Originally Posted by STLSpidey

With apologies to the world of talk radio - long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm heading to India and the Philippines in October and am trying to maximize SkyTeam miles, as I'm a Delta Platinum. I'm limited in that my first stop must be Chennai (MAA). There is no Skyteam flight from outside India direct to Chennai that I've found. Since flights to India typically arrive evening or middle of the night, going to DEL or BOM or BLR and changing planes adds considerable time.

It seems like my best option for SkyTeam to Chennai is Delta from STL to ATL to DXB and then Emirates to MAA. I'm ending up in Delhi, so I can take China Southern from DEL through CAN to MNL, and then Delta home on a number of routes. Thus all routes net me Delta miles except for the DXB-MAA route.

I guess I'm looking for input on two topics. First, does anyone know of a better Skyteam way to get to Chennai? Second, with a connect time in Dubai of 75 minutes, what are thoughts on the risk of checked bags? It's a 15 day trip and, even with hotel laundry, a carry-on is pushing it. I've had good luck with checked baggage on prior similar trips, but I've never changed carriers and I don't know DXB.

Thanks.