I Was Nervous About Taking My Toddler on Her First Long-Haul Business Class Flight, but Using Miles to Fly Delta One (for Free!) Made the Trip Thoroughly Enjoyable
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On a recent trip to London, my daughter and I were able to fly in Delta Business Class for free thanks to travel rewards I earned with many of the best credit cards for travel.
This wasn’t her first long flight, so I felt I had a good understanding of what I could do to keep her comfortable, relaxed, and occupied. But I can honestly say that Delta One’s lie-flat Business Class seat made all the difference in the world when it came to how pleasant the trip actually was.
I’d taken 3 other long-haul trips with her before, between the ages of 8 months and 2 years, so I know what it’s like to spend time with a baby/toddler in the back of the plane!
I’ll share a quick rundown of my in-flight experience and explain how you can use miles & points to plan your own, similar trip. (Hint: There are limited-time increased offers on 3 of the personal AMEX Delta cards through April 3, 2019!)
Delta One Business Class to Europe With a Toddler
This flight was my first experience in a fully lie-flat Business Class seat. And I’ve got to admit though – oof – having now taken a handful of long-haul Business Class flights with my toddler (she’s now 3 years old), I don’t know how I could ever go back to economy.
Overall, I was most impressed with the Delta One seats – they were comfortable and spacious, and the seat configuration made it easy for my daughter and I to fly together while each having our own space.
The food was also good. On the ~10 hour flight, we were served 2 main meals (dinner and breakfast) and had the option of a snack, too. I didn’t have to be convinced to drink a few glasses of free champagne, either. 😉
My one gripe would have been about the service, which I found not to be as friendly and helpful as the service I’ve experienced on other carriers like Alaska Airlines, Air New Zealand, and Hong Kong Airlines. This seems to be a recurring theme when I compare US airlines to international carriers!
The Best Part About Flying Delta One Business Class With a Toddler
It’s the space! Having room to wiggle is invaluable when you’re spending anything over 4 or 5 hours in a metal tube in the sky.
There’s also a bit of a containment factor with the suite-type seats offered by products like Delta One. The suites provide a little privacy, making it harder for your kid to interact with and disturb other passengers.
What’s also nice about the configuration of the Delta One seats is that the middle aisle seats are accessible to one another – there isn’t a full barrier that separates them. Because of this, it was easy to be able to quickly respond to my daughter’s needs, like covering her with a blanket, picking up a dropped stuffed animal, adjusting her seatbelt, etc.
Other seat types and configurations don’t offer this because (understandably so) the idea is to give each passenger as much privacy as possible.
I like to think miles & points have made me a better mom because they afford me opportunities I couldn’t otherwise pay for. And mom’s going to be a LOT happier and well rested after flying and being able to fully recline along the way!
Use Delta Miles for Free Flights
Delta miles don’t expire, but the downside of Delta’s program is that there’s no official award chart. That means you’ll have to look up your particular flight to see how many miles it’ll cost.
The good news is Delta has frequent flash sales, and if you have certain Delta credit cards, you can use Delta’s Pay With Miles feature. With this option, your Delta miles are worth 1 cent each towards the cost of your ticket.
If you need more Delta miles, you can earn miles toward these flights with cards like:
- Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
- Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express
- Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express
Just remember, you’ll want to apply for these cards when their welcome offers are at their highest because you can only earn the bonus on a particular AMEX card once per lifetime. Fortunately, all 3 of these cards are offering limited-time increased welcome bonuses through April 3, 2019. So if you decide to apply, now is a good time to do so!
As an alternative, you could earn AMEX Membership Rewards points (like I did!) which transfer to Delta at a 1:1 ratio with these cards:
| Personal cards | Business cards |
|---|---|
| American Express® Gold Card | The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express |
| The Platinum Card® from American Express | American Express® Business Gold Card |
| American Express®️ Green Card | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express |
| Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express |
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Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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