SFO Deal Radar: $236 East Coast Fares, Delta One to HKG for 85K Miles, and 13 Days Left on the Aeroplan Buy Bonus

Eight active fare windows are on the board today, ranging from $236 domestic round trips to a $691 nonstop to the Cook Islands. On the points side, the Delta One Hong Kong flash sale is still findable via connections from SFO, and the Vietnam Airlines business class sweet spot continues to show open seats into fall. The one deadline that actually matters this week: the Aeroplan buy-points promo closes May 31 — the same day the new award chart takes effect.

Cash fare snapshot

Route (SFO roundtrip)	Airline	Basic Economy	Main Cabin	Posted
→ Tampa, FL (TPA)	American	$236	$346	May 17
→ Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU)	American	$236	$346	May 16
→ Pittsburgh, PA (PIT)	American	$236	$346	May 16
→ St. Thomas, USVI (STT)	Delta	$250	$370	May 15
→ Rarotonga, Cook Islands (RAR)	Alaska Air	$691	—	May 15
→ Papeete, Tahiti (PPT)	Delta / Air France	$614	$824	May 13
→ Santiago, Chile (SCL)	American	$615	$795	May 12
→ Prague, Czechia (PRG)	SAS	$631	$731	May 11

All prices are roundtrip including taxes.

American's East Coast three-pack: $236 to Tampa, Raleigh-Durham, and Pittsburgh

Three separate American Airlines sales hit The Flight Deal (a fare-tracking blog) over two consecutive days, all landing at the same base price. The $236 Basic Economy fare covers Tampa 1, Raleigh-Durham 2, and Pittsburgh 3.

On Basic Economy, American strips the normal-size carry-on; only a personal item fits under the seat. The $346 main cabin add-on restores carry-on allowance and seat selection. With jet fuel still elevated from the Iran-conflict spike that started in late February, these domestic prices sit meaningfully below where summer fares have been trending — roughly 15–20% under the seasonal norm.

Book on aa.com or search via Google Flights using ITA Matrix to confirm live availability before purchasing. Travel dates vary by route; use flexible-date search to find the cheapest weeks.

Delta to St. Thomas (USVI) for $250 round trip

The Caribbean price point is harder to beat. $250 Basic Economy / $370 main cabin on Delta from SFO to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands — no passport required 4. SFO runway construction is ongoing through October 2, which has been suppressing some Caribbean capacity out of the Bay Area, so this window is notable.

International under $700: Rarotonga, Tahiti, Santiago, Prague

Four international fares warrant a look for anyone planning summer or fall travel:

Rarotonga, Cook Islands (RAR) — $691 on Alaska Air. This is the nonstop Air New Zealand codeshare from SFO that runs seasonally. The flight is genuinely hard to beat on price; no frequent-flyer program has Air Tahiti Nui or Air New Zealand as a partner for a cheap award redemption here 5. Book directly via Alaska or use ITA Matrix to confirm. Travel window runs June–October 2026.

Papeete, Tahiti (PPT) — $614 Basic Economy / $824 main on Delta/Air France. The $824 regular economy fare includes advance seat selection. Same caveat as Rarotonga: no mileage program meaningfully covers this route. At $614, this is well below typical pricing 6.

Santiago, Chile (SCL) — $615 Basic Economy / $795 main on American. South America winter travel — high season in Chile runs June–August. At $615, it's a solid entry point for anyone with flexibility 7.

Prague, Czechia (PRG) — $631 Basic Economy / $731 main on SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). Confirmed via ITA Matrix at $643 for Basic Economy 8. Europe transatlantic fares have been running 20% above pre-February levels on fuel surcharges, so this is a genuine departure.

Miles sweet spots

Delta One to Hong Kong for 85,000 SkyMiles

On May 11, Delta quietly made Delta One (business class with lie-flat pods) available on the LAX–Hong Kong nonstop for 85,000 SkyMiles one-way — a route that normally costs 300,000–400,000 SkyMiles. The deal was widely circulated on points forums as of May 12 9.

SFO travelers can add a domestic Delta connection from SFO to LAX, which may push the total to 100,000 SkyMiles for the full SFO→LAX→HKG routing. Whether the flash-sale price is still live as of today needs verification directly on delta.com — these flash sales frequently close within days. Normal cash pricing for this itinerary runs $4,000–$7,000 one-way in business class, so at the 85K rate even with a small connection premium it's a strong redemption if seats remain.

Vietnam Airlines SFO → SGN (Ho Chi Minh City) in business class

Vietnam Airlines flies nonstop from SFO to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN). The seat pricing has been available via two programs:

ANA Mileage Club: 68,000 miles + $5.60 in taxes one-way 10. Transfer sources: Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards both transfer to ANA (transfers can take up to 48 hours).
Flying Blue (Air France-KLM): ~88,000–95,500 miles one-way depending on date, with higher taxes (~$348). September and October 2026 still showing open space 11.

The ANA path is significantly cheaper on taxes. Round trip at 68K + $5.60 each way means roughly 136,000 ANA miles for a lie-flat business class round trip to Vietnam, which at 2¢/mile valuation is ~$2,700 in value. Cash price for this route runs $3,000–$5,000 round trip in business.

Air Canada's Aeroplan (the loyalty program for Air Canada and over 45 partner airlines) is currently selling miles with a 90% bonus, expiring at 11:59 pm PST on May 31, 2026 12. The effective price works out to roughly 1.8 cents per Aeroplan point after the bonus — an unusually low cost for a program that covers Star Alliance partners.

The timing matters for two reasons. First, the June 1 Aeroplan devaluation (covered in last week's issue) raises award rates by 13–17% on business class to Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong from SFO. Buying points before May 31 and booking at the current chart is the only way to lock in the old rates. Second, Aeroplan transfers from Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Capital One — all at 1:1 ratios — making it easy to top off a balance before the devaluation takes effect.

Maximum purchase limits and transfer partner terms apply; confirm the current cap on Aeroplan's own buy-points page before committing.

Context: why Bay Area fares are elevated right now

Three structural factors are compressing seat availability and keeping base fares higher than 2024 norms. SFO is running reduced arrivals — down from 54 to 36 flights per hour since March 31, with runway construction continuing through October 2. Spirit Airlines shut down May 2, removing the lowest-cost ULCC capacity from all three Bay Area airports. And jet fuel has been sitting near $5/gallon since the Iran conflict started in late February, adding roughly $10–20 per domestic segment to carrier operating costs. All three factors are likely to persist through summer, which makes the deals above more significant when they do appear.