We are going to review SkyTeam in the December issue of InsideFlyer magazine and would like your input.

If you would like to participate, please post your response in the thread with the pros and cons of SkyTeam and grade the alliance from A to F (A being the highest grade). You can include a plus or minus with the rating.

You can also respond directly to me at [email protected].
Thank you!

Others will probably weigh in but I'd say it depends:

- if you live near a member airline's hub, maybe a B-
- if not, particularly in the areas where the alliance has poor coverage (see cons), then probably a D-

Pros
1. Good transatlantic coverage
2. Ability to use miles to upgrade on partner airlines (but see con 1.)

Cons
1. Ability to use miles to upgrade on partner airlines restricted to tickets purchased in Y class
2. Absence of alliance wide luggage benefits for elites
3. Least useful of the three alliance websites (e.g. poor/hard to find timetables, no online round the world booking ability)
4. Lack of South American and South Pacific members, with poor coverage of the southern hemisphere and South East Asia
5. Maybe perceived to be the slowest growing of the alliances

Con number 5 makes no sense. There are 3 alliances, 1World is by far the slowest growing and this is universally acknowledged, Star seems to take just about every airline they can, so they are either second slowest or second fastest, but using the absolute in either direction, slowest or fastest, is incorrect.

It's difficult to rate the alliance when the interface is with one member airline.

I have the misfortune to have rather a high number of Flying Blue miles which I am keen to redeem. Apart from the above comments, I would add about FB:
- general inability to book DL and other partners' award flights online;
- award availability online at delta.com? Yes. Same flights available online at FB? No.
- no 800 phone line in UK, just a high cost 0870 number or an international call to France.

As DL let me book online and also have a local UK number, it is clear to me that the alliance is being brought down by the lowest common denominator, in my case AFKL.

I actually find SkyTeam next to nothing. It's behind OW (coverage: quality) and *A (focus: coverage) despite having more members than OW and overall benefits to the FF. Most of ST is composed of 3-star airlines with no 5-star. ST really needs a focus point.

I'm delta Gold and like Delta and its international offerings. Unlike many others my rare AF experiences have all been good. Still forcing me to buy grossly over priced tickets to get an upgrade internationally makes me with I had better alternatives. I prefer *A and have points and status with US Air.

I'd at best give Skyteam a C. For domestic travel though Delta gets a B/B- from me. If its companion upgrade program was any better, I would give it a B+/A-. Unfortunately, that program is about as bad as it can be.

Overall I would give ST a C.
I was a NW Gold and am now FB Gold. I generally fly between the US/Europe/and Asia

I stay with them since I often fly NW(RIP), KL, and AF. I can only compare to *Alliance since I'm also BD Gold and have also flown LH/OS/SQ.

Pros
-Good transatlantic/northern asia coverage fitting my travel pattern
-African presence
-US Domestic upgrades (even for FB elites on NW)
-Lounge access for Elite Plus
-NW (maybe DL to a lesser exent) had many mile earning promotions
-FB 50% promo awards/NW(RIP) intra-Asia awards
-FB possibility to earn status with Amex
-Addition of new members such as Aeroflot/Vietnam Airlines (additional destinations)
-Competitive pricing


Cons
-Poor coverage of Southern Hemisphere/Middle East/India
-Poor RTW offer due to the above point
-no outstanding 5* member
-rather average/poor service/product
-difficulty redeeming awards (FB/DL)
-few alliance wide promotions
-few alliance wide benefits except for lounge access and maybe priority boarding/check-in
-Losing Continental/Copa

I have a somewhat uniques perspective. I have maintained top tier on two ST airlines for a decade, two Star carriers at different times almost since inception and Gold with one 1world carrier since its inception. I find that no alliance delivers what is promised and cooperation is sporatic at best. Star probably does have its act together a bit better than the rest, but its not that great. I love these comments about coverage especially when one speaks of the Pacific or the Middle East. None of the alliances have great ME coverage due to the fact that the best and fastest growing airlines in the ME are not members of any alliance. Egyptair or Royal Jordanian do not really cut it. Regarding the "Pacific" people are generally referring to Australasia, there is one major carrier down there, its in 1 world, then agan although Australia is a big country it has a whopping huge 20 million people. The also ran is Air NZ, they are Star, and have less flights in a year to all their destinations than most major airlines have between their top route pair in a week.

I'm top tier in all 3 alliances. As for ST, I fly them a lot due to the destinations and hubs at CDG, AMS and NBO mainly. But I get pretty decent service. For RTW's I don't use ST often due to the fact that I don't need to go to Korea often. If they added MH, I would take more ST RTW's, but for now I use Star or OW.

As for an overall rating, I rate OW as the best mainly due to more flat business seats and great lounge programs. Star and ST are roughly the same in this regard, at least for someone based in Europe.

Grade: D

Pros:
- AFKL 50% Promo Awards
- Excellent Europe/NA coverage
- AFKL offers some of better quality long-haul service to Africa

Cons:
- AFKL difficult to earn miles in economy
- Hard to book reward tickets, web interface does not work
- Horrible coverage for flights between African countries

I have to take a bit of issue with this. Does BA office great earning miles in Economy? LH?

And ST has the best coverage of all the alliances in Africa! That's why I use them so often. How could you say it is the worst? OW has almost nothing and Star has only South African. With AF and KL's unique routes, plus KQ, ST has the BEST African coverage.

In practise, I find this a con. The promo awards are never announced in advance. You're lucky to get one day's notice. Then they are virtually unbookable IME.And Egyptair. You may not like them but they do have some African routes.

I used to be highest tier in all three alliances, now that CO has left SkyTeam I have no status with SkyTeam (Has a BA Gold and multiple Star Golds). Historically I had been with KL, switched to CO when I moved to IAH.

Pros of SkyTeam:
-Good coverage from both my home airports- I need to transit in most cases, whether I fly Star or SkyTeam. So from a destinations point of view, SkyTeam is almost as good as Star (mainly thanks to AF/KL which goes everywhere).
- Fares are usually less in biz compared to other alliances ex-Europe.

Cons:
- No great carrier like SQ of CX. AF is the best of the lot says volumes about the kind of airlines in this alliance. I can bear AF (CDG transit is a nightmare), KL is ok, KE is reasonably good but they don't fly to too many places. I would avoid DL,AZ and SU unless I have no other options.
- No US lounge access on domestic itin. With a non-US Star Gold I can access US Star lounges
- Poor recognition across the network
- No intl F cabins (except AF).
- Poorer lounges compared to other alliances.
- Redemptions are the most difficult among the three airlines in premium cabins, ex-Europe as you have pretty much only two airlines to choose from for non-US itins.