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Old Jul 24, 2014, 8:13 am
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Question Waiting for the shoe to drop...

Looking up accrual charts for other ST airlines, I can't help but think those of us who fly KL, AF, etc. are going to be in for a rude awakening when the charts are finally released for partner airlines.

Not sure if there's been an indication of when this will happen, but I'm bracing for the fact that it very well may not be pretty. Any conjectures on what we'll be looking at?
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 8:15 am
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Originally Posted by CGNC
Looking up accrual charts for other ST airlines, I can't help but think those of us who fly KL, AF, etc. are going to be in for a rude awakening when the charts are finally released for partner airlines.

Not sure if there's been an indication of when this will happen, but I'm bracing for the fact that it very well may not be pretty. Any conjectures on what we'll be looking at?
Might want to take a look here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...ews-delta.html

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Old Jul 24, 2014, 8:19 am
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Originally Posted by rwoman
Yes--trying to bring out the separate issue of partner accrual from the main thread, 'cause this: 'Flights marketed and ticketed by Delta’s partner airlines will earn mileage based on distance flown and fare class paid. More details will be announced later in 2014,' doesn't really have much in the way of details
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 9:02 am
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Let's cross the bridge when we get to it.

Secondly given the economic status around the globe and the stated decrease in Business travel .... things could change for the positive.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 9:37 am
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Any change would be entirely dependent upon what DL's partners are willing to pay for the miles. IIRC, when WN switched their earning structure, they didn't touch partner earnings, but they don't have any airline partners.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:18 am
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Long term, I wouldn't expect DL to give people reasons to prefer travel on partners rather than DL flights. It wouldn't surprise me if the percentage miles earnings for various partner fare classes were computed to very roughly give the same number of miles as if the person had purchased a similar ticket on DL. Of course these calculations won't be perfect and there will be some lags and anomalies, but on average it shouldn't be possible to earn many many more redeemable miles by always using partners instead of DL because that just wouldn't make sense.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:21 am
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Originally Posted by dd1612
.... things could change for the positive.
I admire a person with an optimistic outlook, but I would bet heavily the opposite will be true.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:25 am
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OP, it would be helpful to use a thread title that gives the readers some indication of the topic you're introducing. For this thread an informative title would have been something like "Information on 2015 mileage earnings on partner airlines?"
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:28 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
It wouldn't surprise me if the percentage miles earnings for various partner fare classes were computed to very roughly give the same number of miles as if the person had purchased a similar ticket on DL.
I'd agree. Roughly speaking, I'd expect a 50% drop on non-premium fares.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:39 am
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Originally Posted by bennos
I'd agree. Roughly speaking, I'd expect a 50% drop on non-premium fares.
I think looking at FlyingBlue accrual charts would be a good place to start.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:39 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Long term, I wouldn't expect DL to give people reasons to prefer travel on partners rather than DL flights. It wouldn't surprise me if the percentage miles earnings for various partner fare classes were computed to very roughly give the same number of miles as if the person had purchased a similar ticket on DL. Of course these calculations won't be perfect and there will be some lags and anomalies, but on average it shouldn't be possible to earn many many more redeemable miles by always using partners instead of DL because that just wouldn't make sense.
Long-term, I would think that DL will:

a) Seek to limit their partners that are not JV partners. For those partners that are in a JV, I think DL will seek to lower barriers to flying with them.

b) Continue to give miles at a rate commensurate with what the partner is willing to pay. If airline X is willing to pay DL more for a mile than it costs DL, I think DL will continue to sell that airline that mile.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:48 am
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Originally Posted by pbarnette
Long-term, I would think that DL will:

a) For those partners that are in a JV, I think DL will seek to lower barriers to flying with them.
I hope you are right, as currently there are, at times, fare differentials between AF/KL and DL, and having to get on the phone to get the fare on a 006 ticket is a huge PITA.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 11:52 am
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Originally Posted by pbarnette
Long-term, I would think that DL will:

a) Seek to limit their partners that are not JV partners. For those partners that are in a JV, I think DL will seek to lower barriers to flying with them.

b) Continue to give miles at a rate commensurate with what the partner is willing to pay. If airline X is willing to pay DL more for a mile than it costs DL, I think DL will continue to sell that airline that mile.
I'd agree with b) for nonairline miles, but even if partners pay for miles, DL still potentially loses a passenger who might otherwise have taken a DL flight. It's less of an issue if DL doesn't serve the route/destination and of course the case for JV partners is very different.

For an example, suppose someone is considering travel between JFK and SVO. There's no business reason for DL to encourage the person to book on SU rather than DL because they will earn many more DL miles if they ride on SU.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 1:20 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
I'd agree with b) for nonairline miles, but even if partners pay for miles, DL still potentially loses a passenger who might otherwise have taken a DL flight. It's less of an issue if DL doesn't serve the route/destination and of course the case for JV partners is very different.

For an example, suppose someone is considering travel between JFK and SVO. There's no business reason for DL to encourage the person to book on SU rather than DL because they will earn many more DL miles if they ride on SU.
The above is why point A was that I think they will seek to marginalize non-JV partners, if not eliminate them entirely.
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Old Jul 24, 2014, 1:29 pm
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Originally Posted by pbarnette
The above is why point A was that I think they will seek to marginalize non-JV partners, if not eliminate them entirely.
Do you know how the DL and AF/KL JV works in practice? I thought that with their anti-trust ability to coordinate prices and schedules, they generally would have similar prices on a certain route. However, today I was looking on DL.com at a TATL in coach, and AF and KL TATL (or rather, DL's codes on their flights) were $250 less than fares on DL's TATL metal. Why would that be?
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