Utskicat

So I got this trip booked today. It took hours but worked out in the end. I wanted to share the process for anyone else looking to do this.

To recap, I was able to find a Y class RT fare on CI for JFK-AKL (via TPE-BNE) for $2649.35 USD. I first called DL. Their instructions for using SkyTeam Mileage upgrade on CI flights (or any SkyTeam Upgrade) is to book the flights directly with Delta. They will then immediately process the upgrade to Business and reissue the ticket. This was surprising to me because I wansn't sure how DL could issue a ticket using a CI fare. (I had already looked extensively on EF, there were no Delta fares that had CI routings.) I kept saying that it only made sense that I book the Y ticket directly with CI and then call Delta back (as has been mentioned in other posts here). Every DL agent was SURE this would not work because their system can "only" access AF and KL pnrs. After almost 2 hours on the phone (the agent was great, she was slowly starting to side with my logic when she realized there were no DL fares with CI routings and became persistent with various other support desks). She finally found some small department called "Skyteam Upgrades" and spoke with someone there that verified the process 1) Book with CI directly, needs to be CI ticket stock, and must be Y segments, no code shares, and Y fare basis. 2) Call DL back. DL will book I class (she checked my flights for I class first, it was all available, even though O (award space) was not. 3) She said most DL agent's have no clue about Skyteam Mileage Upgrade and claim its not possible. She said to tell agent when I call back just to contact the Skyteam Mileage Upgrade Dept at internal extension 300-8743, that only they can pull the CI ticket, create a DL ghost PNR and reissue into Business.

Armed with this info, I called CI in LAX. Side note...currently the china-airlines.com website does not offer any full Y fares. It only offers fulll PE fares (W) which are not eligible for Skyteam Upgrade.

Called CI and within about 20 mins had the exact itinerary and fare I found on EF and fared in ITA Matrix in Y class. Got CI PNR and CI Ticket No.

Called Delta back (Elite line), explained very concisely to the agent my last few hours and quoted the internal extension number for the Skyteam Upgrades dept. She very politely stated that upgrading CI flights was not possible and that there was no such department or extension. I also politely asked her to please attempt the extension. She came back on about 3 mins later and stated that she would be transferring me to the Upgrade agent, that this was a "new process" she was not aware of.

I relayed this to the lady at Skyteam Upgrades and she said its nothing new and no body knows how to contact them. She said that their number is very clearly listed in all internal documentation in how to process a Skyteam Upgrade, but agents get the terms "Skyteam Upgrade" and "Skymiles Upgrade" confused or don't search for the info correctly.

She had me upgraded and reissued in under 5 minutes.

As soon as she completed the upgrade, a DL PNR immediately appeared in "My Trips" in delta.com. The trip showed all of the CI segments, showed CI fare info, but when reissued was reissued with 006 ticket number. She said she did get a confirmed HK response from CI/amadeus that the I class segments were validated. I'm crossing my fingers she was right. (I have high hopes, when I booked the Y ticket with CI, the CI agent also confirmed she could see I class open for all of my flights.

I then called CI back to reserve seats. On their end, they only saw the original 279 ticket in Y and the Y segments, but said when other airlines make changes on shared control PNRs, it can take overnight until it updates. I logged into Amadeus checkmytrip and saw same thing...still the original ticket. I will check again in the morning.

Followup notes:
1) EF cannot pull I class for CI. (which is their Business class upgrade inventory). I assumed that I class would mirror O class (award Business) which EF does report. In talking to both DL and CI, I found many flights that had O class sold out, still had I class available.
2) CI has a 48 hour risk free cancellation policy for flight departing USA...BUT ONLY IF BOOKED on their website. Since I booked directly with their ticket office, there was no free cancellation (since they will hold for 7 days before ticketing subject to fare change if you desire).
3) I mentioned not being able to book a full Y fare on CI's website. CI said this was odd and they would open a ticket with their IT/Rev Mgmt teams.
4) All of CI's full Y fares are refundable but have a $100 USD fee to refund. I found this very strange for a full Y fare. I mentioned this to the CI agent, she said they moved to this fee for full fares a few years ago.

After all of this I'm pretty happy. Since these are CI flights in Y, I will get about 27,000 MQMs for next year. And over 60 hours of CI Business class flying in the A350 for $2650 + 60k (30k x 2) miles seems like a deal.

Lastly, after I was all done, I realized I booked AKL-TPE a day early by accident. Yep. I'm a looser. I have no idea how fixing that will be, but its too late to call back tonight. I guess it gives us another data point I can report back here!

Thansk to @RealHJ for all of the help in previous posts!