MilesBuzz! - How do awards on partner airlines work?

For instance, say I use 50K DL miles for an AF ticket to CDG. Does DL then have to pay AF for this seat. If so how much? Is it determined by number of miles used or perhaps the fare of a coach ticket on that route. Or perhaps do they just calculate the net balance between the airlines at the end of the year and one pays the other. If so how much per mile. Also who controls availability. If AF is getting paid by DL then it would seem as though it should be easy to get award seats. At least easier than using AF miles. However I know that when my brother booked tickets to HNL he booked one ticket with AA miles and the other with BA miles. He said AA miles gave more availability. Also when I purchase ticket on AF and ask for DL miles, how much does AF pay DL.

Recently there was another thread on this subject that came up with some interesting answers.

Read all about it here: Curiosity: Who benefits from using miles on a partner? (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/008499.html)

[This message has been edited by ql2112 (edited 04-17-2003).]

It seems that on the booking side, it all comes down to computer interoperability. Every tried to book an int'l DL partner award on an airline where DL doesn't have real-time computer access to award inventory. Good luck.