Finding KL business class awards -- make any difference if it's DL miles or FB miles?
#1
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Finding KL business class awards -- make any difference if it's DL miles or FB miles?
If I'm searching for a KL award in business, SFO-AMS, does it make any difference if I'm trying to use DL miles or FB miles? If so, I could shift some Amex MR points into FB miles. In my experience, there's just about never any availability for this as a partner award on DL.
Sorry if this has been answered before. I searched a bit and couldn't find anything.
Sorry if this has been answered before. I searched a bit and couldn't find anything.
#2
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Of course it makes a difference. DL and KL use two different schemes with two different currencies and two different pricing schemes.
Flying Blue recently moved to a changed long-haul redemption scheme, where they increased the number of seats available, but the "extra" seats costs more (there is variable pricing - not all seats cost the same number of miles). In DL, you'll likely find that only the "cheapest" seats are offered - so seats that may be available via FB (at the higher rates) will never be available via DL.
You can search for Flying Blue availability without having any Flying Blue miles. Be warned, though, that once you transfer MR points into Flying Blue miles, it cannot be undone. If the seat you want is gone by the time the transfer goes through, you're just going to have to find something else to do with those Flying Blue miles.
Flying Blue recently moved to a changed long-haul redemption scheme, where they increased the number of seats available, but the "extra" seats costs more (there is variable pricing - not all seats cost the same number of miles). In DL, you'll likely find that only the "cheapest" seats are offered - so seats that may be available via FB (at the higher rates) will never be available via DL.
You can search for Flying Blue availability without having any Flying Blue miles. Be warned, though, that once you transfer MR points into Flying Blue miles, it cannot be undone. If the seat you want is gone by the time the transfer goes through, you're just going to have to find something else to do with those Flying Blue miles.
#4
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I should add that not all seats that are available at the lowest FB redemption level are available to DL. I don't know if it's DL or FB who limits that inventory, but I do know that there is a limit on that inventory and only a subset are actually available to SM members.
#5
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Wow -- I'm seeing all sorts of availability in business on the route (SFO-AMS). I thought maybe the DL partner award and FB inventories were the same. I now see how very different they are.
#7
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#9
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Thanks again for the help, folks. Using FB miles I was able to book a business class award on Air France in July (125,000 miles RT). I'm pretty sure that never would have happened with Delta miles. I might be trying this again with KLM for a different itinerary.