Originally Posted by
passioninlife77
Recently started flying Skyteam due to government carrier rules. I have not flown any Sky Team airline in over a decade. Please help me decide if I should do Delta Skymiles or Flying Blue.
(1) What is most important to you in a FFP?
Reply: Lounge access, possibility of upgrade
(2) How many miles do you usually fly each year & in what class? How many flights/sectors?
Reply: 30k-50k miles a year, approximately 12 flights
(3) What types of fares do you usually buy ?
Reply: Full-fare economy for work (government travel), varies for pleasure but mostly economy.
(4) Can you choose your airlines and/or class of service? Do you travel for work and/or pleasure?
Reply: Sometimes. Work travel is mostly restricted to contract carriers, but I have had good luck with cost construct fares and flying preferred airlines.
(5) Which routes do you fly most often
Reply: domestic US, some Europe, mostly East Africa.
(6) What is your home airport?
Reply: IAD/DCA
(7) Do you have FFP status of any kind in an airline? What is it? Do you have any miles banked in a FFP?
Reply: Yes. Premier 1K on United for the past 9 years. Not many miles banked because I am pretty good at using the accrued miles.
(8) Preferred Airlines
Reply: United, Turkish, Austrian, maybe KLM.
(3) Assuming that this is federal government travel, are you sure that you generally will use YCA fares and not HCA? The main difference is last seat availability, which would suggest that the flights are being booked at the last minute. At least some agencies discourage the more expensive YCA fares unless they're necessary for the mission.
(1) For free elite upgrades on domestic DL flights, all DL elites are prioritized above all FB (AF/KLM) and other eligible partner elites. However, depending on routes and day of week/time of day, I wouldn't expect a Gold (50,000 status miles level) to get many upgrades to domestic FC. C+ (extra legroom seats at the front of coach with free drinks) are more likely, especially if you're willing to accept a middle seat and the ticket isn't issued at the very last minute.
To attempt to answer some of the questions asked above, yes, DL government fares earn full FF credit and are eligible for elite benefits.
For foreign trips, DL marketed flights would be allowed, so the the government traveler is allowed to fly on KLM, AM, AF, KE etc. operated flights provided that a DL flight number (codeshare) is used.