RobertS975

Air Europa (UX), COPA and Kenya AW (KQ) are finally Skyteam associate members. Here is the Skyteam link:

http://www.skyteam.com/EN/aboutSkyte...r/pr030907.jsp

All three carriers have the ST logo on their respective websites. CO has obviously been closely affiliated with COPA for years, and has had codeshares with UX for a long while as well.

dvs7310

Yes, but the previous codeshare with UX required paper tickets, I just tried to do one in June and CO said that e-ticketing wasn't an option at the time (actually bought the ticket in March). I ended up just buying the CO ticket to MAD and found the UX ticket on a french travel site for 8 euros from MAD to BCN that was an e-ticket and earned 100% EQMs on CO. It made no sense, any UX ticket at the time from any of the US based website required a paper ticket, but the spanish and french websites could issue e-tickets.

I would assume the paper ticket issue has been resolved now if they are formally Skyteam carriers... I think electronic ticketing is a requirement for membership.

pbarnette

So... The obvious questions:

When can we start earning and burning on KQ? And, do I want to?

Eyeing a trip to Africa next year, and they would obviously expand my options.

sbm12

In theory immediately, though on the SkyTeam forum someone had some trouble with DL seeing the KQ systems yesterday. And my understanding, again from the SkyTeam forum, is that their J product is top notch, so they are definitely a viable option for travel within/to Africa.

Not surprisingly, CO hasn't updated the website to reflect the new partners yet

pbarnette

I did a little research. From what I can gather, it sounds like the EU-NRB flights feature flat bed seats in J. Some grumbling about the food, though. And ground ops in Africa sound like a mess, but I would assume that KL and AF use the same ground personnel, so it probably doesn't matter who you fly.

Now, if anyone has first-hand experience, would love to hear it.

ToddDeck

Having KQ in makes using miles to get to pricey and unbelievably beautiful Seychelles (SEZ) a great value. Tickets to SEZ can be extortionately priced. Last year we redeemed 25,000 each for an intra-Africa award on NW to get there via KQ from NBO, glad its an option on CO now as well. Its a great way to end a jaunt in or around Kenya.

channa

If it hasn't been resolved yet, it is imminent. I'm not sure it's a requirement for joining, but it's a requirement to remain as part of the alliance. There's probably some time period they have to set it up.

btw, what's wrong with paper tickets? I would much rather be on one paper ticket than two e-tickets if I'm connecting.

sbm12

Try the SkyTeam forum. A fair number of discussions there, including this one. Or just ask over there and a few others will probably chime in.

dvs7310

Paper tickets are an issue if you want to do a mileage upgrade just after purchasing the ticket. CO told me that they can't process a mileage upgrade until the tickets are issued, which in the paper ticket case was several days after making the purchase. Since 2 legs of my trip had inventory of F1 it wasn't worth the risk to wait several days to get my ticket numbers when I can have the upgrade applied within minutes on an e-ticket.

nzqjyb

That isn't right and didn't have so much to do with SkyTeam membership, they have had agreeements outside of the team.

I had to do paper tickets for CDG to AGP on UX and back AF codeshare of a UX flight only because I bought it last year for travel this past July 2007 and while CO had an interline eTicketing agreement with UX in place early in 2007 AGP wasn't considered an eTicketable site by around March 2007. I would periodically call to check the progress and I had a very nice person in IAH E PC call up the eTicket desk around June 2007 and convert all my legs back to eTicket from paper, four total SFO-CDG RT as well, and we were both surprised it went so well. She actually resisted at first and another red coat said they had never heard of someone converting paper to eTicket only doing eTicket to paper. However, I had done my homework with customer care and the eTicket desk and had PC staff call them while I took a shower and it was all ready when I got back to the desk.

This should be more common as IATA's requirement for full eTicketing worldwide by EOY pushes through.

sbm12

IATA requirement is May 31, 2008. SkyTeam has targeted EoY for intra-alliance tickets. The last barrier was SU and they received the clearance they need from the Russian government to make that feasible in March.

The second link there addresses the associates' entry and their IET requirements, and notes that they will be working to get it completed prior to the May deadline.

Xyzzy

I can attest to the fact that SU flights can now be e-ticketed. I can also personally attest to the fact that SU has had some issues understanding the intricacies of such tickets. I hope by now they have worked through that.

dvs7310

That's just what I was told by the CO agent. Since the UX ticket on the other website was only about 8 euros, it really wasn't worth it to me to argue about it. The risk of losing my upgrade opportunity was a far bigger priority than getting CO to issue an interline eticket to me.