Best SkyTeam option for European residents

Being in Amsterdam, Skyteam is of particular interest to me. Amsterdam Schiphol serves as the base for KLM Airlines and the international hub for Delta Airlines, both of which are part of the Skyteam alliance.

Moving to Amsterdam, one might consider changing his FFP to KLMś Flying Blue; which may be a good option.

In this post, I try to compare Deltaś SkyMiles program with KLMś Flying Blue, and try to pick a winner for Dutch (or even EU) residents.

Evaluate your forthcoming travel:

Before considering frequent flyer programs, it is a good idea to estimate the travel one would undertake over the coming year. Based in AMS, I would have at least 2 AMS-BOM return trips. Delta serves a direct flight on this path, but will cease operations to BOM in April. This means that each AMS-BOM return journey would involve at least 4 segments (AMS - <some_airport> - BOM and back). Each return trip would also be providing me with about 9000 miles.

Set your goals:

Before choosing an alliance and sticking with it, it is imperative to have a clear goal in mind. What do I aim at achieving by the end of the year? Do I want Elite status, or do I just want miles for free travel? Are upgrades important? Do I need/want lounge access (at what airport)?

These goals can help in calculations and make it easier to quantify the returns on joining an airlineś frequent flyer program.

Make some gross calculations (consider all earning opportunities):

Case 1 : Flying Blue:

The Flying Blue program ensures great availability in AMS. Also, getting Elite status with them, can help in accessing KLMs crown lounges at Amsterdam Schiphol.

Flying Blue has a lower number of segments needed for Elite statuses (15 for Silver, 30 for gold) when compared to Delta. Since I will be making at least 8 (4*2) segments by traveling on AMS-BOM-AMS, this is a great option for me. Moreover getting a Flying Blue co-branded card from American Express can provide me with additional qualifying flights (See: http://earnandburnmiles.blogspot.nl/2015/01/a-comparison-of-travel-credit-cards-in.html), making reaching Elite tiers using qualifying flights easier.

It is also possible to gain status using qualifying miles. 2 AMS-BOM-AMS segments will provide me with about 18.000 level miles. For me, getting to 25.000 miles for silver becomes difficult even with the level miles provided by the Flying Blue AMEX.

One fact to note is that KLM does not credit 100% mileage for all fares. So traveling in cheaper cabins will be far less rewarding when compared to SkyMiles. If one aims at accumulating miles for redemption on free/cheap tickets, KLM is certainly a bad choice.

Case 2: Delta SkyMiles:

I love SkyMiles as Delta makes earning miles ridiculously easy. Almost all fare classes accumulate 100% miles, which can cause a swell in your mile balance. Also Deltaś miles do not expire at all. Using an American Express charge card (or EuroDollar card), one can earn Membership Rewards that can be transferred to SkyMiles (See: http://earnandburnmiles.blogspot.nl/2015/01/a-comparison-of-travel-credit-cards-in.html).

This makes me believe that DL SkyMiles is of great value for anyone not interested in statuses, but in using miles for free travel. Do note that using SkyMiles on DL flights can be very expensive (and that DL charges a fuel surcharge for non-US originating flights). However it is a great idea to burn SkyMiles on travel with other Skyteam partners (including KLM) as it is much cheaper.

Verdict:

For me, Delta seems to be a great choice for travelers who aim at getting status using qualifying miles (as the requirements are almost the same as those of Flying Blue). Also, it is very easy to accumulate DL miles, as they provide 100% accrual for almost all fare classes. Since I travel in Economy most of the time, DL is what I would put my money on.

For anyone who travels on more expensive tickets, or wants to gain status using qualifying flights, KLMś flying blue is a great option. The American Express Flying Blue cards can help by providing additional qualifying flights (and qualifying miles).

Transferring PremierMiles to an airline partner

I have been a holder of the PremierMiles card offered by Citibank India for some time. This is one of the rare reward earning credit cards in India which is airline agnostic.

