After welcoming Virgin Atlantic to the alliance earlier this 12 months, SkyTeam now has 19 member airways connecting virtually 350 million yearly passengers on greater than 10,000 day by day flights to 1,000-plus locations throughout 184 international locations.
SkyTeam, like opponents Star Alliance and Oneworld, is a bunch of airways that work collectively and permit frequent flyer members to earn and redeem miles throughout the community. In principle, if there’s award house, you need to be capable to redeem your rewards from one member’s program for flights on one other.
To get essentially the most out of airline alliances and maximize your factors and miles, you want to know how one can discover award availability throughout all of the airways in your alliance. Keep in mind that you do not have to make use of these websites to guide your award ticket, however they will help you discover award house to guide with one other loyalty program.
So, how do you seek for SkyTeam award house? Let’s take a look at 4 of the very best websites to seek for SkyTeam awards.
SkyTeam overview
This is the record of the 19 airways which might be a part of SkyTeam. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Aeroflot was suspended from the alliance.
- Aerolineas Argentinas.
- Aeromexico.
- Air Europa.
- Air France.
- China Airways.
- China Japanese Airways.
- Czech Airways.
- Delta Air Strains.
- Garuda Indonesia.
- ITA Airways.
- Kenya Airways.
- KLM Royal Dutch Airways.
- Korean Air.
- Center East Airways.
- Saudia.
- Tarom.
- Vietnam Airways.
- Virgin Atlantic.
- XiamenAir.
At a fundamental stage, utilizing SkyTeam miles is easy: Use one airline’s miles to fly with one other airline within the alliance. Nonetheless, some airways within the alliance restrict the provision of award seats for accomplice bookings, and a few might solely launch award seats to companions inside a sure timeframe earlier than departure. When trying to find award house, maintain these limitations in thoughts.
Associated: Your final information to looking out award availability for the most important airways
A phrase on dynamic pricing and accomplice award house
When trying to find award house on SkyTeam airways, you want to remember that the most important loyalty packages within the alliance, like Delta SkyMiles and Air France-KLM Flying Blue, use dynamic award pricing as an alternative of normal award charts. Which means that award ticket costs fluctuate based mostly on elements like the price of a paid ticket and passenger load. In distinction, many airways in Star Alliance and Oneworld have normal award charts the place all awards with Saver house are priced on the similar level.
SkyTeam’s dynamic pricing means award ticket costs will typically differ relying on the SkyTeam accomplice you guide with.
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Some lesser-known SkyTeam carriers like Korean Air and Czech Airways use an ordinary award chart for his or her redemptions, however since these packages do not take part in bank card level transfers, they’re out of date for many U.S.-based flyers.
In abstract, the award costs for one SkyTeam airline will not be the identical as what you may see when looking out different SkyTeam award packages. To search out the very best pricing to your desired flight, consider your choices and run a number of searches throughout completely different SkyTeam companions.
With that out of the way in which, let’s have a look at the web sites you’ll be able to make the most of to seek out SkyTeam award availability.
Associated: Your full information to SkyTeam alliance advantages
AirFrance.us or KLM.com
Flying Blue, the loyalty program of SkyTeam members similar to Air France and KLM, gives among the finest on-line instruments for locating SkyTeam award seats. The web site has not too long ago been up to date to incorporate wholly Delta Air Strains-operated flights, which have been beforehand not searchable.
When utilizing Flying Blue to seek for award tickets, needless to say you should seek for awards on both AirFrance.us or KLM.com. Each web sites have the identical award house and pricing however completely different layouts.
Keep away from Flying Blue phantom award house with award ticket holds
Whereas it is not as dangerous of a problem because it as soon as was, Air France and KLM’s web sites generally present phantom award house. That is once you discover an award ticket on a provider’s web site, however once you guide it, you’re met with an error and can’t guide the ticket.
Happily, Flying Blue gives free ticket holds on most award tickets. The maintain length varies relying on the agent, however usually it is for 72 hours.
We suggest placing your award ticket on maintain earlier than transferring miles to Flying Blue from American Specific Membership Rewards, Chase Final Rewards, Capital One miles or Citi ThankYou Rewards. This may make sure you don’t switch factors to guide a ticket solely to seek out that the award house doesn’t exist.
Associated: The simplest airline miles to earn and why you need them
Ebook Promo Rewards
Flying Blue gives discounted tickets on choose routes by way of a month-to-month promotion known as Promo Rewards. The gross sales change each month, and all tickets should begin or finish in Europe. We routinely see economic system and business-class tickets to Europe for lower than 15,000 and 45,000 miles, respectively. Solely Flying Blue members can guide Promo Rewards tickets, and the low cost and award house will not carry over to different SkyTeam loyalty packages like Delta SkyMiles.
Associated: Low-cost awards to Europe: This month’s Flying Blue Promo Rewards
Flying Blue stopover
If you wish to spend greater than 24 hours on the airport the place you have got your connection, Flying Blue gives free stopovers for as much as one 12 months on its award tickets wholly operated by Air France and/or KLM. So as to add a stopover to your eligible Flying Blue itinerary, name the Flying Blue service line at 1-800-375-8723.
Can I guide tickets discovered with Flying Blue on different SkyTeam carriers?
You possibly can usually guide award tickets discovered on the KLM web site with different SkyTeam carriers like Aeromexico. Nonetheless, there are some exceptions, similar to costly awards. A 65,000-mile, one-way transatlantic business-class flight on KLM probably will not be obtainable on the Saver stage by way of different SkyTeam carriers.
Associated: Ebook this, not that: SkyTeam award tickets
Looking with Flying Blue (on KLM.com)
To seek for award house on Flying Blue, go to Air France or KLM’s web site. After you log in, choose “Ebook with Miles.” Depart the departure date clean to see the award calendar view.
