SkyTeam Alliance: An Overview

 

SkyTeam is the last airline alliance to be founded (behind Star Alliance and oneworld). The SkyTeam alliance arguably doesn’t have many “world-class” airlines, whereas Star Alliance and oneworld have some incredible airlines. I would argue Air France and Delta are the best airlines in this alliance.

SkyTeam airlines operate flights to more than 1,000 destinations in over 170 countries with over 17,000 daily departures. Combined with member airlines, the alliance features around 750 lounges worldwide – which are available to premium flyers. SkyTeam was launched on 22 June 2000 and currently features 19 member airlines.

Traveller Benefits

Passengers flying on member airlines are entitled to a variety of benefits, even without frequent flyer status. These include:

• earning and redeeming miles on every airline
• check-in for all flight segments on every airline
• checking baggage all the way to the final destination on every airline

In addition to these, SkyTeam also offers status benefits to elite members of airline frequent flyer programs.

SkyTeam Airlines

• Aeroflot
  • hubs: Moscow (SVO)
  • frequent flyer program: Aeroflot Bonus
• Aerolineas Argentinas
  • hubs: Buenos Aires (EZE and AEP)
  • frequent flyer program: Aerolineas Plus
• Aeromexico
  • hubs: Mexico City (MEX)
  • frequent flyer program: Club Premier
• Air Europa
  • hubs: Madrid (MAD)
  • frequent flyer program: Suma
• Air France
  • hubs: Paris (CDG and ORY)
  • frequent flyer program: Flying Blue
• Alitalia
  • hubs: Rome (FCO)
  • frequent flyer program: Freccia Alata Club, MilleMiglia
• China Airlines
  • hubs: Taipei (TPE)
  • frequent flyer program: Dynasty Flyer
• China Eastern Airlines
  • hubs: Shanghai (PVG and SHA), Kunming (KMG), Xi’an (XIY)
  • frequent flyer program: Eastern Miles
• Czech Airlines
  • hubs: Prague (PRG)
  • frequent flyer program: OK Plus
• Delta Air Lines
  • hubs: Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW), Los Angeles (LAX), Minneapolis (MSP), New York (JFK and LGA), Salt Lake City (SLC), Seattle (SEA)
  • frequent flyer program: SkyMiles
• Garuda Indonesia
  • hubs: Jakarta (CGK), Bali (DPS), West Java (KJT), Makassar (UPG), Medan (KNO), Surabaya (SUB), Balikpapan (BPN)
  • frequent flyer program: GarudaMiles
• Kenya Airways
  • hubs: Nairobi (NBO)
  • frequent flyer program: Flying Blue
• KLM
  • hubs: Amsterdam (AMS)
  • frequent flyer program: Flying Blue
• Korean Air
  • hubs: Seoul (ICN and GMP)
  • frequent flyer program: SKYPASS
• Middle East Airlines
  • hubs: Beirut (BEY)
  • frequent flyer program: Cedar Miles
• Saudia
  • hubs: Jeddah (JED), Riyadh (RUH), Dammam (DMM)
  • frequent flyer program: Al Fursan Loyalty
• TAROM
  • hubs: Bucharest (OTP)
  • frequent flyer program: Flying Blue
• Vietnam Airlines
  • hubs: Hanoi (HAN), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
  • frequent flyer program: LotusMiles
• XiamenAir
  • hubs: Xiamen (XMN), Fuzhou (FOC), Hangzhou (HGH)
  • frequent flyer program: Egret Miles

SkyTeam Status Benefits

SkyTeam elite status is reached once a member of a frequent flyer program reaches a certain amount of qualifying miles. Each SkyTeam airline determines how many qualifying miles are required to reach elite status. SkyTeam Elite and Elite Plus elite status is valid on all airlines alliance-wide.

SkyTeam Elite

• Extra baggage allowance
• Priority check-in
• Priority seating
• Priority boarding
• Priority airport standby

SkyTeam Elite Plus

• SkyTeam Elite benefits
• Lounge access
• Guaranteed reservations on sold-out flights
• SkyPriority recognition
• Priority at transfer desks
• Priority at immigration and security lanes
• Priority baggage handling

SkyTeam benefits are significantly worth less than benefits provided by/on Star Alliance and oneworld because some airlines exclude certain benefits.

Earning and Redeeming Miles

Each passenger is able to earn and redeem miles with any SkyTeam airline. This means that if a passenger is a member of Air France Flying Blue, for example, they are able to earn and redeem miles on all SkyTeam airlines. This is the case for most of the alliance in terms of earning and redeeming miles.

There are, however, exclusions on earning and redeeming miles. For example, some airlines may not award miles for the cheapest tickets – or they may only allow the cheap fares to earn miles with the frequent flyer program of that operating airline. These exclusions also exist in Star Alliance and oneworld, but are more present in SkyTeam.

Redeeming miles also features a few exclusions. While, in general, you are able to redeem any SkyTeam miles for any SkyTeam flight, there are exclusions. For example, you cannot book Air France First Class unless you are an elite member of Air France Flying Blue and are redeeming Flying Blue miles from your account.

In Conclusion

SkyTeam is often regarded as the “worst” alliance out there. While it isn’t the worst, it isn’t the best either. The main issue of SkyTeam is the airlines in the alliance do not offer the best service when comparing to airlines that are in Star Alliance or oneworld. The other issues in SkyTeam are that some airlines do not recognise certain benefits – such as lounge access on domestic itineraries.

If you are collecting SkyTeam miles, I highly encourage you to look elsewhere and collect miles with Star Alliance, oneworld, or with bank programs that can transfer to a variety of different airlines. The best airlines to fly in the alliance are Air France, Delta Air Lines, KLM, and Korean Air. These airlines offer the best experience in all cabins of service and the best ground experience at their hub airports.

While SkyTeam isn’t the world’s best airline alliance, it still offers passengers a safe and reliable travel experience. Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam are the biggest alliances in the world – there are a number of small alliances which have formed over the past few years, but none of them offer the same benefits of a big airline alliance.