Another sign of a Star Alliance response to low Skyteam fares is a $442 round trip economy fare from San Francisco or $425 Atlanta to Moscow. A few days ago this SFO-SVO route was $484 with Delta/Skyteam. Yesterday the round trip fare to Moscow from Chicago was as low as $354 on Skyteam airlines. Lowest fares include Air Canada flights. For $30 more round trip you can fly Lufthansa and United in more direct routes to Europe.
I do not see these low United/Star Alliance fares from other Delta hubs like Minneapolis, Detroit or Salt Lake City. Star Alliance has low fares to Istanbul around $530 from New York JFK and Newark. Skyteam is around $565 round trip from New York.
Departure Dates: August to March 2017 Sunday to Wednesday. About 90% of dates look available (7am PT). Dec 8-Jan 8 not offered at low fare.
United Airlines ticket with Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines flights.
San Francisco SFO – Frankfurt FRA – Istanbul IST
$472.06 Oct 4-13 Google Flights and Nov 8-15 United Airlines site.
 
United Airlines ticket for all Air Canada flights
Atlanta ATL – Toronto YYZ – Moscow SVO
$425.16 Tue Oct 25 – Tue Nov 1
Keep in mind there are low economy fares all over Europe for around $600 round trip. Great fare to Istanbul though.
Loyalty Traveler curated Airfare Deals and Google Flights and Kayak Explore tutorials.
Loyalty Traveler – Hotel Promotions Guide.