Right here’s Flying Blue’s month-to-month calendar view of availability from San Francisco Worldwide Airport (SFO) to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) in enterprise class:
Delta.com
Utilizing Delta.com as a SkyTeam award search engine will not be totally complete and will not present correct seat availability for companions. Whereas Delta reveals some accomplice airline seats properly, the Flying Blue engine tends to point out extra correct outcomes.
Accomplice awards seen on Delta.com ought to be bookable by different SkyTeam carriers. The Delta web site can generally discover advanced itineraries and essentially the most obtainable award flights, however be cautious of excessive costs for worldwide Delta One tickets. That stated, if you’re versatile, it’s possible you’ll discover good offers on sure routes, together with some economic system tickets.
Associated: The way to redeem miles with the Delta SkyMiles program
Use Delta for affordable home award tickets
Utilizing Delta SkyMiles to guide low cost home itineraries may be a good way to maximise SkyMiles. These offers are normally obtainable on low-demand dates however may be discovered on numerous routes all year long. We usually discover the very best offers on medium-distance routes with excessive flight frequencies, like New York to Chicago.
As an illustration, a seek for a flight from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Chicago’s O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD) departing two months out confirmed flights for simply 7,500 miles one-way. In comparison with different packages that cost 12,500 miles or extra for a similar route, that is a fantastic deal. You may even discover cheaper flights, however be aware that Delta gives fundamental economic system awards, so you may probably be reserving into this class on ultra-cheap award tickets.
Associated: The way to survive fundamental economic system on Delta Air Strains
Delta SkyMiles flash gross sales
Like Flying Blue’s Promo Rewards, Delta often gives limited-time offers known as SkyMiles flash gross sales that assist you to fly between sure cities at a lower cost. These offers are unique to Delta, so you will not be capable to guide them on the similar value with one other SkyTeam program. They do not observe a particular schedule, so it is a good suggestion to bookmark the web site and test it periodically for brand spanking new offers.
Looking with Delta.com
Trying to find award tickets on Delta.com is straightforward. Simply head to the Delta web site and enter your search standards on the middle of the display. Test the field subsequent to the “Store with Miles” choice and click on “Superior Search” to specify your reserving class. Click on the purple arrow button once you’re able to run your search.
While you seek for award journey on Delta’s web site, it defaults to “My dates are versatile.” That is helpful as a result of you’ll be able to see per week’s price of award pricing on the following display. To see a month’s price of award pricing, click on on the “Value Calendar” choice on the prime of the display.
When you discover a date that fits you, click on on it and faucet “Proceed.” You will see award pricing for all lessons and flights on that day. Choose the choice that fits you greatest.
By default, Delta reveals the most cost effective tickets first, however look by way of all of your choices earlier than reserving your flight.
Associated: 16 simple methods to earn extra Delta SkyMiles
KoreanAir.com
Korean Air Skypass works in another way than Flying Blue and Delta SkyMiles as a result of it makes use of an ordinary award chart as an alternative of dynamic pricing.
You need to use the Korean Air web site to seek out award house to guide with different SkyTeam companions. Nonetheless, the Korean Air engine just isn’t at all times correct, and you should seek for round-trip itineraries. Moreover, you’ll be able to’t switch any of the most important bank card level currencies to Korean Air. Nonetheless, discovering Saver award house on SkyTeam airways may be helpful.
Associated: The way to guide award flights with Korean Air Skypass
Looking with KoreanAir.com
After logging into your Korean Air Skypass account, click on “Mileage Reserving” and “SkyTeam awards.”
There are three class choices: economic system, Status (like enterprise class) and first. Delta’s home first-class tickets are thought-about top notch, whereas Delta One is taken into account Status class on worldwide routes.
When you plan to guide with one other loyalty program, write down the flight numbers and name your airline to guide your ticket. Once more, Korean Air doesn’t at all times have essentially the most correct award house, but it surely’s one of many solely search engines like google and yahoo that can present you how one can discover Saver award house for many SkyTeam companions.
ExpertFlyer
TPG’s mother or father firm, Crimson Ventures, additionally owns ExpertFlyer, a search instrument that means that you can search for award house on a number of airways, similar to SkyTeam members like Czech Airways and Korean Air. Primarily based on my expertise, ExpertFlyer is essentially the most exact methodology for looking out award house, making the month-to-month subscription price worthwhile.
This journey instrument is amongst my prime picks and has enabled many TPG group members to safe award tickets or upgrades throughout numerous SkyTeam airways. Nonetheless, it is vital to do not forget that whereas the web site allows you to seek for availability, you can not truly guide the flights by way of it. As a substitute, you should proceed to the person rewards program you want to use for redeeming factors or miles and full the ticket reservation there.
Associated: The way to use ExpertFlyer alerts to snag a greater seat
Backside line
Trying to find SkyTeam award stock may be difficult since three of the alliance’s essential airways (Delta, Air France and KLM) use dynamic award pricing. It isn’t at all times clear when these flights can be found by way of accomplice packages, although you may ceaselessly see that the lowest-priced awards are bookable throughout the alliance.
We suggest utilizing Flying Blue miles for worldwide SkyTeam awards and Delta SkyMiles for home Delta tickets as a result of they usually supply the very best redemption charges. Nonetheless, remember to test charges on Virgin Atlantic, as some awards could also be a bit decrease with Virgin factors.
As a reminder, this text is simply about discovering seat availability, not which program’s miles to make use of. To maximise redemption worth, evaluate the miles and gasoline surcharges required by completely different packages like Aeromexico, Korean Air, Delta, Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic earlier than reserving.
Extra reporting by Richard Kerr and Andrew Kunesh.
