StangGT909

Hi, My wife and I are flying to the Maldives (super excited) in February.

I'm looking at DTW -> MLE 1-way and there isn't a "delta ticketed" flight, but there's an option of a KLM vs Air France Ticketed flight. I've never booked a partner flight like this and they look pretty equivalent so I'm hoping an expert here can make a suggestion.

I'm Platinum; so if one of the airlines would give me the equivalent of the free comfort plus, I think that's the way to go
Both have lay-overs so if there's a way to use the Skyteam benefit for lounge access that would be great. Even if it's not delta ticketed, does Skyteam access carryover to either of these airlines?
Would prefer to earn base miles + MQM
Quality of the flight/meals, etc. would be helpful for a preference as well.

If anyone can help recommend KLM vs Air France for those criteria or something I missed, I would insanely appreciate it!!

Here's the choices:

1) KLM Ticketed; But the transatlantic flight to Paris is Delta Metal. This has 2 connecting flights but same total time
2). Air France Ticketed: Air France Metal; only 1 connecting flight but the layover in Paris is 6 hours, so the total time is the same

SpinzCity

I'm a Delta Platinum who lives in Europe, and, I have to tell you, I always go for the KLM booking. Though this is something that is constantly improving - - it used to be that Air France was a dog that was hard to wag, whereas KLM was more responsive. But more and more both websites recognize your status better, and allow you to choose options (like seats) in advance sharper and better. (Also, as a coach flyer, KLM allows Delta elites to get good seats, while AF has most of the optimal coach seats blocked.)

Now, in the last year or so, AF is more integrated and Delta-elite-friendly in my experience, but I still prefer KLM, because if anything 'happens' it still strikes me as easier, friendlier, and more successful to mess with it at Schiphol vs. CDG, and Schiphol is the nicer experience anyways (CDG sucks, just in case you were wondering).

But one connection versus two? That makes the one connection sound pretty superior! The lounges at CDG will make it worth your while.

I also have had excellent experiences, if anything is ever needed, contacting KLM to fix it fast and right on the Twitter (AF might also have good Twitter fixers, but I haven't had the chance to do that there).

jimrpa

Here are my thoughts:
1.one stop versus 2. I’d go for the one stop
2. CDG truly isn’t the innermost circle of hades everyone here describes it as being. It’s vastly better than MSP, for example.
3. the food in the lounges at CDG is light years better than the slop at the KLM lounges.
4. KLM in-flight staff are uniformly pleasant and warm. AF is a crapshoot. On my most recent AF flight, I had an excellent crew, but I’ve also had AF FAs who apparently went to ComAir Gate Agent Customer Relations training.
4. you WILL get good food on AF. On KLM, I strongly recommend bringing your own food. I’ve never had anything that I would rate above “edible” on KLM.
5. in J, AF has a consistently better hard product (most planes are 1-2-1 and they only have a few 777s that are still 2-3-2 which are being upgraded to 1-2-1. On KLM, you’re very unlikely to get 1-2-1 (they only have a few aircraft in that configuration), and you’re quite likely to get 2-3-2 angled seats.

Id go with AF. And on something like the Maldives, I’d see if there’s any way you can swing J. It’s a long flight, a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you’re already dropping a boatload of money.

StangGT909

Thanks for the quick response and being knowledgable of both airlines!

Being able to pick good seats is a must, I’m not positive but I thought AF allows for the first person to pick a good seat but a second passenger has to pay?

I agree 1 connection vs 2 is superior, but just to confirm, Will I get lounge access even though it’s not Delta ticketed?

Last comment - Like I said both flights are not DL ticketed, but the KLM one is DL coded/medal , does that make any difference for earning miles/MQMs?

jimrpa

you absolutely will get lounge access to AF (and Skyteam partner) lounges at CDG and the KLM lounges at AMS. To be honest I’ve only ever used KLM lounges at AMS because the airport is so confusing.

StangGT909

Ok great, thanks for the confirmation on lounge access.

