“My Family of 4 Saved ~$2,300 Flying With Delta Miles on WestJet!”

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Earlier this year, I shared news that you can now use Delta miles to book award tickets on Canadian airline WestJet.

Million Mile Secrets team member Jasmin recently booked WestJet award tickets for her family of 4 using Delta miles.  I’ll let her tell you about it!

Jasmin:   Thanks, Daraius!  My 3 kids and I needed flights to Calgary, Canada, in August 2017 for a family reunion. WestJet is a fun, customer-friendly airline that flies to cities in Canada, the Caribbean, and beyond.  For example, you can fly WestJet non-stop from airports like New York – LaGuardia and Fort Lauderdale to Toronto.  And then continue on to Vancouver.

I’ll show you the pitfall I avoided by using Delta miles on WestJet.

I’ll share how I saved money AND added convenience booking WestJet award flights using Delta miles!

My First Award Flight Plan Hit a Costly Stumbling Block

Link:   New Way to Use Delta Miles for Flights to Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and More!

Flights to or within Canada are often more expensive than what we’re used to in the US.  At first, I’d hoped to book myself and the kids to Calgary on Air Canada using Air Canada Aeroplan miles.  Air Canada Aeroplan is an AMEX Membership Rewards transfer partner, so getting the miles would be easy.

Although we can fly out of Buffalo or Rochester, New York, the only non-stop options are from Toronto (~3.5 hours drive away).

But there were very few award seats available from our possible US departure airports.  And even from Toronto, the departure times, connections, taxes, and fuel surcharges were outrageous!

Note:   There were more available award seats on different flights when I searched for 1 person.  It’s harder to find award seats for a family of four.

For the 4 of us, round-trip coach flights would have cost 100,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles (transferred from AMEX Membership Rewards) plus ~$583 in taxes and fees.  No thank you!

But then I remembered the option to use Delta miles for WestJet award flights.

Using Delta Miles Allowed Us to Fly Non-Stop…and With MUCH Lower Fees!

I had just over 100,000 Delta miles in my account, most of which I earned last year from the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express.  And Delta is also an AMEX Membership Rewards transfer partner.

Delta no longer publishes an award chart.  So I wasn’t sure what to expect for pricing.

You can search for WestJet award flights on the Delta website the same way you search for any award flight.  Enter your departure and destination airports, travel dates, and number of passengers.  Be sure to select “Delta and Partner Airlines” to include flights on partners like WestJet.

I first searched for flights between Rochester, New York, and Calgary.  The cheapest flights were on Delta and Delta Connection, and cost 65,000 Delta miles plus ~$60 per person (or 260,000 Delta miles plus ~$240 total for the 4 of us).

But when I searched for flights between Toronto and Calgary, the results were much better.  There were many more options, and I found non-stop coach award flights for 30,000 Delta miles plus ~$56 per person, or 120,000 Delta miles plus ~$224 total.

Because I didn’t have quite enough Delta miles in my account, I transferred 18,000 AMEX Membership Rewards points to Delta.  The points transferred instantly, and AMEX charged me an excise fee of ~$11, because Delta is a US airline.

Is Flying WestJet an Option From Your Home Airport?

Link:   WestJet Flight Schedules

Link:   WestJet Destinations

WestJet flies to 25 US destinations, some of which are seasonal:

• Boston
• Chicago
• Dallas – Fort Worth
• Fort Lauderdale
• Fort Myers
• Honolulu
• Houston
• Kahului
• Kona
• Las Vegas
• Lihue
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• Myrtle Beach
• Nashville
• New York (JFK and LaGuardia)
• Orange County / Anaheim
• Orlando
• Palm Springs
• Phoenix
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Sarasota
• Tampa
• West Palm Beach

Sorry, Daraius, but WestJet does NOT fly to Austin!  🙂

If you’re not in a city served by WestJet, there are still options to use Delta miles to connect to a WestJet city.  For example, I found an itinerary from Atlanta to Quebec City with a connection in Montreal and flights on Delta and WestJet.

And WestJet doesn’t just fly to Canada and the US.  They have dozens of destinations in the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico.  And they’ve expanded to Europe, with flights to London and Glasgow.

Putting It All Together

1.   Paying for the Trip

Through the Delta website, I booked 4 round-trip, non-stop coach flights from Toronto to Calgary using 120,000 Delta miles plus ~$224.

I used my Citi Prestige® Card for the taxes and fees.  When you pay a portion of your fare (even the taxes on award tickets) with the Citi Prestige, you’re covered for situations like trip delay, baggage delay, trip cancellation, and lost luggage.

And Citi Prestige benefits are sometimes better than similar premium cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  For example, you’ll be reimbursed for trip or luggage delay after 3 hours, compared to 6 hours with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

I’ve submitted a trip delay claim with Citi Prestige in the past, and it was simple and straightforward.

2.   Finding My Reservation and Getting Assigned Seats

Delta emailed me a confirmation shortly after I booked.  But the reservation did NOT show up in my WestJet account, because my WestJet frequent flyer number was not attached to the booking.

And, like many partner award bookings, Delta’s confirmation number was different from WestJet’s.  So I couldn’t search for my itinerary on WestJet’s website.

I called WestJet at 888-937-8538 to attach my reservation to my account and choose seats for our flights.

Normally, WestJet charges a fee to book seats in advance, and the amount depends on the route and seat.  But I discovered WestJet will assign seats for free if you’re traveling with children aged 12 and under.  Sweet!

Earn More Delta Miles

Link:   Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

Link:   Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

Link:   Limited Time – Huge Sign-Up Bonus With These Airline Cards

If you want more Delta miles, you can transfer AMEX Membership Rewards points from cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express, Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express, or The Blue Business®️ Plus Credit Card from American Express to Delta at a 1:1 ratio.

Transfers are instant, but don’t forget the excise fee when you move AMEX Membership Rewards points to US airlines.

Or consider the best-ever limited-time offers for the AMEX Delta cards.  Through July 5, 2017, you’ll earn 60,000 Delta miles with the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, or 70,000 Delta miles with the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express, after meeting minimum spending requirements.

If you prefer, you can transfer Starwood points to Delta at a 1:1 ratio.  And you’ll earn a 5,000-mile bonus for every 20,000 Starwood points you transfer.

Bottom Line

Booking WestJet award seats using Delta miles was a straightforward process.  I booked 4 round-trip coach award tickets from Toronto to Calgary for 120,000 Delta miles and ~$224 total.

Compared to what I would have paid with Air Canada, I spent 20,000 more miles booking 4 award flights on WestJet using Delta miles.  But I saved ~$359 in taxes, fees, and fuel surcharges (~$583 with Air Canada – ~$224 with Delta / WestJet).

And as a single mom with 3 kids, flying non-stop on a fun airline, at times that suit us, is well worth the extra 20,000 Delta miles!

Have you flown WestJet?  I’d love to hear about your experience!