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Rapid Travel Chai: Delta and SkyTeam at FTUA SNA 2015
- 8. Ground Rules
1. Comments and questions should be applicable to
others in the audience
2. No customer service/irregular operations stories
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 9. My Delta Experience
Grew up in Minnesota as NWA flyer
Lived in China 8 years flying NWA
NYC-based, Delta as primary airline
Diamond Medallion and Million MilerDiamond Medallion and Million Miler
Flown most SkyTeam partners
Have had Silver, Gold and Platinums in the family
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 11. Should SkyMiles Be Your
SkyTeam Program?SkyTeam Program?
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 12. Air France/KLM FlyingBlue
Cons:
Customer service
Booking process
Pros:
Promo awards
Israel in Europe
Fees
Freeze accounts for
credit card transfers
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
Book AF first class
- 16. Awards on Delta Require
Delta Saver Award Availability
(but wait, it might be better than(but wait, it might be better than
for SkyMiles members)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 17. Delta SkyMiles
Cons:
No notice changes
Deceptive/mispricing
Pros:
One-way awards
Virgin Atlantic/Australia
Still broken website
Delta award prices
72-hour cancel rule
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 18. Delta is Also an Airline
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 19. Delta as an Airline
Cons:
Still a US airline
Non-elite customer
service
Pros:
In-flight experience
Solid operations
service
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
twitter @DeltaAssist
- 20. About Delta Customer Service
Call or twitter
email and website customer service forms are atrocious
Even missing mileage I call in to get resolved
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 21. Delta Cutting Off Interline Agreements
First American
Now Emirates
What next?
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 22. Delta Screwing With Seating/Updates
May 16, 2016 Comfort+ upgrade system
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 23. Separate PNRs for Travelers
Helps with individual upgrades
Hassles when things go wrong
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 24. But Pajamas are Coming
Hard to find any actual good news!
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 27. Where are the Promos?
Few promos since merger
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 28. The Promos are in Seattle
Occasional geographically targeted promos (Washington
state residents)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 29. By the Way, Seattle is Annoying!
Revenue and award tickets pushed to Seattle
From the East Coast that is 6 hours in a 737 (some 757s)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 33. Gold Medallion
+ Upgrades on award tickets
+ Same-day confirmed fee waiver
+ SkyTeam Elite Plus
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 35. Diamond Medallion
+ Sky Club Individual Membership
+ more Choice benefits
+ unofficial co-terminal SDC (LGA/JFK/EWR)
My take: much better than United 1K (upgrades & service)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
My take: much better than United 1K (upgrades & service)
- 37. Choice Benefits
Platinum 1 choice, Diamond 2 (plus Platinum)
Diamond Global Upgrades improved
Available when qualify – 2016 status good to 1/31/2017
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 40. SkyClub
Improved snacks, some have paid dining
Bartender hassle
Individual $450 or 70k miles
Executive $695 or 110k miles
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
Executive $695 or 110k miles
Diamond gets individual, 1 Choice Benefit to upgrade
Amex Delta Reserve (+2 guests)
Amex Platinum cardholder only (not Amex Delta Platinum)
- 41. SkyTeam Elite and Elite Plus
Delta Silver = Elite, Gold and up = Elite Plus
Elite gets Sky Priorty-type things
Elite Plus gets lounge access + 1 companion on same-day
international travel (not 3rd-party lounges for economy)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 42. Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse
Transatlantic to London biz class on Virgin or Delta
Gold in economy: JFK, EWR, IAD, BOS, SFO
Platinum & Diamond in economy: + LHR, LGW
Gold and above: 1 guest
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
Gold and above: 1 guest
- 49. AF/KL to Africa, North, South, East, West
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 51. China Southern to Central Asia and Siberia
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 54. But How to Book SkyMiles Awards?
