seeking advice on Delta miles
 

The recent news about Delta is making me nervous and I am wondering if I should use all my (and my husband's) Skymiles before they become worthless. I have about 92K and my husband has about 38K. We live in Germany and my first thought was to transfer his miles to my account and cash them for two economy tickets to Namibia on SAA for 2006. But I was told Delta is only issuing SAA tickets with latest departures in March. I assume this is because the partnership is ending. We really don't have time to take a vacation before March. Is there another way (say using KLM or someone else) to get to Namibia? The German agent told me the farthest I can go on any partner airline is Johannesburg, South Africa. Does that sound correct? I want to check with you guys before calling Delta in the U.S. If not Africa, what destination do you think is best in maximizing the miles value? Or should I not even worry about Delta shutting down or not honoring my miles? Thank you in advance for any advice.

First of all, you cannot combine miles from two accounts. To get two tickets like you want to, you need to transfer enough miles from your husband's to yours, and that will cost a lot of money. And if I read the charts correctly, Skymiles award between Europe and Central/Southern Africa costs 70K miles per ticket.

So, if you want to use the miles for your trip, you basically can only claim one - from your own account.

KLM is a partner, so is Air France and Alitalia. You can use any of those to get to your destination. Same amount of miles.

rkkwan - Ah, I see what you're saying. I wonder why it's "cheaper" on SAA. It's 60K each on SAA to fly between southern Africa and Europe, so I thought by transferring the 30K (at $0.01 per mile) from my husband's account to mine and I issue both tickets, we'd still be getting two tickets for $300. Much cheaper than buying a ticket outright and it gives me an excuse to use up all our miles. But with the SAA option gone, I don't know what to do.
Another question ... if I issue tickets now on a partner airline, if Delta stops flying, will my tickets be honored??

The last date to EARN Delta Skymiles on SAA operated flights is March 31, 2006. You have until either August 31, 2006 or September 30, 2006 (I've read conflicting info) to REDEEM Delta Skymiles for SAA operated flights. You can reserve flights up to 331 days out so that means you can still travel for a good part of 2007.

You can transfer a maximum of 30K from your husband's Skymiles account to yours for a cost of $0.01 per mile plus $25. I believe the SAA partner award is only good from the UK to Southern Africa, so you may need to purchase your own tickets from Germany to the UK separately. It's 50K miles each in economy so you have enough. The SAA award should also include your flight from JNB to Namibia, so I don't know why the German agent is telling you it's only good to South Africa. Note that on the Delta website the award is listed as SOUTHERN Africa and not SOUTH Africa. I know others who've used SAA awards to redeem flights to Zambia or Botswana, for example, all on a single award.

To use a Skyteam airline award from Europe to Southern Africa requires 70K miles each, so you wouldn't have enough for 2 tickets. Your other option would be Virgin Atlantic for 50K miles each but that award is only good for LHR to JNB or CPT and you would need to separately purchase your flights at both ends.

BTW there's no guarantee that SAA will honor your award reservation if Delta does cease operation before your flight departure.

Sorry I only saw the SAA UK award earlier. I missed the Europe one, so it does appear that you can fly from other cities in Europe for 10K more miles than from the UK.

Patty - Thanks for the info about redeeming miles on SAA! There are many cheap flights between Cologne and London, so I am willing to buy a ticket on the two ends. I guess this is a desperate move to try to use up the miles on my part.

Maybe I'll have to call Delta in the U.S. I also thought it was strange that the German agent told me I can go only as far as South Africa, as I have also used Delta miles to fly on SAA all the way from ATL to Zambia on the same award.

I am hoping that Delta will keep flying, at least until I depart AND return.