Youngtraveldude

Hi all, new to Delta (came from AA) and in the middle of a platinum status challenge. Family and I just moved to Amsterdam in January so Delta w/the status match was a logical choice for new airline. Anyway, I've got an upcoming trip to Australia next month. I've done some research on here and other places and know that Europe to Australia is a weak spot for Delta/Sky Team. Knowing that + some schedule constraints I have on my end, I'm looking at the best options to:

1) Make sure I fulfill the final piece of my status challenge (should only need ~5,500 EQMs by that point, so think this part will be easy/hard to not easily hit)
2) Maximize miles I earn
3) Be in a position to most easily upgrade from economy one or multiple of the segments using money or points (have Chase ultimate rewards so can transfer to some airlines if I need miles for an upgrade)

This is a work trip so need keep the cost of the ticket in line. My starting point is AMS and ultimately the destination is MEL. Not opposed to being creative and positioning to LHR or CDG (or something else close) or flying in/out of SYD if it helps. My date of departure is Sunday, May 5th and I need to arrive in Melbourne by Monday night the 6th (or very early Tuesday AM, less preferred). I'll then fly home from Melbourne on Tuesday, May 14th. I can be fairly flexible here but hoping I can fly back towards the end of the day so I can still get at least a partial work day on the ground in.

My initial research has led me to the following options:

AMS-MEL RT
KLM AMS-AUH 3,220 miles 789
Etihad AUH -MEL 7,240 miles 789
Return same
€1,200

or

AMS-MEL RT
KLM AMS-SIN 6,530 miles 777-300
Qantas SIN-SYD 3,910 miles A388
Garuda MEL-CGK 3,240 miles A330
Garuda CGK-AMS 7,050 miles 777
€1,200

Also see a similar option as #2 but flying Malaysia on the way back to KUL and then a long KUL to AMS on KLM, which is great for earning.

Obvious pro of longer KLM flights is full earning. Etihad zero earning but I get to fly Etihad (no idea on upgrades). 2nd option has me earn 3/4 flights. 100% for long KLM flight, zero for Qantas (but at least it's A380, maybe I can upgrade? Have a lot of AA miles) and earn 25-50% on Garuda.

Still have more research to do but thought I'd put this out there now and see if anyone has any initial thoughts or tips. It is a long way to go so while I would consider some positioning and inconvenience to earn more/fly better products, I do need to balance that with convenience (which I usually don't for flying )

Thanks in advance!

3Cforme

Focusing on that criterion your options for upgrades with DL miles (I don't believe you would have any GUCs) are quite limited. This is a relevant extract from the mileage upgrade page:

• For flights marketed and/or operated by Air France/KLM, Mileage Upgrade Awards may be used for a one-class upgrade when the paid fare class is Y, B, or M.
• For Air France-operated flights, Mileage Upgrade Awards are available from Economy to Premium Economy to Business only on transatlantic Joint Venture flights between U.S. cities and Paris (CDG and ORY).

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...d-more.html/#a

I you really want to get into the nuances of upgrades through other mechanisms on KLM, I point you to the AF KL FlyingBlue forum: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-...ying-blue-594/

mayhem

Agree on the above. If you have points that you can transfer to flying blue I recall the amounts for an upgrade with miles not being extremely high. You would need to confirm that you can still earn on DL, but I think you can.

With KLM you can also fly to DPS and do a low cost (e.g., Jet start) tourist flight from there. On the AMS-SIN-DPS maybe you can buy upgrades at the gate. CDG-SIN/CGK is also a great flight by AF, and same may apply there.

Other options to consider are KE and MU, and maybe even 9W (not sure if they fly to Australia though).

mot29

I know you are talking economy, but there are frequently some good business class fares from LHR/CDG/FRA/AMS to OZ/NZ using partners getting you the big MQD boosts and reasonably good MQM and base miles boosts.
A few years back I flew LHR-OZ via Vietnam on VN. Was able to build in a week in HAN -- total was about US$2300.
I watch these on google flights -- CI was offering CDG/FRA/AMS to OZ and NZ (NZ was actually cheaper) for $2300 or so and GA was about the same via DPS or CGK, but really long layovers.

Mwenenzi

SYD has more Skyteam airlines than MEL.
CI, GA, KE, MU, VN
Flights SYD MEL are a commuter run with flights every 15-30-45-60 minutes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTeam

The only way you will be to upgrade with QF is with your credit card at full retail fare difference or QF ff points (if flight is eligible). And as a mixed airline ticket that may not be possible. No cross ffp upgrades with AA ff miles on QF.

cauchy

How about London to Sydney, on a combination of VS + VA, connecting at HKG. That said, the 787 that VS flies is absolutely awful down the back...

EDIT: Another Aus destination, e.g. MEL, might work fine too

TomMM

Doesn't the challenge require that the flights be operated by DL?

cauchy

In which the OP will either need to schedule another trip to the US, or would have to route AMS-LAX-SYD. The problem is that this might require two tickets.

CPMaverick

MQM can be earned by any flights, DL, Skyteam, or partner, towards the DL Status Challenge. It's only if you are trying to qualify on MQS that the flights need to be on DL metal. So let's put that to bed and not cause unnecessary confusion.
In terms of the original post, yes Europe-Australia is a tough route for DL miles earning. It isn't because of a lack of Skyteam options, in fact 6 Skyteam airlines fly to Australia besides DL (Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, China Airlines, China Eastern, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Air). But earning on most of these partners is not great (KE is good now but they only fly to SYD, and ICN is a bit out of the way from Europe).

