Originally Posted by
transportbiz
As to partner's charging high fees for award tickets, (I assume you are referring to AF) get ready because LH does exactly the same thing, and now you won't have the option of KL to get around it. You won't have any options with LH running or owning nearly all the European *A carriers.
Not exactly. OP will still allow much lower cost (in miles and $$$) award bookings to be made ex-EU than DL.
True that AF charge very high taxes/fees on awards.
But the real issue is DL's hated "International Origination Surcharge" which applies even on their own metal. If you look at the data I provided in the case study link, you'll see the effect this has on total costs of award tickets. DL are way out of line with other US carriers. AF itins using DL miles are compounded by their own taxes, but if using SM, the DL IOS still applies...how about up to $600 per ticket for Y redemption in bogus taxes and fees?
As for Star and LH, maybe LH charge similarly, but CO redemptions will still allow CO metal to be used without the bogus fees ex-EU. Probably US and UA metal too. So OP is a much higher performing program from that perspective.