(newbie question) Which Mileage Program in Skyteam?
 

Hello there,

after reading this forum for a while, I have a (admittedly maybe newbie-like) question about the mileage programs in Skyteam.

I am about to fly a few legs on DL and will probably be doing some more Skyteam legs in the future. Since I am with M&M, CO is somewhat out, but I am looking at SkyMiles and FlyingBlue. Currently I am based at ORD but I´ll soon be in Germany for a longer time, so I guess a critical point is how much SkyMiles is worth if youre not based out of the States.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

CONs
Skymiles has a lot of partnerships, but you can't really enjoy several of them if you are based outside US/North America.
Flying 'discounted' - discounted??? - economy with AFKL and some other skyteam partner can be a problem: no Medallion Qualification miles or segments on some classes.
DL requires more miles and more segments for elite qualification.

PROs
https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...ance/index.jsp

CO will join *A later in 2009. Other posters have recommended using an Alaskan account to bank flights from miscellaneous flights if you are not going to have enough to get status.
If you really want to join a ST program then OK+ might be a good choice. Both AFKL and DLNW are currently in a race to the bottom with their programs.

OK+ sounds really interesting and I am going to look at AS - didn't even know you can earn miles with them on skyteam. thanks!

At the moment, OK+ is the clear choice, especially if you're planning to do any amount of intra-Europe travelling (comp upgrades).

However, be aware that CSA are in the process of being privatised, which may mean changes coming our way.

dont mean to hijack, but does OK+ allow to credit miles of flights done prior to sign-up? I did 2 domestic hops on AM and 1 on AS (LAX-CUN) in the last week and haven't credited them (AS did not accept my Asia miles card of CX :confused: , and for AM i put my card deep in my suitcase:rolleyes:).

those are my 1st flight on ST in a longlong time, but i think i might have to do few more this year - so i should pick a program (and actually credit flights to it that i take.. :p)

Just curious if anyone has any suggestions for program, I am a complete Skyteam newbie. I'm going to be relocating to Moscow and doing a lot of flying on Aeroflot. I'm primarily interested in getting lounge access down the road. What would be best?

If that includes domestic flying on SU, join their programme for lounge access. Ditto if you can get one of their cobranded credit or debit cards in Russia.

Otherwise, OK Plus would probably be the answer.

OK+ will offer retroactive credit for up to 6 months back, but only on OK flights. Once you have the card, you can get points from and SkyTeam flight, but the retroactive clause requires them to be Czech Airlines. At least this is what I was told at their main Prague offices.

One nice benefit of OK+ is that points don't expire if you use the account once every 3 years.

thanks!

I signed up with them the day before i flew on AM. told them my OK number at check-in, miles posted with no problem ^

let's see how long it takes until I get my actual card sent to Bangkok :D