thesaints

Can anybody tell me if it is possible to mix skyteam carriers when redeeming an award ticket ?
Example: US-Europe flying AF outbound and returning on DL.
Thanks

miro

Definitely. I have a trip booked for the next year where I fly AF on the outbound, OK between stopover points and DL on the way back.

CelticFlyer

Yes. In fact if you (say) book the return on DL and then want to change the date of the return but can only get availability on (say) AF on a *different* routing, that is OK too as long as the origination and destination points are the same are the original booking. SkyTeam awards are far more flexible than DL awards.

Dovster

What I found surprising was the ability to be routed through cities which are not part of any logical itinerary.

I am flying TLV-EWR-FLL (on Continental) which is, indeed, logical. On the way back, I want to spend a few weeks in Milan. There were no seats available on a Florida-MXP flight, so I was given the following itinerary:

MIA-CDG (on AF)
CDG-MXP (on AZ)
MXP-TLV (on AZ)

MIA-CDG-TLV would be a logical itinerary, as would MIA-MXP-TLV, but I don't think any airline would sell me a MIA-CDG-MXP-TLV ticket and consider it a single routing.

PhilC

Skyteam awards are very flexible. I'm using a combination of AF/KL/DL for a trip to Kenya. I asked for a stopover in CDG even though that's not the most direct route, and they had no problems routing me that way.

andymo99

Please share details on your dates and itineraries. I am currently planning a C or F award flight to Kenya and/or Tanzania. Availability is tough. What are your stopovers?

thesaints

then I have another question for all of you experts.
My experience with award tickets, up to now, has been that I call that skymiles phone number and then, if I want to travel on DL, I talk to somebody, and if I want AF I have to talk to somebody else. In fact, it has even happened that when there was no availability on DL and I asked "what about AF", the reply was "I have to transfer you to AF reservations".
That, I guess, means the person I was talking to had no way to check availability on AF.

So, how do you do this trick of booking on different airlines ? I wouldn't like to run the risk of booking half of the trip only to find a phone call later that the other half is not available.

Thank you so much for all the past replies and the future ones.

PS I'm surely casting my vote for Dovster. I know for a fact that every person on a plane is a believer at heart: just have one of the engines fail and you'll see.

PhilC

You need to choose the partner award option when calling. The agents at the partner award desk can look up availability on DL or any partner carrier and they (most of them anyway) are the most knowledgeable when it comes to more complex itineraries.

PhilC

Here's what my itinerary looks like:

Feb 15 AF65 LAX-CDG
Feb 21 AF2240 CDG-AMS
Feb 22 KL565 AMS-NBO
Feb 28 KL566 NBO-AMS
Mar 01 DL45 AMS-CVG
Mar 01 DL49 CVG-LAX

Availability is very tough for KL business seats. I'm only confirmed in coach for the AMS-NBO flight and hoping that KL may release additional seats as departure nears. Waitlisting isn't an option for the KL flights so I have to check back periodically. The morning CDG-AMS flights were not available on the 22nd so I have to fly CDG-AMS on the evening of the 21st. I asked if this was considered another stopover since I'm only allowed one, and the agent said no b/c it's within 24 hours of my AMS-NBO flight.

I've been using the NW availability lister http://usr.v7.com/wpaa/ to look for seats on KL and the results seem to be in line with what I was offered over the phone by DL. Perhaps someone else can confirm whether KL availability is the same using Skymiles as it is with Worldperks miles.

Availability to/from JRO seemed slightly better, but I was primarily interested in Kenya. When you are planning to go? Good luck!

andymo99

GREAT info Phil. Thanks for helping out. Looks like you have a great itinerary there.

My plan is to travel in May. I'd like to climb Kilimanjaro and do a safari as well. Plan are still falling into place.

120K miles for J strikes me as a great value. I can't see doing 160K for F as KL is only two class. Not sure if I will cross the Atlantic on AF, though, in which case F would be nice. Of course, if I depart from PHL, it is two class with the new J... oh, the choices.

Thanks again. Really very helpful.

obscure2k

Andymo99 When we did our safari in Kenya I was very happy that we went FC. The flight time (IIRC) from LHR was about 12 hours; that, after 10 hours from LAX/ LHR. Definitely start exploring all FC options ASAP. Also, consider a little side-trip to the Seychelles and flying back via Mahe. IMHO it is the perfect trip and you will welcome the beautiful waters and beaches after the rigorous safari.

chicagorich

I have not seen it on DL's website anywhere-is there a separate chart showing Skyteam awards..?

For instance, in *A, there is a separate chart which applies to all alliance members that delineates mileage requirements for various awards.

..

dspringer28

How many stopovers can you have? Can it be out of the way? (ie, If flying Austin to S. Africa, could I so a stop over in London?)

andymo99

Sound advice. However, service to that area tends to be on KL, which does not have F.

Cholula

andymo99, PhilC and anybody else planning or completing a trip to Kenya, pls post your ultimate results on obtaining award seats. We're contemplating a Kenya trip to burn off some Hilton points and the Hilton award doesn't include airfare to/from NBO.
As O2K stated, we're going to want to travel at least in Business if not FC. No time frame for the trip yet. It's still in the planning process and we will have ultimate flexibility when eventually booking the trip.
Thanks....