Questions and Answers

I have Skymiles and want to book a flight on Korean Air. If I’m understanding correctly, I’m not able to transfer the Delta Skymiles to Korean Skypass.

However, since they are partner airlines, can I book an award through Korean using my Skymiles balance? Are Skymiles simply limited to booking awards through Delta only?

[USER=2625]@LarryS[/USER] welcome. Points earned with any program can only be used for rewards with that program. They aren’t interchangeable between programs say within an alliance. So you can only use your Delta Skymiles for Delta reward tickets. However Delta does offer rewards on Korean Air flights along with other Skyteam members . Search Delta.com for the itinerary you are looking for.

Hi [USER=2625]@LarryS[/USER], and welcome!

Mark is correct — you can use your SkyMiles on Delta or on any of their partner airlines, but you aren’t [I]transferring[/I] points between programs.

If you’re looking for Korean business class, it’s worth noting they only make one award seat available to their partners.

Thank you Mark and Tiffany for your replies. Forgive my ignorance – this is new to me.

To accomplish, I’m assuming the flight is booked through the Delta partner (Korean in this example) and provide skymiles at that time, correct? I wouldn’t book via Delta, but simply use their web to find the possible itinerary.

If you’re booking a reward ticket on a partner (Korean, AirAlaska, etc.), can miles be earned on the non-partner (Delta)? I’m assuming not, but wasn’t sure.

No worries [USER=2625]@LarryS[/USER]
You book via Delta.com using Skymiles. You don’t do anything regarding the issuing of your ticket with KE or any partner. Points (miles) are never earned on a reward ticket, either on ticketing carrier or flying carrier.

Makes sense, thank you Mark S.

I was confused from the comment, you can use your SkyMiles on Delta or on any of their partner airlines.

From the sounds of it, SkyMiles can only be used on a Delta flight.
I would need separate SkyPass miles for a reward on Korean.

SkyMiles can’t be used to book a reward flight on AirFrance, Alitalia, etc. even though they are Delta partners.

Hi [USER=110]@larry[/USER] S, I’ll try to clarify. Mileage currencies can only be used through the issuer that provides them (so you can only book tickets THROUGH Delta if you have skymiles). All of Delta’s rules about award tickets apply and costs are based on Delta’s (hidden) award charts.

The tickets can be booked on Delta flights at varying prices (depending on what DL makes available) AND on partners where they have agreements and saver award seats have been made available by the partners. These include all skyteam airlines like Korean, Air France, KLM etc. and a few direct partners like Virgin Atlantic. Hope this helps clarify things.

Hey [USER=2625]@LarryS[/USER] — Have you read through the [URL=’http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/whats-the-point/’]Beginners Guide[/URL] yet? That might help, particularly this post: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/alliances-work/[/URL]

Ah… got it now. Thanks Gaurav – your post was very helpful and what I was trying to get at.

Thanks as well Tiffany & Mark. I had read through the Beginners Guide previously, but this area wasn’t clear to me. Re-read that section this morning and it makes sense now.