TProphet

I did some research through the mileage programs of SkyTeam members and found an alternative to the SkyMiles program that still permits accrual at 100% or 200% of DL miles flown based on fare class. E fares are, however, excluded. Better yet, Iceland is considered part of North America under the OK Miles program.

Details here: http://www.seat31b.com/2015/02/get-f...es-flown-plus/

LilRobb

Pretty nice,

Never looked into this - how would I go about booking DL but crediting to Czech Airlines?

RealHJ

Simply enter/use your OK FF #.

jn in ca

Of course it sounds great, but the problem with this is that I have to trust the Czech airline, which is a questionable proposition, I think.

I trust Alaska.

This simply highlights, not undermines, how bad the new earning cap is. I don't give a damn how much Delta tries to spin it every time we step on one of their planes:

https://twitter.com/marfgilbert/stat...49809703837697

TProphet

Czech Airlines is part owned by Korean Airlines. Yes, it's maybe a riskier bet than Alaska, but you're getting more potential redemption value in exchange for that risk. I'll be using OK Miles for SkyTeam for now, because it's best of the available (bad) alternatives.

davetravels

But what does this do besides <possibly> get you full RDMs? You won't get DL status for domestic UGs, or PM/DM status for GUC/RUCs?

I really doubt that most infrequent flyers who don't care about status would bother trying to deal with all of the potential problems of an airline mileage program that's half way around the world.

xolinlevh

Ive never looked into crediting elsewhere. Is it possible to book/fly DL, earning MQMs, but have my RDMs pile up under the 100/200% into Alaska? Im looking at booking some award travel through them later this year and this could help a good bit....

MSPeconomist

Nope. On SkyTeam, your credit for status and redeemable miles must be to the same program. In *A, some carriers allow one FF number for status benefits and a different number for credit, but even so, you can't send redeemable and status miles to different programs.

TProphet

Whether status matters depends on your travel patterns. If you fly on domestic routes where upgrades aren't likely or aren't permitted (such as transcon routes), there is little utility to holding status with Delta. You would qualify for status under the OK Plus program if you earn enough miles to do so, but to qualify, you are required to fly at least two legs a year with Czech Airlines.

If you're flying enough to earn status, and status is important to you, this might be worth doing. Delta does honor reciprocal status benefits through SkyTeam.

BenA

Ahh, I see CSA is going for the niche held in *A by Aegean Airlines

Honestly, I had a great experience onboard flying CSA on intraeurope flights to Prague. I wish they had a larger network - they actually had very good service, even in economy.

Afaik - KE investment aside - their finances were a little shaky, though, so you might want to credit miles to their program with caution.

davetravels

While OK might credit full miles, another thing to think of, is, what rate will DL want in OK miles for award tix?

If OK tix have to be available in "LOW" for DL awards, is it safe to assume that DL flights will have to be available in "LOW" of OK awards, and with the 5 tier chart, particularly close in, "LOW" level awards are scarce.

Just a thought.

prgboy

The advantage of OK PLUS is that you only need half of the legs to reach gold status that is recognized all over Sky Team.

I believe that crediting full miles for almost all DL flights is something new (and I am shocked, to be frank - will that even last???), following the recent stampede of frequent fliers from OK PLUS given the drastic changes and devaluation in last two years.

I have burned my miles with OK PLUS at a very successful rate in last decade, and it only took 80.000 to get round trip between Europe and U.S. in business.

The availability was quite low, though, and even in cases KLM or Air France told me they had an award seat open on a flight I wanted, Czech Air could not book it for miles.

To trust or not to trust, that is the question. After OKPLUS returned some benefits and stretched the expiration back, it is better, but I care less in general. I trust no program any more. Both, Delta and CSA did too many cutt-offs. Somebody said they wish CSA had a wider network -- they recently advertise that they are adding some 14 new flights or so.

Beware if you want to achieve those 2 flights a year to reach status, though: only FEW FLIGHTS with CSA actually counts toward your miles account. Certainly not the cheapest flights -- more like the business and full economy, but that is often a BIG difference (think ten times more expensive than basic cheap fare -- and that is usually even more expensive than flying KLM intra-Europe).

The airline used to credit miles for any flight with them two years ago -- now you need to pay a higher economy class. It might still be worth it. Good luck. :-:

PS: I pointed many times to CSA that they have a chart explaining which booking class earns how many miles... but when you book a ticket at CSA, you actually have no idea about the booking class you are getting. Which pretty much reminds me the Delta Award Chart situation

MSPeconomist

When do miles expire?

TProphet

It's a little complicated with expiration. Your miles expire 36 months after being earned unless you are an elite member. In this case, they don't expire. So, it is worth going for elite status if you have soon-to-be-expiring miles. Or, just earn and burn! I don't recommend keeping large mileage balances for long periods of time anyway. You will miss out.

With partner awards, you need "low" mileage availability to book. However, it's actually more complicated than this because Delta appears to have special "low" inventory for partner awards. You may find slightly more availability using a partner to book on Delta at "low" level awards versus the SkyMiles program. Still, the most valuable redemption is roundtrip to Iceland from North America and there is plenty of "low" availability regardless, because this is a seasonal service that doesn't seem to be widely known.

prgboy

Hello,
I do not quite understand the excitement about low miles to Keflavik. When I look at the available tickets BOS-KEF paid with miles, it never goes below 62.500 for one-way trip in business seat. Which is exactly what I paid for PRG-AMS-BOS a month ago, for June. So to me, North-America to KEF does not differ from any other European city. Did I get it wrong?