Hi everyone, and thank you in advance!

I have always collected Delta Skymiles for travel, even though the flights themselves are often on Air France. I have Platinum status on Delta and would like to keep it.

Now of course all that matters now is spending (I use the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Amex). So when I am flying internationally on Air France flights (or even Delta flights for that matter), should I start using my Flying Blue account for the miles themselves?

I feel a bit thick that I can't figure this out, so I'm grateful for the advice....

if you are delta Platinum, why do you want to start from zero with FB?

If you fly AF in premium cabins you can get up to Plat pretty quickly. Both prg's have pros and cons but it very much depends on where you live, your flying pattern, and what you want to use the miles for.

Not clear if OP is flying premium cabins (in which case, status won't matter that much), or coach. Further, sounds like OP intends to keep earning Plat on DL by spending $125K+ annually on an Amex Reserve. Trying to leverage benefits from status in one program (like preferred seats, priority check-in/boarding, lounge access), while crediting flights to a different one, is often challenging. And if you are flying coach, we aren't talking about that many points any way. I don't really see it as worth the effort to split points earn between two programs in the case of OP flying coach (and not trying to earn FB status). It might be worth the effort if OP flies enough to earn FB Gold status or higher (and doesn't have to rely on DL status for benefits).

Because if I understand correctly, Delta status will no longer rely on how much you've flown -- just how much you spend on a Delta credit card. So I thought I should start collecting airmiles from miles flown on FB?

Not Delta credit card spend, per se. Just Delta spend. The CC spend conversions are low enough that most aren't going to get DM through CC spend (aside from very high-value churning).

Not true. You earn $1 MQD per dollar spent (less taxes) on Delta marketed flights (both DL and partner operated) if you credit them to the Skymiles program. But you must credit your flights to DL Skymiles program to earn that (you will get no MQD credit for flights if you credit them to FB program). It does not matter which credit card you use to pay for the flights. You still get the $1 MQD per dollar spent on flights.

You also earn $1 MQD per $10 spent on DL Reserve Amex card. You could conceivably earn DL Plat status solely by credit card spend on the DL Reserve Amex, but it would require spending $125K this year (and likely more in following years). $125K spend equals $12.5K MQDs + $2.5K MQD Amex Headstart = $15K MQDs. It's hard to know what to tell you here without knowing how much you typically spend a year on flights, what is your typical class of service, and how much you typically spend on your Amex card.

Thank you -- this is the clarification I needed (and for some reason struggled to get from Delta's literature). I don't anticipate spending 125K on the credit card, so I will keep using the DL Skymiles account. Much appreciated!

I guess what are your goals with the miles. You said you collect Delta miles. Have you ever used them? There is a significant difference with what Delta miles and Flying Blue miles can get you.

If you can spend your way to Delta platinum, collecting Flying blue miles for use makes more sense, flying blue definitely has more "reasonably" priced availability than delta.

Again, OP won't get much in the way benefits from their DL status if using their FB number (if they don't earn at least FB Gold as well). No C+/Preferred seats on DL flights. You can maybe talk your way into AF/KL lounges, but it won't be automatic. So it doesn't really make much sense to maintain DL status if you are going to be chasing FB points.

DL redeemable miles don't expire, although of course they do lose value over time.

hello, i just bought today an FCO-AMS-GRU roundtrip , premium economy , FLEX, at 1231 euro
If i were FB platinum, how many miles would i earn?
fco-ams distance 805miles
ams-gru distance 6070miles
thanks!

if you qualify DM with delta you have the benefit choice at PM and DM
so you get 135.000 FREE each year , or 100.000 and you can gift TWO person GOLD status (STE+)
i think FB doens't have those benefits

Depends on your flying pattern, what flights you want to redeem miles for etc. and which cabin. For instance, I'm US based FB Plat, most of my miles are redeemed on SFO -> Europe in J and most of my domestic flying on Delta is in D1/FC. On short stops (flights around west coast) I don't really care about upgrades (which actually wouldn't happen anyway due to wife having no status) and prefer 2 free checked bags for each pax on the booking.