Delta Tie-In Confirmed

I just spoke with Flying club and they will be keeping Flying Club, but sadly Singapore Airlines will no longer be a partner airline in any form.

When was this announced?

VS and SQ made it clear the relationship WOULD continue with the new owners.

As I said on the previous page, I had a message from someone at Virgin in the know who confirmed that miles and TP earning on SQ would continue as you say.

I just spoke with Flying club and they will be keeping Flying Club, but sadly Singapore Airlines will no longer be a partner airline in any form.

When was this announced?

VS and SQ made it clear the relationship WOULD continue with the new owners.

indeed many news articles say the following

As announced on 11 December 2012, Delta agreed to pay US$360 million in cash for Singapore Airlines’ entire shareholding in the UK-based airline group.

Commercial arrangements between Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, encompassing code-sharing, frequent-flyer program cross participation and reciprocal lounge access, will remain in place

I just spoke with Flying club and they will be keeping Flying Club, but sadly Singapore Airlines will no longer be a partner airline in any form.

When was this announced?

VS and SQ made it clear the relationship WOULD continue with the new owners.

As I said on the previous page, I had a message from someone at Virgin in the know who confirmed that miles and TP earning on SQ would continue as you say.

Excellent news... thanks Slinky...

The DL FAQ page is very interesting, some snippets to share:

- DL Skymiles Medallion members will earn qualifying MQMs on VS codeshare flights.
- DL Medallion Platinum and Diamond members will get clubhouse access on same day DL and VS flights to and from the UK only. I hope that means that DL fliers at T4 at JFK on any flight will not get clubhouse access, which I think it does. It also means that at other airports where VS and DL operate from the same terminal long haul there will be no clubhouse issues (for example DL flies to Narita from SFO International and that would not qualify).
- It all starts on 3 July with flights bookable from 29 June, for flights already booked you'll be able to enter your FC number (if flying DL) from now it seems.
- DL Skymiles members will not be able to use their miles to book VS Premium Economy.
- There's a risk that the Upper Class wing could get even busier (I've noticed almost continual queues there recently) since DL Medallion Platinum, Diamond and Gold members flying on VS will get priority security.
- No mention of the YQs ... so I assume DL fliers using their miles on VS will have to pay surcharges.

Some other bits and bobs I picked up from the DL FT page:

- Delta charges the same miles for a one way as for a return like many airlines, I hope VS doesn't adopt this.
- There's currently no option to transfer miles between Skymiles and Flying Club, which is a shame (for me :w ).

Other questions that occur to me include:

- Will VS FC Au's get automatic economy comfort seat options on DL?
- Will some VS fliers get DL Skyclub access when flying DL domestic - currently it says transatlantic only.

Sure there is more to come. This is one of those threads where we'd welcome a VS insider to correct any errors and answer any questions!

- Will some VS fliers get DL Skyclub access when flying DL domestic - currently it says transatlantic only.

This one seems to be contradictory in the announcement. One one hand it says when connecting to a VS long haul flight, but then mentions VS Golds get DL lounge access.

EDIT - I can see someone has asked this on FB, and Greg has confirmed that DL lounge access is only when connecting to a long haul flight. Poor if true.

Questions and answers via FB:

As I understand it if you're flying DL in any class transatlantic and you're FC Au you'll be able to use a Delta Skyclub. This applies only on transatlantic so not transpacific for example?

A: Yes, and for example if you flew Atlanta-JFK-Heathrow, you'd be able to access the SkyClub in Atlanta (as well as JFK).

Flying domestic only in the US on Delta FC Au will not get Delta club access?

A: Correct

Delta Medallion Platinum and Diamond flying any class transatlantic on VS will get Clubhouse access so Delta fliers say at JFK flying to any other destination will not?

A: Yes

I have delta skymiles, can we add to flying club?

I have delta skymiles, can we add to flying club?

No the DL and VS FF schemes will remain separate.

