Who has compared the SkyTeam member programs? If you could start all over again with the "best"....which one would you choose and why?

Am I allowed to say NW?

I haven't compared all programs, but for the three big ones, Delta, KLM/Air France and Alitalia I am sticking with Alitalia because while you earn full miles flown on Delta, it has low, medium and high redemption, and earning miles on KLM/Air France seems ridiculous if you fly on discount economy giving you only 25% of miles flown on its own metal. At least on Alitalia you only need 20,000 to reach elite status and flying on its own metal will earn you at minimum 50% on the most discounted ticket.

I guess you have to weight the pros and cons of each according to what trade offs you are comfortable with.

VERY IMPORTANT:

If anyone is considering DL, be sure to check out the changes that were announced today. It's posted on delta.dumb (the DL website) and is being discussed in several threads over in the DL forum. In brief, the changes are as follows:

Starting March 1, 2013, changes in status miles (not redeemable miles apparently)earned for several fare classes. These apply to tickets purchased after March 1 for DL flights and flights flown after March 1 for partners' equivalent fare classes:

M (cheapest fare eligible for international upgrades with miles or SWUs) decreased from 150% to 100%

F (full fare domestic FC) and J (full fare business class) increased from 150% to 200%.

Starting January 1, 2014 (for earning status for 2015 and beyond) for USA residents/mailing addresses only, either $25,000 spend on a (USA) DL AmEx or meeting spending criteria for elite levels based on fares plus carrier imposed fees (fuel surcharges, etc.) on DL flights, DL marketed flights, and partner flights ticketed on DL 006 stock (not counting consolidator fares, etc.):
$2500 for Silver (FO)
$5000 for Gold (GM)
$7500 for Platinum (PM)
$12,500 for Diamond (DM)

ALSO, large decreases in MQM for several Skyteam partner airlines, including KE where MQM on low business went to 75% and and economy to 50%. With those changes in mind, any recommendations for best Skyteam program for someone who is based in the US but flies a lot on non-DL Skyteam member airlines? FB seems like the redemption rates are too awful. Is Alitalia the best choice?

If you go with the AZ FF program, you need to deal with AZ to book and change award tickets. Also, Italian law apparently requires that AZ "sunset" the program and start fresh every few years. This just happened; there's a thread on this strange custom somewhere here on FT.

I think so. Based on redemption and earning rates. It's also easier to get status on Alitalia: basically only one transatlantic flight in Premium Economy on Alitalia (or possibly mix Air France - Alitalia) will get you upgraded to Ulisse, if that matters to you. ^


The law requires only the program itself to be four years in length, at which point another four year program is started. Italian law is silent on actual expiry of the miles. They miles will expire, as in other programs like Flying Blue, if you don't fly at all in a certain amount of time.

The whole point of being a member in a FF program is that you are a frequent flyer, and hence you wouldn't be hoarding miles past four years in the first place.

I am considering AS Mileage Plan.

AS has a lot of pluses, but it is not a Skyteam member and likely never will be one. Depending on your travel and redemption pattern and award-vs-benefits priority, it can be great or awful.

Pros:
1. It's promiscuous. You have both a number of Skyteam and oneworld partners, plus some non-alliance partners like Icelandair and Emirates.
2. EQM status miles on some major partners: Delta, LAN, and I think AF/KLM counts for EQM on AS even though AS doesn't count for them.
3. Upgrades on Delta.
4. Some elite benefits on Delta and American comparable to their elites.
5. Some reciprocity on paid lounge membership.
6. Awards options available on partners including an AS connection.

Cons:
1. It's not promiscuous enough. You are missing many Skyteam and oneworld partners.
2. Some big gaps with many non-EQM partners: no EQM on BA, QF, CX, KE for example.
3. You are behind the lowest Delta Silver Medallion for upgrades even if you are an AS MVP Gold 75K. That said, as a regular MVP Gold I once got a DL upgrade on a CR9 DEN-SLC so it's not impossible. Not that it was a great score!
4. Not full reciprocity on DL and AA elite benefits and no way to upgrade on AA.
5. No reciprocity on status-based lounge access. AS 75K isn't getting you into an Admiral's Club, Delta SkyClub, or any other oneworld or Skyteam lounge even on an international itinerary.
6. Awards can have only one partner plus AS (incl AlaskaHorizon regional) in the itinerary.

It's a viable option especially for USA-centered Delta flyers but not a full Skyteam (nor oneworld) replacement.

I did several dummy award booking on AS to Europe and South America from BOS. Plenty of options were shown in biz, mostly on AA.

Now we gonna do the same on DL....uh oh.

In the end, I value a free bag, exit row seating and a useful mileage redemption program. With the recent trashing of Skyteam mileage earning rate by DL, AS seems to win the loyalty battle.

Alitalia's miles can expire in as little as 6 months. For example, if you credit miles for a flight taken on December 31, 2012, you've got to use those miles (and all miles earned prior to that) by June 30, 2013. That's bad. The 24 month requirement is in addition to that "all miles expire every 4 years" facet of their program.

How about Aerom�xico's Club Premier?

For frequent flyers this is not an issue. It's only problematic if you are a hoarder. It is now 2013, which means any miles earned now are good for the next four years.

Holding miles for 6 months is not "hoarding." But whatever it is, it's an undesirable aspect of Alitalia's MilleMiglia program.

Moving back to Aerom�xico's program, anybody have any opinions on it? Elite tier thresholds look typical (50,000 miles in any 12 month period for SkyTeam Elite Plus), both elite and reward mileage earning looks generally better than Delta now, there's a 500 mile minimum earning per segment (and usually 625 miles minimum), and there are some decent partner tie-ins (like a U.S.-issued Visa credit card). Reward mileage levels look generally pretty good, and some of them are rather attractive. You must credit at least one flight every 24 months to keep the miles active, but the miles never expire if you do.

Looks pretty good to me.

Again, the miles don't expire in six months. If you earn miles in the final months of the program you have until six months after that to redeem them for a voucher which does NOT expire.

I 'd say Saudia. I have no idea about their redemption availability. But the earnings are great. 100% on Delta L,U,T (Even better than DL if you bought from agent). There are some 200% mileage on first class fares.