Delta Launches Nonstop Los Angeles–Manila Service in 2027

Delta announced nonstop service between Los Angeles (LAX) and Manila (MNL) starting March 28, 2027. It’s Delta’s first nonstop to the Philippines, and it makes Delta the only U.S. carrier flying LAX-Manila directly. Delta has already loaded SkyMiles award space for the route, and it’s wide open right now. Delta also brought back Beyond The Summer, a set of SkyMiles bonus offers with a fast-approaching deadline, more on that further down.

The aircraft is the same A350-900 Delta flies on other long-haul Pacific routes, with lie-flat Delta One Suites, Premium Select, Comfort+, and Main. Delta describes this as strengthening its position as “LAX’s leading global carrier,” part of a larger expansion that includes two new Delta One Lounges at LAX (with four planned by 2028) and 160+ daily departures to 50+ destinations from there.

Why Delta Picked Manila

Delta’s transpacific joint venture with Korean Air has mostly sent Asia connections through Seoul Incheon. A nonstop to Manila is a move toward direct point-to-point flying instead of routing everyone through ICN, while the joint venture still lets you connect through Seoul if that works better for your trip.

It also puts Delta in direct competition with Philippine Airlines, which has controlled the LAX-Manila route for decades. That competition is growing: PAL is joining the oneworld alliance and adding new aircraft and premium cabins of its own.

The Good News: Seats Are Already Open

We checked availability using AwardFares Timeline View for LAX-MNL on SkyMiles, and the route is loaded with award space from launch day through at least May 2027, in every cabin:

Business Class is priced high (410,000–495,000 miles one-way), typical of Delta’s dynamic pricing on a new premium cabin route. Economy at 62,000 miles is the more reasonable option if you’re booking with SkyMiles directly.

Partner Miles Don’t Work Here Yet

As of our check, none of the partner programs we tested show any award space on this route: SAS EuroBonus, Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and Aeromexico Rewards all show zero results on the same dates SkyMiles is wide open.

That’s something to check again soon, since partners like Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club have priced other Delta routes lower than SkyMiles in the past. We’ll keep checking and update this post as that changes.

How to Catch It When Partners Open Up

Since the partner programs haven’t opened up yet, a Live Alert is the practical way to catch it the moment they do, rather than checking manually every few days.

You can filter the alert by airline and number of stops, and add multiple dates or cabins at once, in the example above, one alert covers 30 dates across 3 partner programs at once. Set it, and AwardFares will notify you the moment a partner opens LAX-MNL award space.

Should You Book Now?

If you want to fly Delta metal on this route and the SkyMiles pricing works for you, especially Economy at 62,000 miles, there’s no reason to wait: the space is there right now. If you’re hoping for a better partner redemption, set a Live Alert and be patient, none of the programs we checked have caught up yet.

Delta’s Beyond The Summer Bonus Miles

Delta relaunched its Beyond The Summer event on July 21, pairing a flight bonus with a handful of travel-partner offers.

Featured cities for the double-miles bonus include Riyadh, Seoul, Honolulu, Sydney, Auckland, Rome, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Cancun, and Punta Cana.

One Catch to Know Before You Book

Based on how Delta’s offer terms are set up, the double-miles bonus seems to apply only to flights booked through the Beyond The Summer landing page itself, not to any Main Classic or Main Extra fare to Riyadh, Seoul, Honolulu, or the other featured cities. If you book your flight the normal way through delta.com search instead of the promo page, you likely won’t get credit, even for the same fare on the same flight.

Should You Do This?

If you already have a trip planned to one of the featured cities, enroll before the July 23 deadline, it costs nothing, just make sure you book through the actual promo page. For the other offers, the gift card and shopping portal bonuses are the only ones worth doing on their own. The Delta Stays, Airbnb, and Hertz bonuses are only good deals if you were already booking those services anyway.

It’s also worth remembering this is a revenue-fare promotion, not an award-booking one. If you’re deciding between a full-price Main Extra ticket and redeeming miles for the same trip, compare both with AwardFares before assuming double miles on a paid fare beats a straight redemption.