If you really want upgrade options, you gotta fly KLM. You can take KLM as far as DPS, but the SIN-DPS leg might not be worth the trouble.

I do NOT recommend flying the EY codeshare on a KLM ticket. First of all, if you are going to the trouble to upgrade, AMS-AUH is too short of a flight. There's almost no point if you fly 15 hours in Y afterwards. AUH is a crappy airport to connect in, and the EY 777 & 787 are a cramped mess. I've flown them both once. Never again, at least not long-haul. You might have it in your head that EY is a luxury airline... it is not the case in Y. If you can fly the EY A380, it isn't bad, but I don't think they fly it to MEL anymore.

Europe-Hong Kong is a highly competitive market, with prices often being quite low (even for J). You might consider flying KLM to HKG round trip, then VA HKG-MEL. This is the best balance of a single connection, MQM earning, and decent aircraft (well, the VA aircraft is nice. Not sure what KLM fly to HKG these days, but if you get the upgrade it'll be nice obviously). You can't do this on one ticket, but give yourself a half-day in HKG each way and it's a nice break from flying.

Youngtraveldude

Nope. I just need MQM earning of certain thresholds. So far for the challenge I've flown some KLM and some Delta last week for a US trip. For the challenge, I can fly any airline that I can earn Delta MQM on. If I fly any of the following I earn 100% EQM; AM, AF, AZ, MU, G3, KL, KE, 9W, VS, VA. If I fly any of the following I earn 25-50% EQM; China Southern, Garuda, Vietnam (only listed ones relevant for this trip). Even if I fly Garuda the whole way RT, I'd still probably get the MQM I need to satisfy my Platinum challenge. I doubt I'll fly enough this year to hit Diamond, so MQMs become less important. That said, always interested in earning more redeemable miles, of course.

Right now, I'm leaning towards AMS-SIN on KLM, SIN-MEL on Singapore, MEL-KUL on Malaysia, KUL-AMS on KLM. Both ways it's about as quick as you can get from AMS to MEL with no positioning (at times that work well for my schedule), has the long legs on KLM so good for MQM and earning (and maybe paid upgrades) and I get to fly Singapore Air. I'm going to play around with SYD and LHR now to see if I can find something better....I don't have the time to go through the US on the way there and on the way back it means I have to leave OZ on Tuesday morning, which doesn't allow me to do any work on the ground that day. Will report back with anything else I can find...

Youngtraveldude

Hi, booking a trip from AMS to Australia and looking at a KLM/Singapore & Malaysia/KLM routing. I'm crediting to Delta and know I won't earn anything on the Singapore & Malaysia legs. I'm ok with that given the KLM flights are long (AMS-SIN, KUL-AMS), so I'll earn full MQMs there + some % for miles earned (+ convenient flights for my schedule). I'm trying to figure out the % for the miles earned part, which I know comes down to the fare code.

Two questions:

1) While booking on KLM, for the AMS-SIN-MEL route, it says the travel class is X/Q. Does that mean it's X for leg 1 and Q for leg 2?
2) If so, I don't even see X class listed on the Delta partner earning page. Any ideas on if that means I earn zero for Delta or I missing something?

(Duplicate post merged into OP's earlier thread - 3Cforme - Delta Forum Moderator)
Thanks!

CPMaverick

VA and SQ are partners. You may be able to book SIN-MEL-HKG on one ticket, with SQ on the SIN-MEL bit and VA on the MEL-HKG bit. You still won't earn any MQM or miles on the SQ flight, but essentially in your itin above you'd replace KUL with HKG and Malaysia with VA. You still get to fly SQ but get a DL partner in the other direction.

Youngtraveldude

Thanks all, I'm making progress. I thought I had it narrowed down to 2 options:

OR

**Plus AMS-LHR RT positioning

Both are similar in flight duration both ways. Both have similar departure/arrival times. From an upgrades perspective, the KLM routing makes paid upgrades potentially feasible. For the VS/VA routing, it seems paid upgrades or mileage upgrades (could transfer Chase UR to VS) would be potentially possible as well and there is the Upgrademe Cash Bid option for VA. What's thrown a wrench into things now is that the KLM AMS-SIN routing is an X fare, meaning no MQM or mileage earning on Delta. A little more research to do...

TomMM

I stand corrected!

mot29

If the fare class isn't listed for the partner -- no earnings for DL. KL started a while back publishing non-earning AMS-Asia fares. I've encountered them as very deeply discounted business fares. But there may be some coach fares like that as well.
There are a couple of threads on this - a recent one -- revenue business fare ticketed in 'o' class....
And there may be some in the premium fares forum as well.
You may want to play around on google flights. I regularly find deeply discounted business fares on ST partners from CDG, LHR, AMS, FRA to Oz and NZ. A few years back I flew LHR-MEL/SYD-LHR using VN and even built a week in Hanoi into it for about US$2300 in business. I was seeing similar fares from CDG on CI and GA a few months back. Long layovers in TPE (CI) or DPS/CGK (GA) but great fares. On CI, NZ was cheaper than Oz even though there is a technical stop in BNE.