You will be able to book rewards on VS via DL though so that's a way to use your miles.

EDIT - I can see someone has asked this on FB, and Greg has confirmed that DL lounge access is only when connecting to a long haul flight. Poor if true.

That's pretty standard for US carriers.. ie you need to be on an international itenary to get access to their domestic lounges.

Thanks......not enough. And Delta business class is terrible, can't say I'm happy to use my miles for this product!

Good to hear that SQ and VS will not be parting ways completely (yet ): )

Also happy to see that DL will be offering more to the FFs of VS and vice versa, no doubt leading to more foot traffic through the various CHs of the world . Will watch to see how things unfold and hope that the service offerings do not suffer and the ground service remains stellar.

Might schedule in a DL segment on my next trip out to the states, if time permits, to see if it all works as smoothly as posted ii)

EDIT - I can see someone has asked this on FB, and Greg has confirmed that DL lounge access is only when connecting to a long haul flight. Poor if true.

That's pretty standard for US carriers.. ie you need to be on an international itenary to get access to their domestic lounges.

Yes but BA silver and gold card holders get access to AA lounges when flying domestic US flights.

Thanks......not enough. And Delta business class is terrible, can't say I'm happy to use my miles for this product!

Oh? I thought DL in J were great - on board food was certainly better than VS !

Thanks......not enough. And Delta business class is terrible, can't say I'm happy to use my miles for this product!

Oh? I thought DL in J were great - on board food was certainly better than VS !

Amenity kits are much better too!

I've never flown with Delta, in any cabin. Can't find any info on their site about seats/cabins either. Those of you who've flown with them, what did you think?

Does anyone know when the SQ benefits will cease? I'm with Slinky, in that it was a nice little earner, especially for MNL, and I'll be very sorry to lose that.

Just heard from someone who knows at Crawley Towers, the SQ benefits will not cease. V good news.

I thought I was going mad, I was sure they'd maintained all along that the SQ/VS partnership would remain. Pleased to hear that is confirmed.

I've never flown with Delta, in any cabin. Can't find any info on their site about seats/cabins either. Those of you who've flown with them, what did you think?

?| ?| Plenty of info re seats etc

I thought they were great - here are my TRs DL149 and DL148

Wonder if anyone has any idea if it will be possible to merge ff accounts? Still have a residual balance in Skymiles. ?|

I think the answer to that is a 'no'.

This is not a take over or merger like UA-CO where they did merge the FF schemes.

It's a no for now.

It doesn't have to be a full merger for there to be an amalgamation of FF programmes. FLying Blue being the prime example, sure AF/KL are owned by the same holding company but Flying Blue is also the FF for Kenya Airways, Air Europa Air Cote d'Ivoire, Tarom and Air Calin. In much the same way that DL has a stake in VS, AF/KL Group has a stake in Kenya, Air Europa, Air Cote d'Ivoire and Air Calin. So there is a precedent for this kind of thing.

interview with Craig Kreeger

http://www.businesstravelnews.com/Peopl ... es&a=trans

interview with Craig Kreeger

http://www.businesstravelnews.com/Peopl ... es&a=trans

He says some interesting things re IT and they are thinking about alternative booking systems.

Also Little Red is 'pretty much on track'

Hey anyone know if AG will get free baggage allowance on domestic delta services?

I've never flown with Delta, in any cabin. Can't find any info on their site about seats/cabins either. Those of you who've flown with them, what did you think?

I've flown Delta a lot over the years, admittedly not for some time, but always found them to be great.

I wonder if at some point they will need to revised the TP earning on DL as it is far easier and cheaper to earn TP on DL than on VS.
It seems any length of flight in F on DL earns 3TP. I am paying less than $300 each for a couple of short (2h) DL flights that will earn 6TP.
That is also better than on VX.

Hey anyone know if AG will get free baggage allowance on domestic delta services?

Asked on FB and will update.