value per mile.

However, you can book Delta One awards at fixed rates through the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program, which is a transfer partner of nearly every major U.S. credit card rewards program.

Unfortunately, Delta One award availability is scarce and hard to find through Virgin Atlantic, but you should be able to locate Delta One awards that offer relatively good value with the help of the Delta One Finder tool from Seats.aero. Having said that, you’ll most likely have to be flexible with your travel dates and departure and arrival airports.