2014 ended on a negative note with Citibank announcing a massive devaluation of the reward points earned with this card. The value of every PremierMile will be halved with effect from February 1^st, 2015. This leaves card holders with some time to transfer points to airline partners, before the value of every PremierMile is reduced.

PremierMiles can be transferred to many airline partners including -

• Delta SkyMiles
• Etihad Guest Miles
• British Airways Avios

Although there are several other transfer partners, I have listed the ones that matter the most to me. In this post, I try to find out the best partner to transfer reward points to.

Before examining every airline partner individually, I would like to analyze the trips I will probably make over the coming year. Based in Amsterdam (AMS), I will have at least 2 AMS-BOM-AMS trips. Besides I will have several intra-Europe trips to destinations like London, Brussels and Paris.

Delta SkyMiles:

The SkyMiles program from Delta has several positive aspects. DL is very generous in mileage earning with many fare classes earning 100% mileage. Another positive with DL is lifelong validity of SkyMiles.

DL SkyMiles are especially important to me as AMS is a major Skyteam hub

The points mentioned above make Delta seem to be a strong contender. However, DL is known to be stingy with award redemptions. There are very few award seats released and most of them are extremely expensive. Let us consider a travel from AMS to BOM and back, somewhere during March, 2015. (using the 5 week calendar functionality)

Availability	Decent (Mostly available)
Minimum miles needed	77.500 (with €482,09 taxes)
Maximum miles needed	100.000 (with €301,45 taxes)
Average miles needed	~86.000 (with €350 taxes)

That seems pretty expensive!!!

PROS	CONS
100 % accrual on many fares	Expensive! (both with miles and cash)
Lifelong validity of miles	Surcharge for non-US originating flights
Decent availability (including partners)	Ceases operations to BOM in Apr, 2015

Etihad Guest:

Etihad airlines is known to provide a great experience when aboard and has been the recipient of the Worldś leading airline for many years in a row. Although not a part of any alliance, they have strong code share agreements with many leading airlines.

They also have a partnership with Indiaś Jet Airways (9W), which makes it possible (and often more economic) to redeem Etihad Guest miles on 9W flights.

I made a similar search for a flight from AMS to BOM and back in March, and this is what I found:

Availability	Poor (mostly not available)
Minimum miles needed	20.200 (with €342.34 taxes)
Maximum miles needed	47.000 (with €342,34 taxes)
Average miles needed	~34.000 (with €342,34 taxes)

I could not find any outgoing flight from AMS during March, so I just doubled the details shown on the inbound leg (to estimate the costs for a return fare). However, the redemption chart for Etihad Guest miles on 9W flights is cheaper than the JetPrivilege redemption chart for 9W flights!

Also Guest miles can be used on 9W operated flights from BRU (so I would consider the availability to be fair/average instead of poor).

Summarizing:

PROS	CONS
Great airline to fly with	Miles expire in 2 years
Decent-Good redemptions with partners	Low availability on Etihad itself
Flies to so many destinations (from Abu Dhabi)

British Airways Executive Club:

BA travels to many destinations from LHR/LCY. They have a great redemption rate of 4500 avios for many short haul flights. This means that I can travel within the EU for 9000 avios (return fare).

BA has a good service record, but does include fuel surcharges for flights originating outside the UK.

Performing the same search yields:

Availability	Good
Average miles needed	59.000 (with €393 taxes)

The journey involves a stop in London (where some people might need transit visas and every passenger has to pay the extra fee for using Heathrow airport).

Verdict:

For me Etihad seems to provide the lowest fare, and hence the most bang for my buck. Although their availability is lower than BA or DL, their partnerships make for a great opportunity to redeem miles. BA seems like a great contender for short haul flights and is part of the OneWorld alliance (which has some great partners).

 It seems I will be transferring my miles to Etihad. Do let me know if you have more inputs regarding transfer of PremierMiles.