STLSpidey

With apologies to the world of talk radio - long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm heading to India and the Philippines in October and am trying to maximize SkyTeam miles, as I'm a Delta Platinum. I'm limited in that my first stop must be Chennai (MAA). There is no Skyteam flight from outside India direct to Chennai that I've found. Since flights to India typically arrive evening or middle of the night, going to DEL or BOM or BLR and changing planes adds considerable time.

It seems like my best option for SkyTeam to Chennai is Delta from STL to ATL to DXB and then Emirates to MAA. I'm ending up in Delhi, so I can take China Southern from DEL through CAN to MNL, and then Delta home on a number of routes. Thus all routes net me Delta miles except for the DXB-MAA route.

I guess I'm looking for input on two topics. First, does anyone know of a better Skyteam way to get to Chennai? Second, with a connect time in Dubai of 75 minutes, what are thoughts on the risk of checked bags? It's a 15 day trip and, even with hotel laundry, a carry-on is pushing it. I've had good luck with checked baggage on prior similar trips, but I've never changed carriers and I don't know DXB.

Thanks.

gotofly

Make sure your flight leaves from DXB and not sharjahan and 75 minutes is cutting close as you have to clear immigration

Supersonic Swinger

I think Saudia flies direct from RUH to MAA. The Delta website doesn't list them (for political reasons?) but Delta is listed as a partner on Saudia's site (http://www.saudiairlines.com/portal/...00d59618acRCRD)

Hopefully if you speak to someone knowledgeable at Delta's RTW desk they should be able to get you on these, report back on here either way.

Supersonic Swinger

Based on this post (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18964803-post173.html) looks like you should be able to include Saudia flights on your RTW...

MSPeconomist

Saudia and Middle Eastern Airlines are both now officially in SkyTeam. There have been reports of DL phone agents booking these carriers successfully. Check visa rules for your particular itinerary. Instead of CZ through CAN you might want to consider KE through ICN if this is a legal routing.

KQ321

For planning this kind of trip, I always start with the SkyTeam downloadable timetable. (You could also use their online 'Find Flights' tool, but personally I much prefer the downloadable version).

According to said timetable, SV fly 3x weekly from RUH to MAA, and 1x weekly DMM to MAA.

It seems this will be the OP's only option to reach MAA, if they want to stick to ST metal.

The OP didn't explicitly say they were looking at RTW fare, but assuming they are, note that according to the fare rules for SkyTeam RTW fares, the mileage for 'surface sectors' (including sectors that are flown, but on tickets other than the RTW ticket) counts towards the MPM for the RTW ticket.

And of course - welcome to FlyerTalk, STLSpidey!

MSPeconomist

Yes, welcome to FT. You are indeed a long time lurker. We hope to see more of you around here, including information on how the trip to Chennai works out.

David Carpenter

I have a similar problem. Atlanta to Chennai in February. I can go ATL to DXB. From there the choices are pretty limited. The best bet looks like Emirates. However, I can't get Delta miles on Emirate. I can get Alaska Air or Korean Air miles. Is there a way to book the flight with either of those and get it credited to my Delta Account?

MSPeconomist

Probably not, but to be sure you could check all possible codeshares for the Emirates flights you plan to take and then check whether any of them would allow for DL miles, but in general a partner of my partner is not my partner.

Alaska's FF program also allows AA flights to credit, among others, and has somewhat different redemption rules and availability than using DL miles, so having a small stash of Alalska miles can be handy as long as preventing their expiration doesn't become costly.

Similarly, it could be good to have some KE miles in addition to DL. This would be your only possibility to obtain an IFC award on KE. Moreover, if you want to travel TPAC or within Asia/Pacific during shoulder season, KE will allow you to use their miles for award tickets and upgrades during some dates that DL blacks out for award travel on KE. (The problem is that DL imposes a KE-systemwide blackout for any date on which KE has a blackout for some route in some direction.)

Gynob001

I took the US-CDG-BLR and took local airlines to Chennai just a week back. I felt it was easier than multiple airlines and connections. Besides, I think I got extra bonus miles. The problem was Bangalore, as the security would not allow to the departure/check-in area 3 hours before the flight but if you could get a boarding pass print out by the local carrier, you could enter the area and rest.

spc354

That would be my suggestion too.
Cheers