sounds ok....will think about it....don't have to make the booking till the end of the month....

If you take AJ's suggestion and pick AF/KL/DL, you might also be able to credit to your Jet account. Just be careful that the code and metal match (Jet haven't let me credit KL operated by DL or AF operated by KL in the past, even though all three were Jet partners).

You won't get tier points, but al least it will add to your existing overall balance.

By the way, I am a fan of Delta's Business Elite (the DL product, on the 767 and 777s, not the KLM-Northwest shell seats on the 333s and 747s). I highly recommend it, though I can see how it won't be to everyone's liking, because many of their planes still have a hard product that many people will consider outdated. The plushness of the seat and the service quality and style more than make up for it, for me anyway.

That said, if you're flying out of DEL, then no Delta for you, unfortunately. Besides, they cancelled the Jet partnership recently.

But AF are just fine (and consistently just above average) and transiting CDG is rather straightforward now, since the India and North America flights are now all from the same terminal.

Here's two shameless plugs of my flights on Delta and, less recent, on Air France. I do end up flying them between India and Europe 4-5 times a year though and things haven't changed significantly.

thanks....

the kl flight are all operated by kl so shouldn't have a problem getting the miles to credit....

aj's suggestion of crediting to dl doesn't sound too bad....i have a enough jp miles & have already re-qualified for plat so missing out on 1 flight won't make a difference....

how easy is it to redeem delta miles & how many would i need for a nyc-lax or del-nyc flight in business????

you did mention ua is a choice of airline for you. why arent you trying their non-stop from del. a random date in january is showing up 1.6l as the price.

I'm not totally sure what DL's requirements are since Flying Poo is my primary FFP. I suspect they won't be too different from AF's, seeing how integrated they are now.

I used my AF points to book domestic US flights for my mother earlier this year and it started at 12,500 one way for Y and 25,000 for J. The best part was the cash component : $2.50. That's it.

the dates i have to travel on are showing a $5k+ fare on ua....my dates are not flexible so i don't have a choice....

i love the cash component bit....i don't think i've ever paid more than $5 on either aa or ua....

Go to UA's website and plug in DEL-ZFV. It often turns out radically cheaper.

There is a lot of information available on the ZFV trick on the UA (pre-merger CO) forum.

DL miles are known as "SkyPesos" by those familiar with US-based airline programs... Peso is the (perceived as worthless) currency of Mexico.

How about doing a one stop via Bombay using the air India "intl" flights and then connecting to the non stops of ua or Ai?

this trick often works on an economy fare but i have never seen it work on a business fare....

i'm aware of the skypesos bit & i know they charge some insane amounts for redemption bookings....i just wanted to know how good their award inventory was....

both are more expensive than the flights from delhi....

Would crediting to Alaska Air be an option for you? You could fly India/South Africa to USA in F round trip with a stop over in Hong Kong on CX for 140k. Its one of the best F redemptions. Or fly USA- Europe in coach for 40k miles on AA off peak.

They regularly sell miles with a 40% bonus for around 2.1 c/m and are a SPG partner. Will have Emirates redemption options in a couple of months. They have a huge range of partners you can credit miles to including most Skyteam and OneWorld Carriers and Emirates which would make it a decent secondary carrier for you. If you get 25-30k miles you should reach their lowest tier which would give you AA priority access and free bags and priority boarding and a free bag on DL.

ah, I've never actually taken a look at the effect on Biz fares.

I guess UA doesn't apply married segment logic to the published Biz fares.
Compared to US/UA, not so great.

And it's impossible to redeem F.

since this is a work trip being paid by the client, i'm not sure if i can buy miles to redeem against this ticket....my accounts team would have a fit if i did that....the most i can do is to buy any ticket for under $3k & can then use miles to upgrade....

Sorry should have clarified. Meant crediting your DL/AF/KL flight to AS.