AF La Premiere booked through DL - bad or good idea
 

Don't flame me, but I can't find this answered besides some random opinions in old posts and this is more DL related than AF. Is Delta capable of booking LP tix and if so, is there an advantage/disadvantage of doing so? Are they restricted by buckets which they can access (only P, no F), etc? AF technology is badly broken on its own, so before I spend hours on hold with DL, I wanted to get some insight. I'm trying to also calculate the stock/marketing airline/ etc for mileage calc. And can DL book LP and keep it a DL marketed flight?

Looking at MCO-JFK-CDG-JFK-MCO...October ish. Ideally J there, P back.

Appreciate the insight

Yes they can, just make sure if DL marketed the fare class is not FGAP, those are PE cabin on DL marketed flights.


Note AF marketed will likely have much better earnings than DL. You don't earn accelerator bonus regardless as it's AF operated.

I book LP for a family member semi frequently. I usually find DL marketed LP flights earn sky miles at a higher rate than AF due to the big $$$ involved (YMMV based on status rdm multiplier), so it’s worth looking at the calculation. Also, be sure to use AMEX IAP if it’s an option for you because it’s usually $1K less and AMEX can book either DL or AF marketed (that said, I often have to correct agents as their search often returns a J class and they need to specify P in search).

Isn't earning on a DL marketed ticket capped at 75k?

If the RT isn't significantly cheaper than two OW tickets, it can make sense not to book as a RT. OTOH, if you do this, be sure to have documents showing the return flights printed for check in and immigration rule checks.

What’s the easiest way to find Delta marketed La Premiere flights? I have a ton of flexibility as far as dates…have been using Google Flights to find the prices, connections that work for me. I then go into Delta.com to try to find the La Premiere flights…so far, pretty slim, have found a couple but not many. Seems to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Am I missing something? Have reviewed previous FT threads on this subject.

It seems that the only fare class that DL has for intercontinental First Class is F, which maps to Air France's F fare class. Therefore, if the Air France flight is only selling tickets in P, you won't be able to book the DL codeshare.

You can use ITA Matrix to search and then BookWithMatrix or ITA PowerTools to book it, but the availability should be the same as Google Flights.

Yep, looks like AF is mostly P1 or P2 and F0 on their flights. Even when there are flights with F bucket available, AF11 JFK-CDG 3/30 for example, I wasn't successful in pulling it up on delta.com (Google Flights does not even have link and ITA Powertools/Bookwithmatrix tricks didn't work and Delta.com has no column for FC). It does appear possible to book DL codeshare on Priceline though.

If you call DL, a phone agent should be able to ticket it with a DL flight number.

"Should" is the key word here...I called 3 times yesterday to the Diamond desk and the 3 agents I got were clueless...and that's why I called back 3 times hoping to get someone that knew the difference between Delta One and AF La Premiere first class.

It's really crazy, but I can almost book a RT in La Premiere at a comparable price to several cities in Europe as I can in business class with most SkyTeam members. I'm great on MQMs for the year (as many are) but short on MQDs (hence the reason I want it to be on a Delta marketed DLxxxx flight).

Did you actually verify if there is F bucket open on flights? As previous poster noted, if there is only P available you will not be able to book as DL marketed as DL has no P class equivalent to AF (P is used for Premium Select/Premium Economy fares by DL). What routes and fares are you seeing. About the cheapest I can find are about $7.1K roundtrip (IAD to various Spanish and Scandinavian cities). As noted above, it looks like you can book the DL codeshares on Priceline using bookwithmatrix.com if you can't find an agent who can do it.

Yes, I did. Had it up on my Delta.com and the agent saw it on a dummy itinerary with the exact origination/destination/connection with the same amount of day around a similar time.

Looking at JFK-CDG-LHR for 3 nights after July 15 but not after Aug 27 using the weekend as part of the time taken. Could depart Thursday or Friday from JFK. Correct on fares, around $7.5k. They have gone up about $300 over the last 2 days like everything else.

Well, they look bookable on Priceline as DL codeshares. Although they are around $8700 when I just checked fares (IAD and BOS are around $7500).

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f86ccd9526.png

An additional question....once I book my La Premiere RT JFK-LHR through CDG, will I have to proactively reach out to AF to inform them of this itinerary booked via DL to ensure proper ground service?
I'm also going to book a separte itinerary on the day of departure and the day of return from/to my home airport to/from JFK then call DL to link the two itineraries

You shouldn't need to do anything to get ground service as an originating passenger at JFK, nor for the CDG connection. AF will know who the FC pax are that day... If you're flying into JFK on DL into T2/T4, I don't think you'll be met regardless of whether you cross-reference the itineraries. You'll have to get yourself landside to T1 for AF check-in, as I don't believe there's an airside shuttle.