SkyTeam - New to China Southern Sky Pearl...

Hello, I have been years on higher elite status on other FF programs (OneWorld (AA) and StarAliance (EB)).

Now I have moved in Malaysia and constantly flying from here to China, I started looking for new preferred airline. After big disapointment with CX I am planning to give MU a try next. They seem to have good shedules and routes for me.

I am FB member but I understood that MU will not give much miles for FB program if flying discounted - and I will definitely choose discounted if it is available. So I enrolled in Sky Pearl.

I wonder if anyone more experienced with SkyTeam can advice me...

- Which ST member would you would recommend to fly from PEN (via HKG or BKK or KUL) to Europe for max. mile accural?
- Do you know if SkyPearl offer status match? It is hard to start from bottom again...
- Did I do the right move... or should I stick with OW anyway (Malaysian is becoming member this year)

not sure, but it looks like you're mixing up two programs.

SkyPearls = China Southern = CZ
Eastern Miles = China Eastern = MU

both skyteam, both have limited miles, when using FB.

Not much difference between the two, although I have to say that MU is improving their quality level in big steps (apart from delays)

Don't expect any form of status match, it is an unknown phenomena in China.
Therefor it is quite hard to reach any status (MU silver = 50 flights or 100.000km :eek: in 24 month).

Flying Blue (FB) remains the best ST program when flying on CZ/MU/FM. The qualification threshold for silver and gold are low and ST/ST+ is recognized well by them on int'l flights.

MU, Eastern Miles, give it a miss, the qualification for status is way too high.

If you really want a Chinese ST program, go for CZ. Nonetheless, earning miles and status flight is more restrictive than on FB. After 20 qualifying segments (only a few fares qualifying), you're silver and get access to lounges on domestic flights.

However, since you are mostly flying international, FB Gold (30 qualifying segements, more fares qualifying) also gives you access.

My advice is to go with FB when you plan a lot of int'l flying, and CZ Sky Pearl Club when you have a lot of domestic flights.

You also might want to check FB and CZ earning tables and deciding what is best for you.


Out of the big three in China, MU is the worst airline. Their fares are cheap, so set your expectations right.

After big disapointment with CX I am planning to give MU a try next.

If you've been disappointed with CX in the past then I would be surprised if MU improves on that. CX, by and large, has better equipped planes, better trained staff and better service than MU (and CZ). If you do fly MU/CZ in the future then you'll discover that yourself. There's no doubt they're trying to improve and I think we will see that in the coming years but it will take them a long time to reach CX levels.

As you mention MH has plans to join OW in the near future and I would suggest sucking up CX and/or other OW when you fly to Europe for the time being until MH joins. This makes even more sense if you already have miles and/or status invested in a OW mileage program.
I'd suggest the same when flying between Malaysia and mainland China, although I imagine you'd have to route through HKG every time when flying a OW carrier (CX/KA).

For OW flights to Europe, no reason the OP even has to go to HKG. BA and AY can both be found at BKK/SIN for flights to Europe. RJ also has a daily to BKK and 3x weekly to KUL with many connections into Europe from AMM. Connections from PEN are very short to any of SIN/KUL/BKK.

Only benefit I can really see is that CZ has pretty cheap (comparatively) Z fares D fares if you want to ride in Business. Otherwise the earnings rates for CI/CZ/MU on Skyteam are dismal for the majority of commonly found fares on booking sites. You are usually looking at 40% earnings in SkyPearl or 25% earnings in FB. In your situation, unless you will do a lot of domestic China flights, I doubt Skyteam will be any better for you than OW.

Only benefit I can really see is that CZ has pretty cheap (comparatively) Z fares if you want to ride in Business.

Z fare is premium economy on CZ.... A little bit more leg room only. But they are very competitive by all means..

If you've been disappointed with CX in the past then I would be surprised if MU improves on that. CX, by and large, has better equipped planes, better trained staff and better service than MU (and CZ). If you do fly MU/CZ in the future then you'll discover that yourself. .

Well, CX has ok planes and in-cabin service... But their ground, telephone and online services... just sucks. If they can not get basics working right, I don't really care if they serve better meal on board. For example: I am still waiting for the refund for ticket cancelled on October.

CX has build good image of their service. Anyhow, based on my experience it is nothing special on board. Just standard international airline service.

I know I might get something even lower than that with CZ and MU, but I would be happy to give them a try. (but if they do not offer status match, will take rest of the year to become gold and maybe in that time MH is already in OW)

Z fare is premium economy on CZ.... A little bit more leg room only. But they are very competitive by all means..

Sorry, that should be D fare. I did indeed mean Business, not premium economy.

Normal revenue Premium Economy fare is W, Z is paid upgrade (and maybe mileage upgrade too) from standard economy to premium.

You're right, their Premium Economy is not much to speak of, much like UA, it's only a little more legroom on the 330's and a bit wider seat on the 772. Same bad food as economy, same terrible entertainment system as economy (save for the newer 332's, they have nice AVOD)

For OW flights, no reason the OP even has to go to HKG.

