A proud denizen of Bogotá
Updated 5/7/21
There are still a lot of award space for 38,000-40,000 RT until Dec 15. Yes, a little pricier, but still a steal!
Here is the latest Delta deal: Colombia. You can fly Delta Business Class JFK to Bogotá for 26,000 miles.
- per round trip!
- in a fully lie-flat seat!
Found at Frequent Miler via Thrifty Traveler Premium
This is an incredible deal and a perfect ticket to book even speculatively. Delta has eliminated the $150 redeposit fee and the $150 reissue fee. You can cancel your award ticket without a penalty.
Nick at Frequent Miler also points out that you can get a Comfort+ seat for 12,000 miles per round trip. While this is a great rate, I wouldn’t bother since you can fly in a lie-flat seat for just 28,000 miles. In case you’ve never tried Comfort+ you haven’t lost much. It’s not Premium Economy. Comfort+ is just a glorified Economy seat with slightly better legroom.
A deal like this is why you never say I’m done with: DL/AA/UA etc, etc, etc
And feel free to add your own favorite loyalty programs that have slighted you over the years — you know, the ones you love to hate. 🙂
Every time Delta SkyMiles does something untoward, people declare it useless and swear they’re done with SkyPesos, and every time I can’t help but laugh. I really feel bad for every Delta loyalist out there, but the truth is there is no such thing as I’m done with. Every program is good for something, and Delta is no exception. I’ve made this point on more than one occasion:
Delta SkyMiles Deals Are Making the Program Relevant Again
7 Core Principles to Finding the Best SkyMiles Deals on Delta
The Best Value About Every Delta Flash Sale Is in the Routes It DOESN’T Advertise
Delta SkyMiles Deals Are Getting Weirder and Weirder and Why It’s a Good Thing
New Delta Award Sale: Europe in Premium Select and Economy
The Delta Business Class JFK to Bogotá deal details
In my cursory check, I see availability from April through the first half of December, but the most plentiful award space (up to four passengers) seems to be from August to December. In my opinion, everything under 30,000 miles is a great deal. Hey, if there weren’t deals under 30,000 miles, 45,000 miles wouldn’t be half-bad either!
Clocked at just under 6 hours, it’s a relatively short flight, comparable to a transcon between New York and LA or San Francisco. Still, the cheapest comparable Business Class award ticket on Avianca would run you 80,000 miles. So 28,000 miles and $79 in taxes is an insane bargain.
What if you’re not interested in Bogotá?
That’s cool, even though Bogotá is a really great city, well worth exploring (later about that).
But even if you don’t care about Bogotá, Cartagena is only 1.5 hours away. Medellin is one hour away. And stunningly beautiful Guatapé is a two-hour ride from Medellin.
Guatapé by Milo Miloezger on Unsplash
Flying to either city is cheap enough on miles or money. I’ve found round-trip December flights to Cartagena priced more than reasonably at 6,000 miles and $21 on Avianca. I’ve found a cash fare on LATAM for $86. Since you can buy Avianca miles for close to $0.01 per mile, that’s almost a wash. As a reminder, you can transfer points to Avianca from all major points programs except Chase (Citi, Amex, Cap One, and now Brex). I’ve also found flights to Medellin for $46 including taxes. If you can get them that cheap, there is no need to bother with miles, IMHO. 
Best time to go
If you want to include Cartagena in your trip, definitely try December. It’s still going to be scorching hot, but maybe a tiny little bit cooler than usual. I made the mistake of visiting Cartagena in the summer, and… oh well, like I said it was a mistake.
Between the heat and incredibly relentless touts who refuse to take even two or three “no gracias” for an answer, it was quite annoying at times. And, yes, it was still worth it. Cartagena is one of the most interesting cities in the world I’ve ever been to.
Cartagena Old Town
Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas
Cartagena Bocagrande skyline
If you want to visit Bogotá, Cartagena, and/or Medellin, December seems to me like the best time to take advantage of this sale. For Medellin, the calendar doesn’t really matter as they don’t call it The City of Eternal Spring for nothing. As for Bogotá, December tends to be relatively dry.
Which is why December is when I booked my own travel. I’ll get my domestic Colombia flights later. No need to rush, I think.
This makes it the third conditional reservation this year.
But COVID-19…
Colombia currently requires a PCR test within 96 hours of boarding the flight. And the U.S. requires any kind of COVID-19 test within 3 days in order to board the flight home.
But that’s today. Let’s hope things will get back to normal soon, although the new normal will be different from the old one. And please consider postponing your travel until you get fully vaccinated. Now that help is just around the corner, there is no excuse not to avoid unnecessary risks.
So is Bogotá worth stopping by?
If you can handle the elevation, I personally think Bogotá is a great destination to explore, although I would definitely combine it with Medellin, Cartagena, or both. You can add Bogotá to other “non-touristy” cities I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed: Lima, Hamburg, and Kuala Lumpur.
The view from Mount Monserrate
But the elevation might be an issue. At 8,700 feet it’s considerably lower than 11,200-feet Cuzco (which had almost killed me on arrival, by the way). So if you’ve been to Cuzco and didn’t feel a thing, like my cousin Timmy for example, you’re going to be fine in Bogotá. But to me Bogotá was a bit sneakier. Cuzco was a brute force attack — it felt like it was pushing oxygen out of my lungs, leaving me with barely enough not to kick the bucket. Bogotá only hit me when I went physical. 🙂 Walking up a hill, swimming in the pool, working out at a gym, anything out of the ordinary led to shortness of breath. Other than that, I loved the Colombia capital and I intend to stay there again for 2-3 days on my next visit.
To recap
From now until Dec 15 you can book a Delta Business Class JFK to Bogotá round-trip flight in a lie-flat seat for 28,000 miles. The best availability (for up to 4 people) is between August and December (at the time of writing). If you’d rather explore other cities like Cartagena or Medellin, there are very cheap flights from Bogotá on Avianca for cash or miles. This is a fantastic opportunity to explore a fascinating country for what probably is the cheapest award ticket on record.
Are you planning on taking advantage of this opportunity?
