Continental is now a partof the Sky Team
Sep 15th, 2004, 10:56 AM
#1
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Continental is now a partof the Sky Team
Can someone help me to figure out what this means to a leisure flyer? Does it mean I can purchase ticket on www.continental.com from Hartford, CT all the way to Nairobi, Kenya with two or three different carriers? How does it work? Does it mean one is able to use OnePass miles to book tickets on Air France or Czech Airlines?
Sep 15th, 2004, 11:29 AM
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To a leisure flyer like you, this news means pretty little. Little you can do that you can't do before. Continental.com still doesn't list flights that are not CO-operated or CO code-shared.
However, it is true that you can now claim OnePass miles on AF or CSA Czech, which you cannot before. You must do it through an phone agent, however. But to Nairobi, you were able to use Onepass miles on KLM even before CO joins Skyteam.
However, it is true that you can now claim OnePass miles on AF or CSA Czech, which you cannot before. You must do it through an phone agent, however. But to Nairobi, you were able to use Onepass miles on KLM even before CO joins Skyteam.
Sep 15th, 2004, 12:52 PM
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The advantage of a Skyteam award is that you can mix carriers. You can also change carriers (assuming there's award availability and you're not changing origin or destination) without having to redeposit/reissue the award.
Sep 15th, 2004, 01:35 PM
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I just checked into this again. Seems I didn't quite understand the difference. Once ticketed, there IS a $100 fee if you need to change carriers on a Skyteam award (just like there's a fee to change the origin/destination/stopover). But you don't have to send the tickets back for redeposit. Last time I wanted to change from AF to VS (a non Skyteam DL partner) and I had to first Fedex back my AF tickets, wait for the miles to be redeposited back into my DL account, and then have the VS tickets issued. So it does make things a little easier but it's not free. I'd been under the impression that there was no charge as long as there was no change to the origin/destination/stopover.
Sep 16th, 2004, 03:13 PM
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Does Continental's entry into SkyTeam mean that Delta Skymiles can now be used to upgrade Continental tickets?
I've received conflicting information. A Continental agent said, "yes", ask a Delta agent to access the Continental reservation, and apply the upgrade.
But a Delta agent said "no", that Skymiles can be used to book reward tickets (as before), but not to upgrade paid tickets.
Does anyone know who is right?
Thanks!
I've received conflicting information. A Continental agent said, "yes", ask a Delta agent to access the Continental reservation, and apply the upgrade.
But a Delta agent said "no", that Skymiles can be used to book reward tickets (as before), but not to upgrade paid tickets.
Does anyone know who is right?
Thanks!
Sep 16th, 2004, 05:30 PM
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Let me elaborate. While I haven't seen any pan-Skykteam upgrade options, there are some cases where you can use miles to upgrade on other airlines.
For example, one can use Onepass miles to upgrade on NW, KL or Copa tickets. And Skymiles can be used to upgrade on SQ.
In the end, it's what the Skymiles desk tell you that matters, as you basically have to claim your Skymiles through DL, not CO or any partner.
For example, one can use Onepass miles to upgrade on NW, KL or Copa tickets. And Skymiles can be used to upgrade on SQ.
In the end, it's what the Skymiles desk tell you that matters, as you basically have to claim your Skymiles through DL, not CO or any partner.
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Sep 17th, 2004, 11:23 AM
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Skymiles can also be used to upgrade on AF. I didn't realize you could upgrade on SQ too.
There may be other exceptions on an individual airline basis, but it doesn't work across the board on Skyteam carriers.
There may be other exceptions on an individual airline basis, but it doesn't work across the board on Skyteam carriers.
Sep 17th, 2004, 11:54 AM
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Maybe the Skyteam alliance will have this cleared up and each airline will post a chart about what's allowed and what's not.
However, don't hold your breath on upgrading internationally on CO. Even for its own Onepass members, CO charges a service fee (up to $450 each way, up from $400 just a few days ago), plus miles on many of its discounted fares.
So, unless you decide to p(l)ay HoKeY [i.e. international fare Y, H or K] you will not be able to upgrade with miles alone.
However, don't hold your breath on upgrading internationally on CO. Even for its own Onepass members, CO charges a service fee (up to $450 each way, up from $400 just a few days ago), plus miles on many of its discounted fares.
So, unless you decide to p(l)ay HoKeY [i.e. international fare Y, H or K] you will not be able to upgrade with miles alone.