The OP will have to go through HKG, for now at least, if he wants to fly a OW carrier between Malaysia and mainland China.

Sorry, that should be D fare. I did indeed mean Business, not premium economy.

Normal revenue Premium Economy fare is W, Z is paid upgrade (and maybe mileage upgrade too) from standard economy to premium.

You're right, their Premium Economy is not much to speak of, much like UA, it's only a little more legroom on the 330's and a bit wider seat on the 772. Same bad food as economy, same terrible entertainment system as economy (save for the newer 332's, they have nice AVOD)

No, Z is discounted premium eco (but also an upgrade fare bucket). Non-discounted premium eco is W.

No, premium eco has an upgraded food service compared to Y. (And I certainly don't think their food is bad. There is worse :p)


vpk, if you are frustrated with online and phone services, CZ/MU are difficult to deal with if you are not used to dealing with Chinese airlines. That said, when you know how to play the game, it's quite easy and reliable. Particularily refunds are processed quickly the day you claim it or the day the original flight would have been.

Well, CX has ok planes and in-cabin service... But their ground, telephone and online services... just sucks. If they can not get basics working right, I don't really care if they serve better meal on board. For example: I am still waiting for the refund for ticket cancelled on October.

CX has build good image of their service. Anyhow, based on my experience it is nothing special on board. Just standard international airline service.

I know I might get something even lower than that with CZ and MU, but I would be happy to give them a try. (but if they do not offer status match, will take rest of the year to become gold and maybe in that time MH is already in OW)
If you think CX is bad, you shouldn't try any Chinese carrier. You'll find substantially worse phone and online services, not to mention a subpar inflight product.

Well, CX has ok planes and in-cabin service... But their ground, telephone and online services... just sucks. If they can not get basics working right, I don't really care if they serve better meal on board. For example: I am still waiting for the refund for ticket cancelled on October.

CX has build good image of their service. Anyhow, based on my experience it is nothing special on board. Just standard international airline service.


I thought you were talking about CA/MU/CZ for a second there. :) There's a thread in the Asian airline forum about someone trying to get a refund from MU.

If you think CX is bad, you shouldn't try any Chinese carrier. You'll find substantially worse phone and online services, not to mention a subpar inflight product.

But worlds better than any European airline on short-/medium haul narrow bodies, and still better in Y.

I thought you were talking about CA/MU/CZ for a second there. :) There's a thread in the Asian airline forum about someone trying to get a refund from MU.

And he got it. Look at the LH forum to see how long it can take to get a refund. Months.

Thanks for all the suggestions. CX seems still carry good reputation, even my experiences with them has been average on board and below anything on ground. And my OW Saphire status seems not to give me any other benefits with them than lounge access (which I will have time to use only if the flight is late). But my experiences has been somewhat limited: just few HKG-LHR flights and between HKG and some China and Malaysia destinations last year, maybe alltogether around 15 legs.

As for FF program... Seems I need to do a bit more searching to decide my preferred airline. Just realised that CX actually does not give any miles to partner programs if flying any discounted eco fare... so I will loose my OW Saphire status anyway end of this year.

Maybe I just need to forget the FF programs for time being and start flying with AirAsia or whichever happen to offer the best deal :)

Chinatrvl: I noticed you are "Ctrip Platinum VIP". what benefits that gives you - and how to reach that? I can not find the information at Ctrip website (BTW: I love their service. Good english, fast response, friendly and pro service).

[...] Chinatrvl: I noticed you are "Ctrip Platinum VIP". what benefits that gives you - and how to reach that? I can not find the information at Ctrip website (BTW: I love their service. Good english, fast response, friendly and pro service).

Off topic, but...

It's rather a joke to put it on here :) Nonetheless, you'll get 'status' with ctrip after a certain amount spent there. I am not sure about the thresholds and couldn't find it instantly. You need to activate your status level using the chinese site (or probably calling customer service)

There are two things that make it interesing for me:
1) You earn more ctrip points and hotel/flight credit. Although they're not worth much, my yearly volume at ctrip is so high that it pays back.
2) As VIP customer they issue tickets without payment: Within 24 hours of a flight, you cannot make a reservation with foreign credit card, and you can only pay cash within 2 hours of the flight. As VIP, they will issue the ticket and you can pay and pick it up at the airport. Convenient for me, when I just need to call ctrip and they get me on the next flight.

Edit: Here you go: http://pages.ctrip.com/commerce/promote/200905/other/xstc/page1.htm

Many thanks for all responses. They have gave me good tips how to proceed. Seems that I will be saying goodbye to OW as preferred alliance, but my choice is not actually SkyTeam, but I will be going back to *A. Just noticed that BKK actually is good hub if flying from PEN to Europe or mainland China and as far as I recall Thai is ok to fly with. So... will be going to *A forum now...

Does anyone know what is the baggage allowance for Skyteam Elite Plus member flying on CZ domestic flights? I'll be flying from Shenzhen to Shanghai and debating if I should carry 3 pieces of baggage (50 lbs ea.) for the two of us.