Originally Posted by
ijgordon
I think it's a function of both AF raising it's price and DL not having any true F of its own to offer AF's frequent fliers. Without anything to "trade" it's a one-sided negotiation. AF can charge DL whatever it wants, and DL can either choose to pay or not. You'd think that DL could just charge its members more miles for an F ticket to compensate for the additional cash required to pay AF, but I guess they chose not to do this.
If DL had its own F to barter in exchange for AF F, then the only cash settlement would be the amount by which redemptions on AF F by SkyMiles members exceed redemptions on DL F by FlyingBlue members. And that would be more palatable.
Oh, and I don't think that SQ F costs more than AF F. While I don't believe they compete directly on any nonstop routes (SQ doesn't appear to fly CDG-SIN), I'm pretty sure super-long-hauls in F on most top-tier carriers go for ~$15K r/t.
I thought about the "no First Class to trade" theory, but that one doesn't hold a lot of water either. For years, Air France and Korean Air LInes First Class awards were available, while Delta only offered BusinessElite. Further, Concorde awards were available on AF. To the best of my knowledge, Delta never offered SST service on their own metal
If AF only wanted to charge Delta more for the awards, Delta could have simply just increased the mileage requirement for AF First Class awards (at the end of the day, SkyMiles
do represent money).
Actually, for grins, I just looked at prices on a route where they
do compete - JFK-SIN. For travel on the same days, AF wants over $16K for First Class, while SQ only wants $12K. On another route where they compete (CDG-SIN), AF wants $14K while SQ only wants $10.5K.
Having flown both (but not AF's NTC First Class or SQ's new First Class, I'd definitely say that SQ has a superior product to AF.