I know there have been earlier discussions about this but I'm still confused. What exactly is a SkyTeam-coded flight and how do you know at time of booking if it IS SkyTeam coded? NW says "Earn miles on all SkyTeam-coded, Alitalia-operated flights, Air France-operated flights, Czech-operated flights" etc. But if not booking through NW how do you know the flight you book is SkyTeam coded?

I am booking an air inclusive tour that uses Alitalia, Air France and Czech (all members of SkyTeam) and want to make sure I get my miles and EQM's. I have no way of knowing what flavor of these airlines I might end up on. From ATL I could end up on DL operated but AF coded, or just AF coded and AF operated. From other US points of origin I could end up with all sorts of combinations of coding and operations.

Are there situations where SkyTeam airlines would operate a non SkyTeam coded flight and if so what might that be? I believe that the metal you fly on has to be part of SkyTeam to earn miles, no matter what the coding, but are there other situations where flying SkyTeam metal would not earn WP miles and EQM? Can an airline like Alitalia or Air France operate their own coding and metal across the pond independent of the SkyTeam arrangement....in other words not earning WP miles and EQM?

The NW website seems a bit vague on all of this.