<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by heckler:
Does the addition of CO and NW mean that upgrades will soon be available on them? Surely, by "becoming Skyteam members" they have to align their awards, etc with the other members..</font>
SkyTeam members do not align their awards.
For example, you can upgrade on Delta flights but you can't on any of the European partners. An Alitalia FF can get a TLV-JFK flight for 50,000 miles but Air France and Delta require their members to pay 80,000.
Nor are earning miles the same. None of the European partners have MQM's -- all of their members get 1 mile for each mile flown (but none for flights within their own countries).
Most frustrating for me as a GM is that Alitalia allows its elite members into special VIP rooms but does not allow Delta elites into them. (Elite Plus members are allowed into all VIP rooms.)
Oddly, the exception to this last rule is in TLV, where AF and AZ elites, and Delta GMs, are allowed into the VIP room.