I agree the trip to Maldives will be once in a lifetime, maybe haha. We got married less than a year ago and technically honeymoon’ed in Aruba, but hey why not take a second honeymoon. We’re going to Vietnam to visit family after Maldives, so this will be quite a long trip.

Ok so in summary, it looks like the first recommendation was slightly for KLM and yours is for AF, But I agree 1 connection vs 2 is superior. I just wanted to make sure about premiums seats (ex. Free comfort plus, and whether there’s a 5% chance of a first class upgrade vs 0% type of thing). Any comment on that, is there a snow balls chance at a first class upgrade with either airline as a Platinum?

VFR

Air France and KLM will both give you access to "Economy Comfort" seats for free as a Delta Platinum. Unlike Delta, you don't need to wait for an "upgrade" -- just pick them on the seat map after your flight is ticketed (you may be asked to pay during the booking process, but once your flight is ticketed they should show up as free).

Neither Air France or KLM provides complimentary upgrades to a higher cabin in the way that Delta or the other US airlines do. If they oversell Economy and need to upgrade you for operational reasons (search FlyerTalk for OpUp), being Platinum might help but you are still behind airline employees, then Flying Blue elites.

Both airlines have been known to provide inexpensive upgrades at check-in (I was offered a €500 upgrade from Economy to Business on CDG-JFK recently), you may wish to ask an agent or keep an eye on the seat map on airfrance.com / klm.com -- they will show up close to departure as available seats for a fee.

There have been a lot of problems with Amsterdam Airport Schipol recently, which may tip the balance in the favor of a single connection in CDG.

StangGT909

I'm 75% done with this online booking after creating an Air France rewards account and after previously adding my Delta SkyMiles to the profile. When selecting the seats, it won't let me select anything other than a blue standard seat for the free price. Typically can you pick the "better" economy seats during booking or after? Seems it's simply not recognizing my Delta status

** Update, geez when selecting the CDG to MLE leg, There’s not a single flight that has a free seat. Everything is pay, Geez could I be doing wrong?

VFR

Don’t create a flying blue account, just put your SkyMiles number on the reservation. Just looking at your reservation when logged into a Flying Blue account has been known to overwrite the SkyMiles number on it.

Have you paid for your ticket yet? You may not see free seating until your flight is ticketed.

Remember there is a 24 hour free cancellation rule for all flights booked in the US (it’s DOT policy).

StangGT909

I wish I would have talked to you a few minutes ago! Yeah I booked it, it said only 2 available at the price so my wife was pressuring me to book it. I just checked, if I went to re-book (without cancelling) the flight was like $300~ higher.

When I booked it, under the pull down menu it had a choice between the AF loyalty and Delta, I selected Delta so I’m shocked it didn’t worked. I’ll have to try my luck over the phone, what a bummer.

VFR

Try pulling up the reservation on airfrance.com or klm.com and re-adding your SkyMiles number. I recently had to do that (and my passport number) for a KLM ticket that I added my SkyMiles number during booking for.

Computers…

StangGT909

Computers…. I go to the Air France site and under “Loyalty Programs” the only option is to add a “Bluebiz”. I don’t see anything about Skymiles. Man their site stinks

StangGT909

Ok, I think what was said earlier is exactly what happened, The Flying blue over rode the Skymiles.

I went to my wife’s name - It let me re-add Skymiles and it took it, No issue at all
When I go to my name - There’s no place to add Skymiles. I’m positive I put this in here before so the prior comment had to be right, that some how it overrode it with their own loyalty, Booo Air France

VFR

Call in... and make sure your boarding passes have your SkyMiles number on them... and still be prepared to fight.

This is what I see on klm.com:

StangGT909

Thanks for the screen shot. That’s exactly how it looks when I click my wife’s name but when I click it it only shows the BlueBiz option. When I go to my profile and click loyalty programs, it correctly shows my Skymiles, Its just not on the reservation. How dumb. I’ll give them a call tomorrow, thanks again for the help