Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:50
Not All Miles Are Created Equal With SkyTeam
When you fly with a SkyTeam affiliated airline, you have the option of claiming points for the carrier you are flying with or you can claim points with any other member of the SkyTeam alliance, of which there are 14. Since you are given this option, you would assume that the number of miles earned would be the same across the board, or at least similar, no matter which frequent flyer card you present. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The number of miles earned can vary significantly and the rules you must understand to determine how many miles you qualify for are not at all intuitive.
Lack of Systems Integration
I recently returned from an overseas trip, flying Korean Air, and submitted my flight details to Delta Airlines to claim points. I chose to use my Delta Skymiles number because I am more likely to fly Delta given my location, and want to accumulate points under one program so that I am able to claim a reward sooner.
Right from the time I checked in, it was apparent that there was a lack of systems integration between the partner airlines. Even though I can collect Delta Skymiles while flying with Korean Air, I was told by the Korean Air representative that they could not accept my number upon check in, and that I would have to contact Delta after my trip.
I attempted to submit my miles to Delta almost immediately upon my return. There was an online form to submit missing miles, but all SkyTeam partner miles must be submitted via fax or snail mail.
Zero Points?
After presenting my miles, Delta processed my request in very timely manner. My experience with other programs in the past is that it can often take 4-6 weeks before you see your miles.
Unfortunately, when I logged in I noticed that two of my flight segments had 0 miles collected. This had to be a mistake since my travel companions who used their Korean Air Skypass number received miles for all of their segments, so I contacted Delta to straighten things out.
Delta's response was that their policy states that no points are awarded for that particular fare class. As someone who was new this alliance, the fare class distinction was a bit confusing. According to them, no mileage shall be granted for 'KE flights booked in A, B, D, G, N, Q, U, V and X classes of service.'
Given the inconsistency between the SkyTeam airlines, I did a little more research. For this same class, Korean Air gives 70% of the miles, far better than Delta's 0%! I looked at a couple of other SkyTeam partners and found that the percentage of miles to be credited varied significantly. Some were 0%, others 50%, others 70%.
I have asked Delta's customer service several times to explain this inconsistency and all I get as a response is a copy/paste of Delta's mileage policy. I have yet to get a direct response to my question from an actual customer service rep.
To Conclude...
SkyTeam claims on their website that, "...you'll enjoy more flexibility, convenience and choices along your journey with SkyTeam." In theory you do have more flexibility and choices, but it's those very choices that cause frustrating inconveniences. They also say that, "We're working together so we can focus more on caring about you." Working together? They have definitely dropped the ball in that area. Alliances are formed to influence a customer's preference towards a particular partner airline. My first experience with the SkyTeam alliance did just the opposite. If you're going to allow customers to collect miles for their preferred program on partner airlines, the points collection policies should be consistent. Unpredictability leads to frustration and frustration produces dissatisfied customers who are unlikely to return.
