UK-based blog Head for Points writes an interesting post this week about why you might want to credit SkyTeam flights to Air Europa (at least those readers who are not pursuing Delta’s easier-than-usual paths to elite status in 2021). That’s because there is a chance that Air Europa miles might become Avios in the future. To be clear, this strategy is a total gamble and you may end up with something the opposite of useful, but if you don’t fly nearly enough paid flights for the miles earned from flying to matter, this could be worth a shot.
Apparently, IAG, the owner of British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and LEVEL had been working on a deal to purchase Air Europe pre-pandemic and according to Head for Points IAG is still going forward with the deal. Air Europa is currently a member of SkyTeam (and thus partners with Delta, so you can still now credit paid Delta flights to Air Europa). If the deal does go through successfully, IAG plans to take Air Europa out of SkyTeam. Since IAG’s other major airlines share the Avios reward currency, it would stand to reason that Air Europa’s mileage program would likely convert to being under the Avios umbrella. In other words, there is a fairly good chance that Air Europa miles will become Avios if (and only if) the acquisition goes through.
It would be foolish to credit flights to Air Europa expecting the miles to become Avios since it is possible that the deal won’t go through. Furthermore, there is no way of which I am aware to top up an Air Europa account for a redemption (it looks like they don’t even partner with Marriott). Miles locked up in Air Europa would be useless for most readers if they don’t someday convert to Avios.
Note also that not all Delta fare classes earn miles with Air Europa (H/T to NK3 in the comments). See wheretocredit.com for earning rates.
However, I know that in my case I rarely fly on cash tickets. When I do, it isn’t often on a SkyTeam airline. And while I have used some Air France miles before, we recently learned why it is a bad idea to credit flights to Air France. In my case, it is doubtful that I’ll ever redeem Delta miles for anything and I am not likely to book awards from any other SkyTeam program other than Air France. Whether miles earned from a rare paid Delta flight sit and languish as Delta SkyMiles or as Air Europa miles would make no measurable difference to me. Therefore, I could see myself taking a shot at this as though it were akin to buying a scratch-off lottery ticket (no measurable harm if I lose and maybe I’ll come out a couple bucks ahead). It is not a smarter play than buying that scratch-off lotto ticket, but it could be worth a shot if you value Avios at more than nothing. Read more about this at Head for Points.
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There’s no non-trivial risk the deal won’t go through. The two companies’ boards have agreed, that was the last significant hurdle. It’s true that the approval of SEPI is still outstanding, but that’s widely viewed as a formality.
The more important question in my mind is the following. Why not credit to AFKL instead? They provide redemptions from like 4,500 miles one/way intra-Europe? IAG has a history of taking a LOONG time to integrate frequent-flyer programmes. So you’re supposed to let miles sit idle for an unknown amount of time at UX Suma? And then exchange them for Avios at terms that are unknown as of now?
I dunno, holding the BofA Flying Blue card and leaving a newspaper subscription on it is more or less a break-even proposition (5k miles at renewal for $89 AF) and a considerably safer place to park stray SkyTeam flights.
Before you do this, make sure your Delta ticket would actually earn miles with Air Europa’s program. Per their chart, Delta W (Comfort+) and X fares don’t earn miles with UX. Of note, X is not the lowest Delta fare class (V and basic economy E are lower, but those earn miles). And X is a pretty common fare class–as a dedicated Delta flyer, it is probably the fare class I have most commonly booked over the past 5 years.
Air Europa is not a close partner of Delta so earning has never been great either way. I have flown close to 10 flights with Air Europa over the past few years and I think only 1 had a fare class that Delta would give me miles for. I put my Flying Blue number in most of the time, since they more often awarded more miles, which was a mistake, but I digress.
Good info! I meant to look up the earn rates. I’ll add a note on this.
I totally agree with this. I am EU-based with semi-regular travel to Spain. So UX comes up as an option for me.
Their earnings rates on SkyMiles are abysmal. UX is not exactly the greatest euro carrier (all the carriers from the Iberian peninsula are sort of meh in their short-haul eco product). Occasionally, I bite the bullet and fly them when their lowest booking classes are open. Because they can be really cheap in the lowest booking classes. E.g., they regularly sell MAD-FRA for EUR 29. That’s a 900 mi flight. But when the low booking classes are sold out, it’s just not worth it and I rather fly Lufthansa or AFKL.