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 55. How to Book SkyMiles Awards
Go to Tiffany’s Award Booking sessions
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 56. What’s New in Awards
One-way awards
No free stopover
Website mispicing many awards (still)
5 award price levels (as of now)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
5 award price levels (as of now)
Award charts gone
Intermittent, unofficial 21-day domestic saver award cap
Promo discount routes from 10k one-way
Many more partners online
- 57. The Old Rules Still Apply
Know what an award should cost
Don’t relay on calendar (but it is improved)
Search segment by segment
Call if website is wrong
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
Call if website is wrong
Call back if agent is clueless
Don’t ever agree to be sent to delta.com web support
- 61. Partner Airlines Principles
Group 1 airlines have good earning, 2-4 terrible
New: MQDs based on distance flown
Delta-coded flights earn as Delta
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 62. Partner Airlines Awards
Partner awards price at low award level
Many Delta agents don’t know how to book partners
Call Delta to get partner PNR (Korean RSVN 8-digit #)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 63. Partner Airlines with Fuel Surcharges
Aeroflot (especially domestic)
Air Europa
Air Tahiti Nui
China Airlines
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
China Airlines
China Eastern (massive, nearly same for biz and economy)
China Southern (slightly less than China Eastern)
Kenya Airways
- 64. Partner Airlines Call to Book
Air Europa
Air Tahiti Nui
Czech Airlines
Kenya Airways
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
Kenya Airways
Tarom
Xiamen Airlines
*And always check case by case and if website working
- 65. Partner Airlines Blackout Dates
China Airlines
China Southern (new, most of the year)
Korean (peak dates replacing blackout)
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 66. AeroMexico (Group 1)
New Joint Venture application – expect more to come
Lie-flat Dreamliner New York – Mexico City
Flights to Tokyo and Shanghai
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 67. Air France (Group 1)
Missing trans-Atlantic award space
Indian ocean network
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 68. KLM (Group 1)
Seat assignment issues (even on Delta metal out of AMS)
Gate upgrades to premium economy
Long AMS lounge shower waits
Missing trans-Atlantic award space
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
Missing trans-Atlantic award space
- 69. Alitalia (Group 1)
Better experience than assumed but chaotic
Poor IT links with partners, Rome transit a pain
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 70. Gol (Group 1, non-SkyTeam)
Dumpy experience
Orlando flight to Brazil
Good award availability
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 71. Virgin Atlantic (Group 1, non-SkyTeam)
Great award availability
Fun, noisy flight experience
Great lounges, even at Newark
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 72. Virgin Australia (Group 1, non-SkyTeam)
Great award availability, when working
Absurdly overpriced awards for Australia domestic
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 73. Air Europa (Group 2)
Overlooked Europe option
Generic EU-style flight experience
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 74. Kenya Airways (Group 2)
Good award availability, hard to get agents to book
Not great, but neither is Ethiopian
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 75. Middle East Airlines (Group 2)
Regional flights
Pastel uniforms
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 76. Saudia (Group 2)
Still good award availability
Transit times and process a pain, no more transit visas
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 78. Aeroflot (Group 3)
Great award availability, fastest NYC to Maldives
Better experience than expected
Surcharges makes domestic awards absurd, use Avios on S7
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 79. Aerolineas Argentinas (Group 3)
Reportedly unreliable
Argentina domestic tickets others very expensive
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 80. China Airlines (Group 3)
The Taiwan-based SkyTeam airline, not mainland China
New planes on the way
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 81. China Eastern (Group 3)
Massive fuel surcharges on awards
Shanghai Airlines awards possible but poor availability
Delta co-locating at Shanghai PVG and expanding presence
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 82. China Southern (Group 3)
Also big fuel surcharges on awards
Better than Lucky says
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 85. Vietnam Airlines (Group 3)
Decent Southeast Asia option
Revenue tickets buy from airline, not OTAs to save $$$
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 86. Xiamen Airlines (Group 3)
Regional Chinese airline
“The soaring egret leads you to a wider world”
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 87. Xiamen Airlines (Group 3)
Regional Chinese airline
“The soaring egret leads you to a wider world”
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 88. Alaska (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Devolving frenemy relationship
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 89. Great Lakes (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Regional US airline
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 90. Hawaiian (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Inter-island flights only
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 92. WestJet (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Earn only, no awards
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 93. Air Tahiti Nui (No group, non-SkyTeam)
Awards only, no earn
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 96. Amex Delta Cards
Delta Reserve $30/60k = 15/30k transferrable MQMs
Delta Platinum $25/50k = 10/20k MQMs
Reserve/Platinum companion certificates are ok
Gold card is crapGold card is crap
Targeted sign-ups for elites
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 98. Hertz
Delta elites gets Hertz elite status
Bonus rental mileage earnings
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 100. Why I Sort-Of Stick With Delta
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 101. I Have Been Sort-Of Boycotting Delta
Delta’s arrogance really irritates me
No notice changes
Deceptive practices and website that fleece customers
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 102. Why I Haven’t Cut the Cord
United is decrepit and dispirited
American is hardly a NYC hub anymore
Diamond customer service and upgrades are great
SkyTeam works for me, especially in AsiaSkyTeam works for me, especially in Asia
SkyMiles value on partners
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 103. This is What I Get on United
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved
- 104. And I Listen to Gary Leff
Gary’s preferred US airline:
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved