Jumpgate

So right as I was about to book (using $$) a ticket (I fare) to TLV next summer for a wedding, I found out there is another wedding in Seoul the following weekend I'm going to be invited to.

KE flies TLV-ICN which is cool ... but what is the best way of booking this?

1. Should I book this as an RTW Skyteam fare? What kind of cost will I be looking at? I was about to shell out $6K for business class just for the TLV trip ... I can't go much higher than that.

2. What if I redeem SkyMiles - Is there a "far east via mid east" option using TLV as a stop over and returning maybe via Europe (like EWR-CDG-TLV-ICN-CDG-EWR)? Does such a thing exist? Or would I have to book this as an RTW award?

3. Does anyone have experience redeeming for KE's TLV-ICN flight?

I'd appreciate any advice you all can give. I'd really like to do this in business class especially if I have to back track to Europe on the return.

rylan

I don't see any codeshares from TLV-ICN, at least not that easily appear through Delta's website...however that doesn't mean they don't exist.

You can also inquire about booking a I fare for the EWR-TLV and ICN-EWR legs, and a Y upgradable are on KE for TLV-ICN and use the skyteam mile upgrade option.

I think your best bet is calling reservations and inquiring about the RTW skypass or seeing what kind of creative routing they can do to get you in biz. Its hard to tell the cost, but from the examples on the skyteam website a 29k mile ticket is under 6k for business. You'd need to have both a transatlantic and transpacific let for the rtw pass... not sure on the deals if you could use a europe or asia pass or something like that also.

sbm12

The lack of a codeshare doesn't really matter.

For a RTW ticket you would need a 3rd stop, and I believe a 10 day minimum. The latter should not be difficult but the former may be. And if you are going to fly J the whole way it is probably cheaper than actually buying the segments in question.

If you did it as a redemption I believe it would either be a RTW redemption or a US-Europe + Europe-Asia rather than a single reward.

ResSalesGuy

I'd call the NW Around the World desk...Just call and ask to be transferred....KLM flies from TLV-AMS-ICN...Ck on the Skyteam RTW, as well as the NW-KL product...

sbm12

Why would you route back through AMS on KL when you can get the KE non-stop? If it is an issue of reward inventory, I guess so, but otherwise? The KE flight only operates 3x weekly and is on a 74E (combi), but it is there.

Jumpgate

I spoke with someone at SMS (just one person - so the story may change should I call back).

There is no way to do this via redemption as one ticket unless I book RTW. I can redeem to ICN via Europe pretty easily, but fitting in a stopover in TLV she doesn't seem to think is possible.

I'm going to call and get routed to the RTW desk tonight to see how much $$ it'd set me back just to book an RTW in business.

Another option is to just book a business class trip to ICN via CDG or AMS on AF/KL/KE (which I can even do using delta.com ) ... and have a stopover in CDG or AMS ... and fit in a round trip to TLV that way. This seems the most cost effective (assuming I can find a reasonable fare AMS/CDG-TLV).

It's not ideal though - the TLV-ICN route would be great without having to backtrack to Europe - and I'd obviously rather return from ICN via the pacific.

Thanks all for your advice!

Jumpgate

Alright ... I'm about to pull the trigger on this.

The only way I can make this quasi-affordable is to do a hell of a lot of flying.

I'm booking award EWR-CDG-ICN round trip on AF in business with a stopover in CDG. I'm then paying for CDG-TLV which I'm nesting in the stopover in CDG.

So... EWR-CDG-TLV-CDG-ICN-CDG-EWR ...



After lots of searching and a lot of conversations with SMS ... my dream of JFK-TLV (DL), TLV-ICN (KE), ICN-JFK (KE) were pretty much crushed.

The DL agents pretty much aren't able to even see KE's TLV-ICN segment, and booking it with miles doesn't seem to be an option with the number of miles I'm willing the spend and business class being a priority.

So, I'll be doing a ton of flying - but at least it's affordable and I'll be comfortable.

Loran

Thanks for the update on how this worked out. It's too bad you have to do the backtracking, but I agree with you that it's not so bad if you're flying in comfort. I flew SFO-HKG last January and was actually glad the headwinds were so strong they added over an hour to the flight, but then I was flying SQ F

Was a round-the-world ticket not possible or just too many miles? If it's not possible and/or Delta can't see all its partners' flights then SkyTeam needs some work.