One of the best things you can learn about frequent flyer miles is that you don’t necessarily have to use an airline’s miles to fly on that airline.
Sometimes, booking through a partner program can save tens of thousands of miles. It can also let you use transferable credit card points to book flights on an airline whose miles you don’t otherwise earn.
Those can be fantastic deals.
But there’s a tradeoff that doesn’t get discussed nearly as much: when something goes wrong, you’ve now got two airlines involved.
Why Book Awards Through Partner Programs?
When most people first start using frequent flyer miles, they naturally book through the airline they’re flying. SkyMiles for Delta, AAdvantage miles for American and so on.
Once you get deeper into points and miles, you learn that this isn’t always the best option. Airline alliances and other partnerships can allow you to book the exact same flight through a different frequent flyer program, sometimes for far fewer miles.
That’s why it helps to understand the basics of airline alliances and how different programs price partner awards.
For those who don’t want to spend the time learning the ins and outs of all these programs, award booking services are another option.
The Extra Risk Of Partner Awards
The savings can be substantial, but booking an award through one airline program for a flight operated by another adds another layer to the reservation.
That means there are more opportunities for something to go wrong.
The ticket might not issue properly. You may need to deal directly with the operating airline for seat assignments, baggage information or other details. You’ll also want to make sure things like your Known Traveler Number are correctly linked to the reservation with the airline operating the flight, so TSA PreCheck appears on your boarding pass.
And all of that is before the trip even begins.
The bigger problem can come when there’s a schedule change or cancellation.
A Perfect Example From One Of Our Trips
Several years ago, I booked a business class award from Germany back to Orlando.
Delta operated the flight, but I didn’t book it with Delta SkyMiles. Instead, I booked through Flying Blue, the frequent flyer program for Air France and KLM.
The reason was simple.
Flying Blue required 72,000 miles for the business-class ticket.
Delta wanted 320,000 SkyMiles.
That’s exactly the kind of difference that makes learning about partner awards worthwhile.
Flying Blue is also a transfer partner of most transferable-points programs, including American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo. You can also convert Marriott Bonvoy points to Flying Blue miles.
So booking through Flying Blue was an easy decision.
At least until Delta changed the schedule.
Then Delta Canceled Our Flight
Delta removed our Frankfurt-to-Detroit flight from the schedule for 19 days.
Fortunately, Flying Blue automatically moved us to another Delta itinerary connecting through New York-JFK. The timing was similar, and we’d actually arrive home a little earlier.
So we weren’t stranded.
Still, since Delta had canceled the original flight, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask whether we could switch to an itinerary through Atlanta instead.
That would have been my preference because Delta operates flights between Atlanta and Orlando throughout the day. If something went wrong, we’d have plenty of backup options.
Connecting through New York in December didn’t give me quite the same confidence.
But I Couldn’t Just Call Delta
Because I’d booked the award using Flying Blue miles, Flying Blue controlled the ticket.
That meant I had to call Flying Blue if I wanted to make a change.
I put my phone on speaker and waited. Over the years, I’ve developed something of a love-hate relationship with Flying Blue’s hold music. It’s grating at first, but after hearing the same loop 50 or 100 times, it eventually develops a strange zen-like quality.
When I finally reached an agent, I explained what had happened and asked whether we could fly through Atlanta instead of JFK.
The answer was straightforward.
“These are the flights that Delta provided as the alternate, so that’s what we have to offer.”
I asked whether Flying Blue could request a different routing from Delta.
“Sorry, no. All we can offer is what they tell us is available.”
The agent pointed out that we had a three-hour connection at JFK, so even with a delay we should still have enough time to make the flight home.
The Problem With Being Stuck Between Two Airlines
Could I have used the old HUCA strategy – Hang Up, Call Again – and hoped another agent found a different answer?
Sure.
But that would have meant another long hold with no guarantee anything would change. By then, I’d already spent enough time on it.
Maybe Flying Blue really had no other option. Delta had provided the replacement itinerary, and Flying Blue apparently couldn’t access the flights through Atlanta that I wanted.
That’s the awkward part of a partner award.
The airline operating the flight caused the problem, but the program that issued your ticket is usually the one you have to work with to fix it. That program may not have access to every flight or every option the operating carrier could offer someone who booked directly.
What Happened?
In the end, there wasn’t a problem.
We flew to New York as scheduled and made our connection home.
We did get to experience what was, in my opinion, Delta’s least impressive transatlantic business class product at the time.
Delta has since retrofitted its Boeing 767-400 aircraft with newer Delta One seats, so at least that part of the story has improved.
Final Thoughts
Partner awards can provide incredible value, but this experience was a good reminder that the savings come with a tradeoff.
If I’d booked the flight using Delta SkyMiles, Delta would probably have had more flexibility to reassign us to another Delta flight after the cancellation. Instead, I’d booked through Flying Blue, which could only work with the options Delta made available to it.
Would I have paid 320,000 SkyMiles instead of 72,000 Flying Blue miles just to avoid that possibility?
Absolutely not.
That’s the calculation with partner awards. You can save an enormous number of miles, access flights you couldn’t otherwise book and sometimes get a much better deal.
Just remember that when something goes wrong, having two airlines involved can make fixing it considerably more complicated.
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