aero_ub

I'm fairly new to all this and don't really understand for sure how this all works yet.

I am signed up for the frequent flyer programs for Continental, Delta and Northwest (among others). These are the most common for me out of BUF with Delta being the most. What I'm not sure is what else I need/should do? Is there anything to sign up for to be part of SkyTeam or are you just part of it as soon as you are signed up for any of the partners?

Also, can you pool miles from members within SkyTeam to use on reward flights? Say for example I have 20,000 miles on Delta, 10,000 miles on Continental and 5,000 miles on NW, can I somehow put them all together to use for a reward flight? Or do I have to wait till I have enough miles with any single airline and then I can book a flight that uses the other partners?

I'm just confused on what I should be doing and what is possible to do. Any input would be appreciated.

aero

DCA-John

The specifics can get complicated, but the basic benefits of Skyteam (or OneWorld or Star Alliance - the other global airline partnerships) are that you can pick one program within the network (Delta, NW, Continental, etc...) and then earn miles on all of them in a single program. So, for instance, if you have 20k miles in continental, 5k in NW and 10k in delta, there's not much you can do with the miles. If you had earned them all in a single airline, you would have enough for a domestic US or Caribbean reward

For example, I fly to Africa a lot and I usually take KLM. When I go to Latin America I take Continental, and when I go to Asia I take NW. I am able to pool all of those miles in NW, rather than having tiny pockets of miles everywhere.

The other benefit is elite status - by flying enough miles on NW, I reach elite status and get benefits like upgrades, access to lounges, bonus miles, etc... Skyteam recognizes each partner's elite status through a common level: skyteam elite and elite plus. So, as an elite plus, I get access to any skyteam member's lounge when traveling on a skyteam ticket

As for combining them - the short answer is "there's not an easy way to do it"
there are ways to transfer miles between programs, but there is usually a conversion penalty to do so. I would say at this point you are better off picking a program and staying with it for the future

DCA-John

PS: I just saw this in your post - you don't have to do anything to join skyteam - by being a member of an affiliates program, you will automatically get skyteam benefits.

I would recommend just staying with delta, since you have the most miles on them, and remember to give your delta frequent flyer number when you travel on NW, Continental, KLM, etc...

aero_ub

Thanks John...this is what I'm confused on. If I fly Continental I can give them my Delta frequent flier # instead of my Continental and I'll get miles into my delta account? I did not know you can do this but I had a feeling I might be missing something or doing something wrong.

bcmatt

Absolutely - see about earning with partner airlines on the Delta web site:
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/ways_t...ners/index.jsp

allenkeys

Just for clarity, you can earn Elite status by flying enough miles on any of the Skyteam partners - you can even earn status on your selected airline without ever flying with them - although you may lose out on airline specific benefits such as upgrades.

DCA-John

Good catch - I mistyped that

I probably fly less than 10% of my total miles on NW. the rest are on KLM, continental and other skyteam carriers...

cfischer

make sure your booking classes earn full miles with OP. Most airlines do not gives 100% miles anymore on all fares. Check all programs carefully and then decide which one is best for you. Gnoops has a nice ST comparsion website.

DCA-John

Skyteam is probably the best alliance for that - KLM, Delta, etc all earn full miles on all fare classes, and I get my 125% bonus as a plat

Korean air, air france and continental are a little difficult, but nothing like the other alliances

allenkeys

Can't speak for other programs, but for Delta Skymiles, there are various fare classes on partner airlines which earn reduced or no miles or MQM's (status miles. For instance, discounted CO fares on give 50% miles and MQM's, KLM N fares give nothing. Some Korean air classes (not sure which) give no miles but full MQM's.

I also believe that those KLM/AF members in Flying Blue get 25% MQM's on their own airline on some fare classes.

cfischer

correct, this is why I suggested to the OP to check the booking classes and airlines before selecting a program.

Jaimito Cartero

Generally the airline you fly on the most will be the one program you want to enroll in. At the highest level elite, some programs don't give you as much bonus miles. For instance, Delta only awards 100% bonus miles to their mid and top level elites, whereas CO and NW give 125%. If you fly 200k a year, that could amount to a 50K difference a year.

Also, keep in mind that if you want free upgrades, some programs have a much better success than others. I flew on CO to South America recently, and I was amazed that I was upgraded on the domestic connections, 5 days out. CO and NW both upgrade each other's elites for most North American flights, plus some latin/carribean locations.

karendor

I now realize that both CO and Delta are part of SkyTeam and I just racked up about 6K on CO. Can I get it switched to Delta miles, in order to use for a future Delta flight, or will I be greatly penalized.

Also, if I want to plan on a future flight that looks like it is codeshared by Delta and Air France, should it matter which of those I accumulate mileage with?

Sort of a newbie

karendor

MarkXS

Just saw this, don't frequent the ST forum much. Hope you get this or another answer. See below.

No, essentially impossible (ignoring the possible mileage transfers at very poor ratios via 3rd parties). Just continue to accumulate to CO whenever you fly any SkyTeam airline. You can use CO miles to request awards on DL, though you'll have to call CO OnePass to check for DL flights in most cases.

Neither, if you've already started accumulating to CO.

ONE PLAN PER ALLIANCE ONLY! That's the general rule (unless you're a very high-mileage flyer already top-level one one of the airlines.) Since you've started accumulating to CO, continue to accumulate to CO would be my advice. Use your CO number whenever you fly Delta, Northwest, KLM, Air France, Alitalia, Aeromexico or any of the other ST airlines. Do not "log in" to those other airline sites when you buy a ticket online (that, especially with Delta, automatically puts that own airline's FF# into the reservation.) You don't want to dilute your earnings within an alliance by accumulating across different airlines.

Five airlines with 5000 miles in each program is useless for anything. The same 25000 miles all in one airline program is a domestic capacity-controlled "saver" award.

bonoman

So I've been digging around for a while and trying to figure this out - even after e-mailing NW customer service. I've been flying Delta every week now for 15 weeks from MSP to CVG and just about to hit Medallion. I understand most parts of the SkyTeam alliance, but trying to figure out upgrades (or lack of).

When I hit Silver Elite with Delta, does that mean I can get upgraded to first class if I fly on Northwest? I don't see anything stating that I do, so I'm assuming not, but does anyone have a link for this? I do see that I'll get preferred seating, but it doesn't implicitly say upgrades.

Also, does it make sense then to keep flying Delta after I turn Silver (for preferred seating and the upgrades) but log the miles against NW WP? I'd do this then until I got my 25k EQMs with Northwest and then be eligible for those perks assuming my first question's thinking is correct?

My first post on FT, love these forums, and I'm a long time forums and internet user, but newbie here (yeah, I hate newbs too). I did some searching and googling and other DD, but couldn't find an obvious answer to these questions so TIA to anyone for their help.