Originally Posted by
ClaesJ
ALSO, large decreases in MQM for several Skyteam partner airlines, including KE where MQM on low business went to 75% and and economy to 50%. With those changes in mind, any recommendations for best Skyteam program for someone who is based in the US but flies a lot on non-DL Skyteam member airlines? FB seems like the redemption rates are too awful. Is Alitalia the best choice?
I think so. Based on redemption and earning rates. It's also easier to get status on Alitalia: basically only one transatlantic flight in Premium Economy on Alitalia (or possibly mix Air France - Alitalia) will get you upgraded to Ulisse, if that matters to you. ^
Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
If you go with the AZ FF program, you need to deal with AZ to book and change award tickets. Also, Italian law apparently requires that AZ "sunset" the program and start fresh every few years. This just happened; there's a thread on this strange custom somewhere here on FT.
The law requires only the program itself to be four years in length, at which point another four year program is started. Italian law is silent on actual expiry of the miles. They miles will expire, as in other programs like Flying Blue, if you don't fly at all in a certain amount of time.
The whole point of being a member in a FF program is that you are a frequent flyer, and hence you wouldn't be hoarding miles past four years in the first place.