Originally Posted by OLYflyer

I just booked SFO-LAX-ICN-MEL in J on KE including the A380 (LAX-ICN) for Jan 2012 for me & Ms. Olyflyer. I'm looking forward to trying the all-J upper deck. Have flown KE J before and was very satisfied.


Booked the return on VA in J MEL-LAX-SFO. Total tickets cost if purchased would be over $28,000 vs. 150k Skypesos each x2.



I have found the #1 way to enjoy your Skymile redemptions is to NOT even consider redeeming for DL metal.

Here is my rankings of DL redemption partners based on my research (now you just need to decide where you want to go and look for availability):

1. V Australia (LAX-BNE,MEL,SYD)
2. Korean Air (many destinations via many US gateways incl A380 via LAX/JFK)
3. Malaysian Air (LAX-KUL and then SE Asia via fuel stop in TPE)
4. Jet Airways (EWR, JFK, YYZ to BRU and then to many Indian destinations)
5. Kingfisher (only from LON to India and beyond - good to combine with many of the new ex-US - LHR routes i.e. MIA, MCO, BOS where there is actually DL availability)
6. Air Tahiti Nui (LAX-PPT and then on to AKL - to my knowledge this is perhaps the only way to get to New Zealand using DL miles except for KE)
7. Hawaiian Air/Alaska (offer good domestic/Hawaii availability and HA offers a backdoor way to Australia with good availability + you can book via DL.com which saves some time)
8.-tie: Air France/ Alitalia/ Aeroflot/ China Eastern (good b/c you can check all of these via ExpertFlyer).

P.S. - If you're interested in South America look at KE for their LAX-Brazil route.