The SkyTeam Playbook for Summer 2016 Business Class to Europe

[["<strong>Booking Option:<\/strong>","<strong>Air France & KLM<\/strong>","<strong>Alitalia<\/strong>","<strong>Delta<\/strong>","<strong>Upgrade Option Summary<\/strong>"],["<strong>Upgrade Using Cash and Miles<\/strong>","<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Elites:<\/strong><\/span> Think twice because this option only earns partial MQD credit: W fares net 25% and Y fares 20% of the fare paid. \n\n<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Everyone Else:<\/strong><\/span> Use miles for a free award because upgrade and free space are pulled from the same inventory and the applicable fare for an upgrade (20,000 miles) is very expensive, $1,400 more than Business Class on NY-P","<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Elites:<\/strong><\/span> Same story as Air France\/KLM, except T fares only earn 15% MQDs.\n\n<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Everyone Else:<\/strong><\/span> Upgrades with Alitalia can be a good way to go because they are much more plentiful (I booking code) and the cost can be reasonable. JFK-Milan upgrades from Premium Economy (P class) are only 25,000 miles with a $1,956 fare. Business Class is $3,030. Economy upgrades (T fare) to Business Class are about $400 less than Premium Economy, but costs 70,000 miles (45,000 more miles than upgrading with a $1,500+ fare).","<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Elites and Everyone Else:<\/strong><\/span> Forget about upgrades. Upgradeable fares are high and you\u0092ll be on a waitlist unless you\u0092re super lucky. New York-Paris, for example, costs $2,069 in economy plus 160,000 miles (after June 1), but Business Class is $3,001. A free ticket costs 125,000 miles","<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Elites:<\/strong><\/span> Generally speaking, upgrade only with Delta if you\u0092re desperate for the MQDs, or you\u0092re looking at an Alitalia route and not desperate for MQDs.\n\n<span style=\"color: #800000;\"><strong>Everyone Else: <\/strong><\/span>Forget about upgrading on Air France, Delta, and KLM. Alitalia is an option when Business Class fares are high, since the upgrade often saves some money and miles required are low when upgrading from Premium Economy."]]

[["<strong>Booking Option:<\/strong>","<strong>Delta Miles<\/strong>","#colspan#","<strong>Multi-Airline Currency (MAC) Miles<\/strong> \n(Amex Rewards, Chase, Citi ThankYou, and Starwood)","#colspan#"],["<strong>Miles<\/strong>","The odds that a free saver award ticket will be available on your exact route and dates are very low using Delta miles, generally speaking. If your Delta account is fat, it's probably because you can never use the miles.","#colspan#","You can get lucky, as there are many airlines available through these cards. Check free award space first\u0097don\u0092t forget the last page of the <em>FCF <\/em>monthly newsletter and our newsroom\u0092s \u0093sweet redeems.\u0094 Keep in mind that Alitalia is again the lowest cost here, as it only charges 80,000 miles, which you can buy through Amex Rewards and Starwood. Second best: Virgin Atlantic (100,000 miles), not a SkyTeam member but a close partner of Delta. The chances are decent using Air France\/KLM Miles, which you can transfer (or buy) from Amex Rewards. The only downside: high taxes.","#colspan#"],["<strong>Cash<\/strong>","<strong>Like Certainty or \nNot Flexible on Dates or Routes<\/strong>","<strong>Somewhat Flexible or \nLite Risk-Taker<\/strong>","#colspan#","<strong>Aggressive Upgrade Gamer<\/strong>"],["#rowspan#","<strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Advice:<\/span> Book in advance.<\/strong> The lowest fares require a 150-day advance-purchase for a single ticket; buying two-to-eight tickets at a time (FCF calls them 2-to-8 rates) generally only require a 50-day advance-purchase. Don\u0092t wait long: 150 days from now is the beginning of July","<strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Advice:<\/span> Grab a published EasyUp fare, even if it\u0092s to a different city in Europe or through a different alliance.<\/strong> At $1,300 to $2,400, EasyUps are often the best deal, but they don\u0092t last long (often only days or hours). Over the last three months, we have not seen SkyTeam offer any of these fares for summer 2016, but Star Alliance had a recent promo (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/issues\/firstclassflyer\/12_1\/news\/2659-1.html\" target=\"_blank\">see Jan. 19 alert<\/a>), in which Business Class fares started at <strong>$1,684<\/strong> from the East Coast, $2,200 from the Midwest, and $3,300 from the West Coast. Virgin Atlantic had EasyUp fares starting at <strong>$1,339<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/issues\/firstclassflyer\/11_13\/news\/2630-1.html\" target=\"_blank\">see Dec. 30 alert<\/a>) on several occasions. They yield 30% to 40% MQDs because of Virgin\u0092s relationship with Delta. Stay on top of Flash EasyUp fares through the FCF newsroom\u0092s daily fare alerts.","#colspan#","<strong><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Advice:<\/span> Have a back-up plan, perhaps using miles for a sweet redeem, then look for an amazing fare right up until departure<\/strong> (and just redeposit\/save your miles for a trip that doesn\u0092t have such a grand fare). To find an EasyUp Fare will require aggressive patience, and knowing when to spring for another option as departure date gets closer. \n\nThis is what <em>FCF <\/em>refers to as \n<strong>The Upgrade Two-Step:<\/strong> Lock in something, likely an award, and then wait for a $1,300 Business Class fare to come along (which would ideally be upgradable to First). Even if it doesn\u0092t, you\u0092re still covered."]]