Gregg123

Hi Guys,
I am pretty new to all this, someone sent me to this site hopefully to get an answer to my question. What a great Site BTW!!

I travel quite a bit, but I never get anything out of my airline loyalty miles, points etc.

I am currently a member of:

Delta SkyMiles
Aeroflot Bonus
Czech Airlines OK Plus

I also travel quite a bit with AirFrance, but don't have a Flying Blue Account.


What is the best thing to do here? As they are all SkyTeam Partners should I put all my flights on one Account - but if so which one? So, for example, if I put all my flights on my SkyMiles Account obviously I get Partner Miles but do I lose out?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Tennis69

First question is where do you live?

I live in Atlanta and work internationally. While I belong to DL, OK, KE, VN, and CZ all miles are credited to my Skymiles account (makes sense since I live in ATL). That ensures me at least PM and elite plus status every year.

Gregg123

OK - I guess I live in Armenia, but as I said I travel quite a bit as well. I am here on a six-month contract and expect after that I will be living in the UK, or Portugal.

It's complicated!!

phb

If you will be living in the UK outside London you will find that you have a lot of connections for Europe and beyond through KLM to Amsterdam and AF through Paris. One of those might suit.

Gregg123

But in terms of actually getting something for these miles, should I put everything on one Account? Or should I use the individual airlines scheme when I fly with them? Am I better off any way?

Plus, if one is better - which one? Surely my location makes no difference?

DLNYC

It makes a difference in that if you never fly Delta, DL elite benefits are going to be of little use to you. Based on location, the best option will probably be AF/KL FB. If you fly to the states a lot, then maybe DL will be the best option. It depends on where you live and where you fly.

Gregg123

Thanks for the reply. So the best thing to do is to just use the program for the Airline that I use the most??

Is there no benefit in crediting the flights in the program of the Airline I actually fly with each time?

Or even having more than one SkyTeam FF Account?

DLNYC

How often do you fly? How many miles per year? Where? IMO, unless you fly enough to surpass the requirements for top-tier status, there is no good reason to split mileage. I will fly enough to qualify for Platinum on DL this year. I would rather have Platinum on Delta and only Delta (my primary airline) than Gold on Delta and low-tier status on another airline.

Do you fly many US domestic flights? If you do, then having status on DL would make sense, for the chance at complimentary upgrades. If you do not fly US domestic flights, what good would it do to have a chance at upgrading flights you never even take?

If you do plan on splitting mileage, do so between more than one alliance. I acquire miles on Delta (via flying and credit card) and United (via credit card and minimal flying). Doing so allows me access to both SkyTeam and Star award inventory.

Bottom line: It all depends on your flying and spending habits.

DaddyRabbit

My view is that it is best to use only ONE airline with lots of partners. SkyTeam with DL, KL, KE, AF, et al., will work but others will also. Sticking with one airline will help you reach elite status for upgrades, club memberships, etc.

pieterde

From the ones you mentioned and the additional replies you gave, I'd say stick with OK Plus, which is a very nice little programme.

Alternatively, may I suggest Alitalia Millemiglia, which in my experience has very good award ticket availability with low mileage redemption levels compared to some other programmes and very reasonable taxes and issue price for award tickets.

Gregg123

Wow, thanks guys - really helpful! ^

I guess thinking about it, and my current location that I use Aeroflot more than the others.

Can I ask one final question: your thoughts on Aeroflot Bonus. Plus, I have read that you can also join the Aeroflot Bonus Family. Is there a loophole here that I could add my girlfriend who often flys with me as part of my family?

Thanks again!

phb

My opinion. There are two issues here, status and miles.

For status benefits (upgrades etc.) than you are best routing all travel to the FFP of the airline you fly most in order to build up and maintain the highest possible status. Note that lounge access doesn't matter here as that benefit is broadly alliance wide. So if status is most important for you then put everything into the FFP of the airline you fly the most.

For miles earning and miles redemption each programme has different earning and redemption rates, and (in practice) access to redemptions. If free flights are most important then pick the programme that gives you the best deal for the type of seat you want for free (long or short haul, F or coach).

But pick one FFP and route all the miles through that.

checkxp

In this case (earning destination miles to redeem them later), which one would one recommend when joining SkyTeam.

Basically I am flying with AF to South Africa, and if I join flying blue on this flight, I would earn 3090miles for the return flight!!! That's not very much considering I'm flying from Brussels and changing in Paris.

Therefore I don't think FlyingBlue is such a good program. On the other hand I checked with Delta Skymiles, and all my flight legs would earn me 100% miles (class L and N), which should be between 12000 and 14000.
The only reason I'm wary of claiming everything with a fresh SkyMiles account is that you read everywhere in this forum that they're called Skypesos... so what is that all about, are the skymiles really that worthless. Which program is therefore better in the SkyTeam network.

Some extra info, I'm flying with all my family there (4people) and none of us have got ST accounts with miles on them. Two of us had AF FlyingBlue miles which expired last year, so I don't want to make the same mistake again. Are there any program in ST that have family memberships such as BMI or Etihad?

If someone could help me that would be grand. Thank you very much.

GenevaFlyer

Hi checkxp,

Welcome to FT!

There is no ideal solution. You could look at the CSA program, but I believe that you do need at least 1 flight with them at some point. You could also check the Vietnam airlines program.

In terms of household accounts, no, Skyteam does not have an airline that offers something like that.

With regards to Delta, your miles will expire more slowly than with FB (24 months vs 20). The downside is that there is no published redemption table if you are not based in the US.

All in all, based on your limited flying, DL may be the way to go for the time being. You still have the risk of expiration, but slightly slower.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

checkxp

Hello, Thanks a lot,

I checked out Vietnam airlines, I wouldn't get Miles in N and L class, so that wouldn't be an option for me. I guess Delta are the best at earning 100%miles (most US carriers are?).

CSA looks quite good, although on my Longhaul legs I would only earn 50% miles, so that is a big downside, but on the other hand you only need 15 segments to get to the first tier... although is there really any use for me to have a first Tier on CSA if I'm not going to fly them a lot?

Can you still redeem Delta miles for flights within ST and they're partner without "touching" the US ? (eg. Europe - Europe, or Europe - Asia) and how do you go about doing that? call them?

Although I know there is no published redemption table, my real fear is do they really live up to their reputation of SkyPesos? I believe that DL miles don't expire if you have activity on your account, is that correct?