DL vs CI FFP
 

Until now my parents and I had been flying mostly *A airliners, but we are going from Taiwan to several cities in the US this summer and DL has the cheapest airfare. We already possess a FFP with CI but with very low miles. If we are going to fly Skyteam predominantly from now on, which FFP is better, DL or CI? Please advise. Thanks!

I'd go with DL for sure, even though I'm not quite familiar with CI's DF, but DL miles don't expire.

Between the two, DL... better earning channels (shopping, transfer partners), CI status is hard to obtain and maintain, and the award chart isn't what one would call "friendly".

IMHO, it's not so much that DL has a superior FFP, but rather CI's FFP isn't great to begin with.

Even with CI's temporarily reduced thresholds for elite status I would still go with DL. If you fly higher Y fares or PE/C/F on a regular basis I'd also consider AF/KL. They have nice earning rates on higher fares.

Unless you always fly with CI for direct flight purposes, go with DL.

The 'only' advantage I can think of for CI's program is that you can earn at 40% on the cheap intra-Asia fares. I know CZ is notorious for selling fares that don't earn anything on of the most Skyteam programs but earn at 40% on CI, CZ, and MU programs.

DL will be better if you do a lot of domestic flying in USA with complimentary upgrades, but CI may have better earning potential for inter-Asia.