Dissecting SkyTeam’s round-the-world sale
SkyTeam is promoting a 10th anniversary sale on round-the-world tickets. But depending on your country of origin, the “sale” price per mile could actually be higher than the regular price.
SkyTeam enjoys a UK boost with Air France codeshare deal
SkyTeam fliers should find it much easier to earn miles and perks on U.K. travel under a “landmark tie-up” between Air France and Flybe, Britain’s largest domestic carrier. The new codeshare deal, expected to begin in October, will see the AF code spring up on 45 new routes between France and the U.K., plus 17 [...]
Emirates vs. the world
Emirates is facing resistance from airlines around the world as it pursues a growth strategy that siphons off high-fare business travelers on key long-haul routes. Australia, Canada, France and India all have pushed back, and further opposition is expected across Europe and Asia. Without the political clout of a global alliance, can Emirates win enough slots to satisfy its ambitions?
Hearts & Minds: The battle for road warriors’ loyalty
If the Wall Street Journal says it, it must be true: Individual airlines are becoming irrelevant as global alliances get ever-bigger and more inclusive. Okay, that’s not an exact quote, but it is the gist of Scott McCartney’s outstanding column. The exact quote, from Star Alliance VP Christian Klick, is this: “Competition used to be [...]
Will SkyTeam fliers benefit from Alitalia JV?
SkyTeam now appears to have the edge in trans-Atlantic travel — the all-important market that gave rise to airline alliances in the first place. This week, Alitalia announced that it would join a trans-Atlantic joint venture already formed by Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM. With the addition of Alitalia, the JV claims it will [...]
New Star addition is good news for award travel
In the recent alliance battle over southeastern Europe, you’ve got to give the win to Star. Romania’s TAROM signed on with SkyTeam last week, bringing “seamless” access to some fairly obscure destinations. But this week’s announcement that Aegean Airlines of Greece has joined the Star Alliance is sure to be a much bigger deal for [...]
Welcome to America’s newest international airline
Quick, what’s the only international airline based in the U.S. that is not part of a global alliance? I’m not talking about carriers like Virgin America that fly a few routes north or south of the border. I’m also disqualifying Spirit and its competitors that have built up short-haul networks around the Caribbean. If you’re [...]
Even a Virgin needs friends
In all the furor over last week’s 4-hour tarmac delay of a Virgin Atlantic flight at Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport, I haven’t seen any discussion of one factor that might have mitigated a miserable situation: membership in an alliance. Virgin is famously independent, though founder Richard Branson has hinted he might at some point reconsider [...]
For semi-frequent fliers, “status” is relative
Few business travelers can earn all their miles with a single alliance, no matter how hard they try. Since you probably won’t earn top-tier status with your “fallback” alliance, it’s worth asking what kind of perks you can expect if your status never rises above silver level (or its equivalent). If Silver status is the [...]
No more associates at SkyTeam
SkyTeam has promoted its last two associate members to full membership status, Dow Jones reports today. Kenya Airways and Air Europa are the 11th and 12th members of the alliance, and Romania’s Tarom will officially become lucky No. 13 this Friday. The announcements were made as executives of member airlines gathered in New York to [...]
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