It is the same. I tried for a 120,000 mileage award (business to India.) I have got a combo of Tus to JFK via SLC on Delta, then Emirates from JFK to BOM, and return on DL from BOM to FRA, then to AMS on KLM , then CO to EWR and TUS. Emirates was not available on the return but the bottom line is that you can use any combo of airlines on these awards. I guess this is the advantage of SKYTEAM. The disadvantage is that awards on NW have increased from 80,000 in WBC to 100,000 ( to Europe) for example.