SkyTeam - skyteam best award upgrade planning for trip from New York to Shanghai or Beijing

hi All,

what ideas are out there for the best deal on award upgrade - or - miles and $$ for travel from New York to China - Shanghai / Beijing.

i can also originate in ANY other US city - east coast or west coast.

i have lots of points with Skyteam and AMEX.

tnx in advance for the help and assistance

i have lots of points with Skyteam and AMEX.



Sorry, but you don't have points with SkyTeam. SkyTeam isn't a frequent flyer program, it's an alliance of carriers that have their own programs (or a shared program like Flying Blue). Rules for redemption are specific to the program in which you have your miles.

There are several ways to fly JFK-PEK or PVG in Business class on SkyTeam carriers.

China Eastern JFK-PVG non-stop

Delta several NYC airports (LGA/JFK/EWR/HPN) - Detroit - PVG or PEK

Delta JFK-Tokyo Narita-PVG or PEK

Korean Air JKF-ICN-PVG or PEK

Depending on the program one may also be able to fly:

Air France JFK-Paris - PEK or PVG

KLM JFK-Amsterdam - PVG or PEK

hello 3Cforme,

thank you for the quick reply.
you are correct, of course, by Skyteam I meant Flying Blue for KLM / AF and Delta Medallion.

which ones offer the "best deal" either directly or through a partner ?

is it better to originate in Europe and just pay for an upgrade on the US Europe segemnt. on my last trip to Europe that was relatively inexpensive 32,500 points + 245 USD for a BIZ upgrade from an economy ticket.

tnx again

hello 3Cforme,

thank you for the quick reply.
you are correct, of course, by Skyteam I meant Flying Blue for KLM / AF and Delta Medallion.

which ones offer the "best deal" either directly or through a partner ?

is it better to originate in Europe and just pay for an upgrade on the US Europe segemnt. on my last trip to Europe that was relatively inexpensive 32,500 points + 245 USD for a BIZ upgrade from an economy ticket.

tnx again
When using DL miles, you can upgrade on DL operated flights from M B Y fares if Z inventory class is available. The rules for using DL miles to upgrade on AF or KLM are similar but irrelevant as DL doesn't permit Asia routing through Europe except in IROPs, so that purchasing a ticket this way would probably be very expensive and charged as two separate upgrades in each direction.

You can also use DL miles for SkyTeam upgrades on most partners, but these generally require FULL Y class fares and cannot be done on days that DL has blacked out for award tickets on that carrier. The latter rule is especially restrictive on KE flights.

As a general rule of thumb for upgrading: you typically get the best deal if you upgrade a flight on the airline that owns your FFP. So if upgrades are your priority you should choose the FFP of the airline you typically fly with.