The Ultimate Guide to the SkyTeam Alliance

Looking to unlock reward seats that many others typically miss? SkyTeam might be your secret weapon for spending points at the pointy end. But what’s SkyTeam, you might ask? You’re probably familiar with other alliances like oneworld – of which, Qantas was a founding member. But SkyTeam brings many other international airlines together in partnership. Because it’s lesser known in Australia, not as many Aussies tend to have SkyTeam miles to spend – and herein lies the opportunity.

You might be surprised to find a number of SkyTeam airlines already landing Down Under. And, spoiler alert, there can be a lot less competition for those reward seats on international flights from Australia.

In this guide, we take a look at what the SkyTeam Alliance has to offer – including benefits that can be unlocked for those who regularly travel on paid fares.

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Which airlines belong to SkyTeam?

SkyTeam currently has 18 active member airlines among its ranks. Russia’s Aeroflot is also technically a member, taking the tally to 19, but its participation in the alliance is currently suspended. Here’s a line-up of those active airline partners.

Here’s a breakdown of the seven SkyTeam airlines flying directly to Australia, as well as the remaining partners based overseas.

Collectively, the alliance serves more than 1,000 destinations across 160 countries, with more than 13,600 daily flights.

SkyPriority: skip the queues

Elite members of each SkyTeam frequent flyer program receive alliance-wide benefits. These perks are offered under the brand of SkyPriority. There are two levels of elite recognition:

• SkyTeam Elite
• SkyTeam Elite Plus

Elite members of every SkyTeam frequent flyer program are matched to one of the two privileged levels above. For example, SkyTeam Elite with Delta Air Lines corresponds to the Silver Medallion. On the other hand, SkyTeam Elite Plus corresponds to Gold Medallion, Platinum Medallion, and Diamond Medallion.

To find the SkyTeam tier corresponding to other SkyTeam airlines, head to the alliance’s website. Here’s a look at the benefits that SkyTeam Elite and Elite Plus members can enjoy. Happily, these perks are available when travelling in any class, so you can sail through security and board before the crowd, even when travelling in Economy.

SkyTeam Elite and SkyTeam Elite Plus members

• Extra baggage allowance.
• Priority services including:
  • check-in
  • seating
  • boarding
  • stand-by

SkyTeam Elite Plus members only

• Access to Business Class lounges when flying internationally.
• Guaranteed full-fare Economy reservations on sold-out long-haul flights, when booked at least 24 hours in advance.
• Greater SkyPriority recognition.
• Priority services including:
  • transfer desks
  • immigration and security lines
  • baggage handling

To enjoy the above benefits, you’ll need to first join a member airline’s frequent flyer program. Then, reach the appropriate status level in that program.

While there’s no universal SkyTeam frequent flyer program, the alliance does have SkyTeam-branded lounges in addition to individual member airline lounges.

Currently, there are four such branded SkyTeam lounges. Locations include Sydney, Dubai, Vancouver and Santiago.

Inside SkyTeam’s Sydney lounge

You can access the spacious SkyTeam Lounge in Sydney when flying in Business Class or First Class on any member airline. Alternatively, holding status in a SkyTeam frequent flyer program equivalent to Elite Plus will also get you in.

How do I earn SkyTeam miles?

You can earn points or miles directly with any member airline by flying, or through their air and ground partners. While no member airline that flies into Australia offers a direct-earn credit card in the Australian market – take heart! There are a number of ways to indirectly earn points with a member airline.

For example, you can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer them to your member airline of choice. As you’d expect, Marriott Bonvoy points can be earned by staying at any Marriott portfolio hotel. They can also be earned by converting American Express Membership Rewards points to Marriott. Marriott partners with many airlines, including a number of SkyTeam’s members.

Other opportunities include transferring miles from Amex Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, now that the airline belongs to SkyTeam. You could also convert CommBank Awards points to Air France/KLM Flying Blue. Or, convert PayRewards Points to Vietnam Airlines LotusMiles.

Which are the best SkyTeam frequent flyer programs for Australian-based travellers?

Here are a few frequent flyer programs that may appeal to Australian travellers seeking to travel with SkyTeam airlines.

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles

Delta starts strong with miles that don’t expire – which is a great feature for less frequent travellers. Its miles can also be used to travel on Delta itself, and of course, across SkyTeam. Some reward flights can present great value – particularly domestic trips in the US in Economy, booked far in advance or on quiet days.

Delta miles can also be used to book seats on the airline’s flights between Australia and the US. While this may be possible through other partner programs, Delta tends to reserve most of these seats for its own SkyMiles members only. To counter that, redemption rates on these flights can be quite high at the pointy end – but it’s an option.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Being able to transfer points from Amex Membership Rewards to Virgin Atlantic makes SkyTeam flying a whole lot easier. Transfer your points at a 2:1 rate and travel on most SkyTeam carriers. As Vrigin Atlantic is a newer member of SkyTeam, some reward flights are still being configured.

As a backup, you can also spend Virgin Points on other selected airlines. For instance, on carriers like Air New Zealand and ANA.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

Sitting on a pile of CommBank Awards points? It’s hard to find better value from CBA’s points program than through Flying Blue. Points can be transferred at a 2.5:1 rate, and it’s easy to search and book reward flights online. In fact, you can even see what’s available – and how many miles you’d need – without any miles in your account.

You may find that Flying Blue’s redemption rates are lower than can be achieved through other reward programs. For instance, you can often book flights on airlines like Air France, China Airlines and KLM using fewer miles than when booking the same flight using Qantas Points. Read our in-depth guide to Flying Blue to learn more about this.

How to search for SkyTeam availability

If you’re trying to spend a particular type of SkyTeam mile, it makes sense to check what’s available for booking through that specific program. But in many cases, you may need to call to make a booking – so what to do then?

You could try third-party tools such as ExpertFlyer or Award Nexus to search for reward seat availability. Read that linked guide for more information. That said, a premium subscription may be required.

In the below example, we’ve searched for reward seats with Delta SkyMiles, for example’s sake. This is a search from New York to Paris. First, select the dates and cabin class you’re after. Next, choose your preference from the available options offered. The screen shows the number of miles needed, plus the cash co-payments (usually in the airline’s home currency).

Summing Up

SkyTeam is best suited to those who often travel internationally. Especially so, where that travel takes place to from or through major SkyTeam hubs. Otherwise, there are limited opportunities to earn miles in these programs – outside of actually flying.

When it comes to using miles, Flying Blue has one added advantage for Aussies. You can pair a Qantas domestic flight with a SkyTeam international flight on a single booking. Generally, this means being able to check-in for both flights at once, and helps provide protection if a connecting flight is late. This is possible because Air France and KLM have a direct partnership with Qantas, outside of SkyTeam. And, because Flying Blue allows SkyTeam and non-SkyTeam tickets to be issued on the same itinerary. It’s a nice little hack.

Supplementary images courtesy of SkyTeam. Additional reporting by Chris Chamberlin.