I will be curious to see how CO implements this program:

http://www.skyteam.com/EN/aboutSkyte...r/pr141108.jsp

SKYTEAM LAUNCHES MILEAGE UPGRADE PROGRAM
Alliance passengers can now use miles from one program to upgrade on flights operated by another member


November 13, 2008 � SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, today announced the launch of the SkyTeam Mileage Upgrades program. SkyTeam Frequent Flyers on international flight itineraries can now use their miles to upgrade to Business class on most SkyTeam member airlines.

�The ability to earn and redeem miles has always been a key passenger benefit of alliances,� said Leo van Wijk, SkyTeam chairman. �With the launch of SkyTeam Mileage Upgrades, we are responding to passenger requests as we look to continuously expand upon the benefits we offer our customers.�

To take advantage of SkyTeam Mileage Upgrades, passengers must:

Purchase an international, published, full fare Economy class reservation on one of the 10 participating SkyTeam member airlines. The flight must be marketed and operated by the same SkyTeam carrier, as code-share flights are not permitted.
Call the award reservation line of their frequent flyer program at least three days in advance of departure to verify eligibility, check account balance and confirm if upgrade seats are available. At the current time, all requests must be made via telephone. The number of miles necessary for an upgrade varies based on the frequent flyer program to be debited and the itinerary. Passengers should visit their frequent flyer program Web site and consult the individual award charts for approximations.
If the passenger is eligible, has the necessary miles in their account and upgrade seats are available, the award reservation agents will debit their frequent flyer account and reissue the tickets with the upgrade confirmed.
For example, an Air France-KLM Flying Blue member traveling on Delta Air Lines from Paris to Atlanta on a full fare economy class ticket can use 25,000 miles from their Flying Blue account for a one-way upgrade to Business class. Once at the airport, the Flying Blue member can enjoy all of the additional benefits of Business class travel, such as additional luggage allowances, priority services and lounge access.

For full terms and conditions, and details of each alliance members� participation in the SkyTeam Mileage Upgrade program, passengers should visit their frequent flyer program Web site.

This is the first phase of the SkyTeam Mileage Upgrade program. The alliance will use feedback from and results of phase one to improve future phases of the offer, including expanded criteria for eligible flights, the inclusion of Associate-operated flights and the ability to make and confirm requests online.

About SkyTeam
SkyTeam is the global airline alliance partnering eleven members, including Aeroflot, Aerom�xico, Air France, Alitalia, China Southern, Continental Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines, and three Associate Airlines: Air Europa, Copa Airlines (Panama) and Kenya Airways. SkyTeam offers its 462 million annual passengers a worldwide system of more than 16,700 daily flights covering 905 destinations in 169 countries.

www.skyteam.com.

Actually, it is already on CO.com:

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...e/skyteam.aspx

OnePass members can use their miles to upgrade to First or Business Class on international flight itineraries on any SkyTeam member airline effective Nov. 3, 2008.

Member must have an international published full fare economy class booking.
Valid only on Air France, Delta Air Lines, KLM and Northwest.
Code-share flights are not permitted. Flights eligible for upgrades include those marketed and operated by the same airline code.
Eligible itineraries must include at least one international country-to-country flight operated by a SkyTeam member airline. Associate-operated flights are excluded.
One-class upgrades are available on a roundtrip or a one-way basis.
Upgrades must be requested at least three days in advance of departure. For upgrades on KL-operated flights, tickets are to be reissued 10 days in advance of departure. If the upgrade is confirmed 9 to 4 days prior to departure, tickets are to be reissued 1 day prior to departure.
Mileage redemption levels are determined by the member's frequent flyer program where the mileage will be debited.
Multiple Frequent Flyer Program upgrade awards on one itinerary are not permitted.
Multiple airlines within one upgrade award are permitted, so long as the itinerary involves at least one international country-to-country flight.
No Waitlist or Standby at the airport.
Paper tickets are not permitted. All tickets must be issued as e-tickets on a SkyTeam or SkyTeam Associate airline's ticket stock.
Mileage upgrades are subject to availability.
To Request SkyTeam Mileage Upgrade Rewards

For SkyTeam Mileage Upgrade Rewards on any participating SkyTeam member airline call the Continental Partner Desk. Within the 50 U.S. call: 800.344.3333 (7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. M-F Central Time), outside the U.S. call: 801.359.9719 (7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. M-F Central Time).

I can't see this new program being terribly popular.

It does make it easier to grab biz class when folks are mandated on coach to Europe by their employers.

I think this is a reaction to a sign of the times. Companies are making employees travel in coach (although they can travel in full Y fares) - then they have to use their miles to upgrade. I suppose business class travel is down.

CO did not have a copay on full Y for mileage upgrade.

This program has been in the works for a while now getting up and running. I'm glad to see that SkyTeam sees the hole in their system and is moving to patch it, but they are barely scratching the surface.

For folks who are on coach-only travel restrictions, odds are they are not on full Y budgets, so I'm not sure this helps them very much at all.

Doesn't help me too much, that's for sure.

Drat...I was all excited there for a minute.

Agree - I do not see how useful this is - as BF is many times cheaper than full Y.

RT Examples:

EWR-LHR in BF = $2404 + 205 = $2609 (BF R Class comes up) Jan 21 return 28

EWR-LHR in Y = $3568 + 145 = $3713 (Coach Y Class) Jan 21 return 28

Full Y needs miles to upgrade as well.

Yep, many companies not only dictate travel in economy, but at the lowest price too. It's really not much of a help to be able to upgrade from full Y when you can't purchase full Y to begin with � or, as also noted, business or first class is available on a discounted fare that's less than full Y.

I want to believe that an H fare would be applicable too. This reads awfully similar to the way WP members can get an upgrade on CO, i.e. buy a Y or H fare ticket and use only miles for the upgrade (no co-pay).

I wouldn't bet on it.

It is also interesting that they are restricting redemption to only through the partner desk rather than through the regular reward reservations queue.

So apparently, it's only on Full Y fares and no others? bummer.

So does this trump (or replace) the upgrade process for OnePass miles on NW flights? That upgrade (specifically AMS-DET, MSP or Nashville) was one of the best deals around.

FWIW
DLM

Well this isnt very impressive considering you have to be in Full Fare Economy. And like many others, I wont benefit from this "new" benefit of SkyTeam. On a side note, we (OnePassers) are moving to *A in about 9-10 months so it doesnt really make a difference. BTW- how does the upgrade system work on Star Alliance? Will we also have to be booked in full fare Y to use miles for upgrades??

Well the *A program is optional but its a little better than the new ST program. UA started using it at first but it was a complete cluster to use it then they stopped... it was supposed to stop only temporarily but it never has returned... interesting other *A programs can upgrade on UA flights but UA MP members can't upgrade other *A flights other than LH.

Hopefully CO opts into the *A program. Its available on the top 2 Y fares rather than just full Y... its been a while since I looked since UA stopped offering it but LO used to offer really good B fares to Europe in comparison to the other members. They have a new C class that doesn't look too bad, certainly no worse than CO BF.

I find this new ST program to be a bit weak too since its only Y fares and for CO its only really adding AF & DL... we've been able to upgrade NW and KL tickets for a while now.