Asmara

I've read the FAQs and reviewed the fare class chart listed there, but find myself still somewhat confused.

The ticket I want (STL-ATL-AMS-JNB-AMS-MEM-STL) is available on nwa.com as a "V/COACH" fare class. Dates Dec 1-8. Flights are operated by NW, DL and KLM.

But according to Delta's MQM calculator page(https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...ions/index.jsp) these V class tickets do not earn MQMs on Delta, Northwest or KLM. I've been earning EQMs for years with V tickets.

Confused, I called NWA's elite line (I'm Platinum) and after much research was told: If I book the ticket on nwa.com and it is assigned an NWA e-ticket number, then I will earn MQMs for the V fare. If booked via Delta or travel agent and if assigned a Delta e-ticket number, then the V fare does NOT earn MQMs!

Has anyone else confirmed this? This is a terrible development if Delta will no longer award MQMs for V fares. I've flown 80k on these fares the past couple of years.

Sorry if this has been discussed, but I could not find it under FAQs or by searching.

mnbp

Go back to the https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...ions/index.jsp link, and scroll all the way down the page. At the bottom, you will see Northwest Airlines, and the fare classes that earn miles on NW-coded flights.

If the flight you book is identified as "NW nnnn", then the NW codes apply. Or at least that's how I understand it. So, if you book a NW or DL or KL-metal flight, but the flight is sold to you as flight number NW nnnn, then the fare classes listed under the heading Northwest Airlines apply. V is listed, so miles and MQM miles will be awarded.

Confusingly, the first occurrence of Northwest Airlines on this web page applies if the ticket is sold for a flight operated by Northwest Airlines but with a DL nnnn flight number. Tickets sold on nwa.com usually (always???) are sold with NW nnnn flight numbers.

Asmara

Thanks MNBP! You're right, I scrolled down and saw the conditions at the very end for NW ticketed flights. I hope DL changes this by the time NW-coded tickets cease being sold. The agent today thought nwa.com will be closed around March 2010. Thanks again.

mnbp

There really isn't anything *to* change. This is how I understand this works....

Referring again to https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...ions/index.jsp, look at coach classes listed for Delta on Delta flights, and for Northwest on Northwest flights (the first and the last listed on this page):

DL: Y, B, M - then - H, Q, K, L, U, T
NW: Y, B - then - M, H, Q, V, S, K, T, L

These letters signify price categories - from high to low - for the tickets each airline sell. Both use the same letter for their most expensive and unrestricted ticket - "Y". But, as you go down towards the cheaper classes, the letters each airline use happen to be different. Doesn't mean anything other than that.

Had you booked "DL nnnn" flights, the DL fare codes would have been used (from high to low) to price your ticket. Generally, the only fares that the airline.com web sites sell are "published" fares, which are fares where they also award miles. The other letters of the alphabet can be used to represent "unpublished" fares - fares available through a consolidator, an "opaque seller", or a special contract, or are just not used by that airline.

So, the fact that Delta doesn't use the letter "V" to represent a discounted coach fare bucket means nothing. Had you priced those flights as "DL nnnn" flights, Delta would not have presented you with a "V" fare - it would have been one of the letters Delta does use - like "K" or "L" or whatever.