maverikbc

I'm planning an itinerary CDG-sea-ams non stop in y. My ticket that I'm considering buying seems like a DL marketed. I guess there's no difference in mileage accruals among 3, because non DL flights are labeled with DL# with words 'operated by'? I went to airFrance.com, it was a lot more expensive than Delta and OTA. I should check KLM.com, as mileage accruals would be much better if it was AF or KL marketed (25% of distance vs amount of € spent)?

Last winter, I got upgraded to comfort+ days ahead on DL tatl, is it still the case? The flights that I am considering, seem like all 777.

What kind of upgrade can we expect with AF and KL as a medallion silver?

I guess the catering in y is the best with AF?

TIA!

remyontheroad

Of course you never know what craziness can happen, but I'd put the chance of an upgrade for you at about as close to zero as you can get, unfortunately.
(There are no complimentary upgrades TATL - your only chance is an OpUp - oversell and you'd be pretty far down on the list)

There is no C+ on AF/KL planes - there is going to be a premium economy cabin, but that's a separate class of service and not something you can get a free upgrade to.

One thing to think about though - that's been frustrating to me in recent years - is that the AF/KL 777s were all changed to 10 across.
I'm not that big, but I have pretty broad shoulders and in the summer when every seat is filled, that makes it a very tight squeeze.

I've jumped through some hoops to to avoid them and it's getting harder and harder to do.

bennos

KL offers a duplicate of C+ called Economy Comfort, a term you may have heard before since Delta used to call C+ "Economy Comfort". KL does not offer premium economy.

AF offers "Seat Plus", which isn't a separate section so much as "good Y seats" like exit rows. AF offers Premium Economy.

That said, I agree that OP as a Silver has just slightly above a 0 chance of any sort of upgrade on either KL or AF, and I further agree that 10 across on the AF/KL 777 is to be avoided. Which one is better for mileage accrual will depend on the actual fare, but in either case is likely to be disappointing.

NHFL9

I find the Y catering to be much better on AF than DL but otherwise agreed with the rest of the comments here.

hi55us

So for CDG/AMS-SEA I would go purely based on aircraft type. You're gonna be in the air for 10+ hours in Y, so I would go with Delta and snag a "preferred" exit row seat for free at booking (assuming they're available right now). Right now it looks like Delta is flying the 777 on SEA-CDG (which still has 3-3-3 in Y) and the A330 SEA-AMS (which has 2-4-2 in Y). I would try and stick with the A330 where possible and try and grab a preferred seat towards the front of the plane.

CarmenOM

pbarnette

hotturnip

There is no difference in mileage accrual as long as all the flights are sold to you by DL as an 006 ticket. It sounds as if the DL options are much cheaper, so that's the way you're going to go.

Myself, if the flights were roughly the same price, I'd check to see what specific seats were available. Both the A330 and 777 mentioned above have rows near the back where the plane narrows and a seat is dropped from the row. I'd go with whatever flight allowed me into that "niche" seat, where the aisle suddenly widens. If you manage to get yourself into the section of seats that is actually reduced, you can score a huge gap between yourself and the actual aisle. This means people aren't bumping into you,and you can extend your feet off to the side. You also get extra underseat storage.

Otherwise, I'd choose AF based on the soft product between SEA and CDG, and no real preference for the other.

PV_Premier

one consideration, on AF metal, there are sometimes opportunities for relatively low-cost cash upgrades. similarly, out of AMS, there are opportunities for upgrades with miles or $$ on KLM/DL metal.

ncwillett

I second this. I find exit row often has more legroom than C+, and sometimes the exit row only has 2 seats instead of 3. You probably already know this, but as there are usually 2 rows of exit seating, one directly in front of the other, always take the row furthest back. The more forward exit row won't have reclining seats, but the one behind it will. You don't want to be stuck on a TATL flight in a seat that doesn't recline!

maverikbc

Thanks for all the tips! I'll be traveling end of summer, so I m expecting y cabins won't be as full as now.

There are some conflicting reports here on y food and medallion silver's perk to be able to upgrade to comfort+ on tatl. I don't find DL food bad, so I guess I should take DL metals, but not maybe out of my way, AF/KL will be ok if DL has inconvenient schedule. I ll surely check out the seat maps.

SDQBound

In theory yes, in practice getting C+ as a Silver can be very challenging on the return flight. The flights go to departure control before OP can select a C+ seat, which makes it very difficult afterwards.

Spent 4 years as a Silver and got at least 1 TATL OpUp per year departing from CDG on AF, usually during the summer, while FB plats didn't. On the other hand, as a Gold or Platinum never saw them. AF / KL opup algorithm remains a mistery, since status doesn't seem to be one of the top criteria.

These "opportunities" are becoming a thing of the past. There's an ongoing thread about this on the AF/KL forum.

Delta Dude

MarkCron

Hmm, I may lok into this. But a couple questions.
For ex-USA, does ticket need to be AF/KL, or can I buy DL marketed AF/KL operated.
If I buy AF/KL marketed/ticketed, are MQD/MQM any different? For ex - a $1000 one way from DTW-AMS or DTW-CDG would earn how many MQD/MQM?
Thanks

ryanm

As others have pointed out, the upgrade to C+ for SMs is virtually meaningless on flights exEU, since at precisely the time the upgrade should go through the flight is handed over to the airport, yet by the time you actually arrive at the gate to talk to someone the seats will be taken.

BUT the chances of a SM getting an OPUP on AF metal are not, in fact, 0. I had one as SM from CDG-JFK a few years ago. Now that I've been PM for a couple years haven't gotten a tatl one since, but a few intra-EU ones. So while the OP should in no way expect an OPUP it's simply not the case that a SM on an AF TATL has zero shot at it.