Other European Frequent Flyer Programs - Good alternative to CSA OK Plus?

Czech Airlines is reducing service and although good, OK Plus is not as good as it was a few years ago (where did our upgrades go?). With the financial situation of CSA I'm starting to get afraid that my miles will disappear and am thus thinking about switching my loyalty to another program.

I travel almost exclusively on low economy fares, mainly DL, AF and KL and qualify by segments each year, roughly 20000-40000 bis miles.

The two things I like most about OK plus is that gold status is pretty easy and that all earnings are calculated based on marketing carrier, not operating carrier. The latter is important as I am based in HEL and for example all AF flights are operated by AY.

Delta Skymiles seems to be a good choice since most fares earn 100%. However status is much harder to reach both by segments and by miles.

Another option would perhaps be to switch alliance altogether.

Any ideas on a good alternative?

Actually, the mileage is almost the same....

DL Silver = 25, OK 25
DL Gold = 50, OK 50
DL Plat = 75, OK 100
DL Diamond = 125, OK no such level.

The segments are much higher though (x2) on DL. Other bad item is DL Silver is not E+, but at least Gold is now as of 1-June.

But points are supposed easier to come on DL....we will see. I just fly to US several times a year, so it might be helpful for that....especially for the awards as you just can not get them on CSA for DL metal (with any ease at least).

I just see no future for CSA as you do to.

I almost exclusively qualify by segments (30-35 per year) and wouldn't be able to reach 50000 miles so DL wouldn't be that good for me. I still like the 100% earnings on DL/AF/KL though.

I feel the same about CSA, just started to burn my miles on business class tickets, rather travel for weekends than have them disappear

Jan

I almost exclusively qualify by segments (30-35 per year) and wouldn't be able to reach 50000 miles so DL wouldn't be that good for me. I still like the 100% earnings on DL/AF/KL though.

Gnoops,

Are you sure? Did you check again the latest "enhancement" OK+ did to KL/AF earning?

I was rather put off by this and now did a status match to DL and started putting all my miles in there. Nearly everything earned on DL SM is 100% incld. AF/KL notorious N and E fares.
I believe that you can still qualify based on segments on the SM program.

I as you, was rather pleased the last 3 years of my return to OK+ especially the call center's english and replies to my enquiries, but now that they reduced the earning tables for KL/AF [which I am forced to fly for business], I switched over to DL. Even though it is skypesos, I think it is still comparable to OK+ from fuel surchange and availability point of view. I have never gotten any possible award flights with OK+. Used them only to upgrade my flights whenever possible.

My recommendation would be to dump OK+ and just move to DL. This is so far one of the only "workable" FF program within ST in my opinion. The rest are just a joke.

Cheers!

Sorry if I was unclear, I meant that DL at least gives 100% on AF/KL whereas OK does not.

I understand the uneasiness about the financial situation of CSA - but even after the demise of Sabena you could use your Qualiflyer points - so not too worried about my OK+ points from that perspective. The other partners in the alliance will take care - if only to draw in the then homeless CSA FFers.

But I am really very satisfied with redemption of my points in CSA (as long as it is not Transatlantic). How is that with DL in Europe?

If anyone is happy spending points on cheap intra Europe fares, they should stay with OK. I personally believe they are a waste and want to use them for long hauls.....which they have none of. So will be burning mine on Abu Dhabi later this year.

Upgrades to business are nice, but not really a biggie for me.

What status match does DL do?

For those considering DL SkyMiles, keep in mind that Delta will charge an extra fee for award tickets that originate im Europe and this fee can be several hundred dollars.

Hi nldogbert - is it possible to have a status match between SkyTeam partners? Or did you come from another alliance? Also - what is your experience with getting DL award tickets originating in Europe?

Hi nldogbert - is it possible to have a status match between SkyTeam partners? Or did you come from another alliance? Also - what is your experience with getting DL award tickets originating in Europe?

Hi,

No, it is not possible to match your ST status with DL. Since I am holding status also with another alliance, I managed to get matched. [see the DL thread for more info --> recently DL setup an official webpage for this].
I have not done any redemption here in Europe, but did once within Asia and it was easy. There was once also when I just inquired about availability with non-ST partner availability, there seemed to be dates available even 1 month before. So, from my own experience, it looks easy.

I know that DL charges extra over here for Europe redemption, but so does OK+ and FB. These are the fuel surchage. So for us here in Europe, I do not think that there is any way out of this extra charges.

I do see that you are Plat with OK+, so maybe for you it could be better to stick with them due to the extra benefits you get compared to me here that hardly fly with OK or via PRG. I also do not think that their tickets are that cheap in general. So for me all in all, moving to DL SM was still not a big change for me.. only thing is that I have now quite a number of miles park in 3 different ST programs.. :eek:

Cheers!

Thanks for the information - you probably are right about staying - and it is not as much about the upgrades - but it is mainly the free changes, apart from booking class. I use that option fairly regularly - and then you get the flexibility of a premium ticket for the price of a restricted one.

When I get a reward ticket on OK I am charged airport taxes, but no fuel surcharge.

More musical chairs and less pax:

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=cs&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://m.novinky.cz/articleDetails%3FaId%3D248477%26sznu%3Dj0HCvmjRpA2 UpE5b%26mId%3D5%26sId%3D5&usg=ALkJrhgWFr8Evct1vxc0ox9KxJ0qaxxYjA

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=cs&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://zpravy.e15.cz/byznys/doprava-a-logistika/csa-nezvladly-vrchol-sezony-711747&usg=ALkJrhgOpCldafeW2G-BJmjwmgxHf17KoA

Am happy though that I finally have burnt almost 500k miles these past two days with business awards.......

Anyone know the current FB chart for FB earnings on OK flights?

The current one on KLM seems a bit out of date (Although it would be nice if true ;) ):


Czech Airlines



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Czech Airlines’ main line of business is the carriage of passengers on regularly scheduled flights. It offers connections to 104 destinations in 44 countries, enabling its clients to have fast and comfortable connections to major business and political centres, mainly in Western and Eastern Europa.



Earning possibilities* ¹,²

You can earn Miles on all flights marketed OK, AF, KL or SkyTeam and operated by Czech Airlines.

You earn:





Business Class – long haul:


150% – C, J
125% – D, F

Business Class – Europe:


200% – C, D, J
150% – F





Economy Class:


100% – B, M, V, Y
75% – H
50% – A, K, N, Q, S, T, U, X
25% – G, L, O, W

Why wouldnt it be true? If that is the current published page, I'd assume it will be right?

Last few times I have flown CSA in classes N, U or T I got either 50% or 100% credited to flying blue :) (So sometimes even more than published) :)

Coz fares like N V U are cheaper than L.