AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. Terms Apply to the offers listed on this page. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Searching for SkyTeam Award space can be problematic, especially since the demise of NWA.com. Currently, searching for award space is very limited and restrictive even with the biggest partners in the alliance; KLM and Air France.
Often with these airlines, there is phantom award space, and multi-city searches are complex. Even Delta, which does have some advanced features and offers some partner searches, is limited with blackout dates imposed on some partner airline searches, and the lack of being able to search for first class space on Air France and KLM.
Well, all this is about to change with Korean Air SkyPass booking system which finally allows you to search SkyTeam partner award availability.
Korean Air SKYPASS system
Before getting carried away, it is worth noting a few key points about the new system from Korean SKYPASS has some limitations.
- You need to book on this booking gate, as opposed to the usual homepage search.
- While the system seems solid and produces accurate results, it can be a little slow and has limited flexibility in that only date specific searches are permitted.
- The site supports both multi-city searches and open-jaw tickets.
- There is some limited functionality with airport selection. You cannot search for flights from any airport in New York, but you need to perform separate searches for JFK/LGA/EWR individually.
- Although the search facility is comprehensive in terms of SkyTeam partners, non-SkyTeam partners such as Emirates or Alaska are not represented on the new site.
To get an idea about the cost of bookings, you can reference the full SkyTeam Award chart. Below are the costs for departures from North America.
In Conclusion
The site is useful for searching award availability across SkyTeam partners — if you're looking to cash in miles you've earned with Korean SKYPASS, check out our Sweet Spots with Korean SKYPASS
Source: Rapid Travel Chai/Stefan
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Nice to see SKYPASS upping its game even further…
This is certainly great news but also means there will be more competition for seats now. XD
Sweet! I’m taking advantage of this.
Great intel! I just checked an itinerary to confirm. It works!
A caveat for using Delta miles to fly with Korean:
For years I have been using miles to fly business class to SE Asia. Usually American miles, sometimes Star Alliance or Delta. In the past I’ve flown business class on Korean with Delta miles to BKK or Bali, and I’ve had to use about 120K Delta miles. Now Delta is tricky – to fly with Korean on business to SE Asia takes about 162, 500 and for less prestigious carriers like China Eastern it’s about 140,000. Maybe for those who have the miles it’s worth it for a better experience on Korean.
YES! This is great news.
This post is just in time for my trip to the area! Thanks!
It’s good to see a SkyTeam airline get on this.
This is actually very good news for me as a Hawaii resident!
Korean air is a favorite airline of mine. I hope to apply a bunch of points I have for a first class ticket soon.
Never have been a fan of SkyPass too many odd rules.
something to consider now with being able to book online though!
Totally agree; online booking now makes Skypass a whole lot more appealing for me.
I don’t know why, but for some reason SkyTeam has never really caught my attentioin as an alliance. I think of it as a tiny alliance, very much third behind Oneworld and Star Alliance. The reality though is it is probably the largest, so I must give it a bit more attention.
Finally! it’s about time!
Will definitely be using this!
this is a HUGE new benefit
Award availability from IAD to ICN seems plentiful for Jan-Mar 2017.
“Even Delta, which does have some advanced features and offers some partner searches, is limited with blackout dates imposed on some partner airline searches, and the lack of being able to search for first class space on Air France and KLM.” I had to read this two or three times to be able to absorb the full negative impact of Delta’s policy. It is just simply amazing that any business is able to get away with this clear bait and switch – You can use your Delta frequent flyer miles, but, (catch 22), we (Delta) will not allow you to use your Delta frequent flyer miles. Delta would be well advised to un-throttle its customers’ ability to enjoy an alleged Delta perk. It would have a great many more and happy customers and avoid much of the negative publicity it does receive.
Good though to have more options! 🙂
As it is Skymiles are so devalued. 2 or 3 months ago I booked an economy class ticket using Skymiles for an April flight from JFK-SNA. The best deal I found was for 40K miles.
This is great news for the award availability search side of things but to book the awards it is still going to require Korean’s arcane award booking procedure of calling this number, faxing a document to that number, ugh, first world problems. Considering how amazing their SkyTeam award chart is (especially Delta to HI!) I’m happy about this feature and will gladly book in whatever way they dictate!
Maybe I read the post wrong. You’re telling me that I won’t have to fax documentation anymore and that I can accomplish an entire award booking online? The body of the article made it seem like it was only the award searching that had improved! My bad.
You still need to go through the registration process for family members — but once you’ve done that, which you can do at any point, you can then complete bookings online.
Hope this doesn’t lead to a devaluation…