I had been trying to book an award DL TATL segment (in Y) connecting to a partner intra-Europe segment.

No low inventory on the TATL segment (not surprising since it is on DL metal). And, as we know, partner awards are available only in low, and the intra-Europe leg was available. It priced as two separate awards -- a Mid TATL (95K) plus an intra-Europe award (25K? can't remember exactly, and don't remember whether YQ was added). So insult to injury: a mid TATL award and more miles for onward travel.

Seems a little crazy. Shouldn't low be a "lesser included award" and included in and controlled by the High/Mid award? Especially since you can't ask to have the the intra-EUR leg priced as Mid (to match the TATL mid). (You can't do this for two reasons: Partner Award travel is only on the partner's code and not the DL shared code (so no chance of DL codeshare mid award) and there are no partner mid or high awards).

I know DL has no incentive to change this and won't. (And pardon if this is old news -- tried to search but couldn't come up with good search terms to describe).

I know, I know: redeem the TATL award and buy the partner intra-EUR flight. I did. But now I'm at the risk for a misconnect. And who knows how the baggage-check-through game will turn out.

Just thought I'd share.

Why are you even wasting your time looking for delta tatl? Just try partners@:-)

BC low TATL partner awards for the summer don't really exist at this point, especially for many passengers/family. Also, my example was to Spain, with onward travel on Air Europa. I think DL is better than UX for TATL and no TATL UX awards available in any event.

DL low and DL medium/high can be mixed. However, partner flights cannot be booked under a medium or high fare basis. Thus, you get a fare break if your DL flight is not at low and you try to add a partner flight. This is not unique to DL. AA AAnytime awards must include only AA flights. If you try to add a partner flight, you'll pay the SAAver rate for it plus the AAnytime rate for the AA flights.

This is probably a really stupid question but how does a DL Medallion member book award flights with a Skyteam partner ? Specifically from MSP to ZRH or FRA?

Do I go to the partners website to book? Do I need to be a member of that partner's program?

Anyone with SkyMiles needs to either use DL.dumb or call DL to book a ticket using SkyMiles. Some partners (AF, KL, KE, VA, AM, AS, HA, and hopefully still AZ) are bookable online. The others require a phone call. The award calendar only considers DL flights, so it's possible there's low space on a day that's yellow/blue. You have to click through to find out.

+1

Try the sticky.

You likely have to call.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...er-thread.html

The trick to getting a ticket in low is to call in and get a good agent. I need to be honest with you. There are so many partners and if you don't care about direct flights you can easily get low rewards. From what i can understand delta prefers that you book partners because they barely pay them anything too.