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Upgraded: JetBlue joining Star Alliance?
German carrier Lufthansa bought a 19% stake in JetBlue, a $300 million investment in the original luxe discount carrier. There’s no talk of merger, or even alliance. Yet. But the companies Lufthansa invests in have the tendency to join Star Alliance.

Upgraded: Star Alliance, again
So JetBlue’s membership is pure speculation. But Star Alliance *did* invite Air India into the alliance for eventual membership. And just yesterday, Air China and Shanghai Airlines officially joined the alliance.

Upgraded: Silverjet, at Maxjet’s expense
Maxjet’s woes, Silverjet’s joy? “Silverjet, which operates all-business-class flights from London to New York and Dubai, said that through Tuesday, the carrier had seen a 20 percent surge in bookings since MAXjet’s announcement.”

Upgraded: Planepooling
With a major treaty to be signed in Lisbon, some EU member states’ prime ministers are flying there together, carpool style, in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. (Thanks, Dr. Vino!)

Upgraded: Editors’ hateful laziness
Who came up with this headline? “French rude and their hotels smell.” Top shelf editorial work, team!

Downgraded: Traveler’s IQ, and traveler’s brain cells
If you packed a one-liter bottle of vodka in your carry-on, and airport security says you can’t take it onboard, what would you do? If you said, “Open the bottle and chug the entire contents before going through the metal detector,” then you might be the now-hospitalized 64-year old resident of Dresden, Germany who proved he couldn’t hold his liquor at the Nuremberg airport. He should have just checked the booze.

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I’ve been encountering US Airways a bit lately, and it hasn’t always been fun. A function of my recent move to North Carolina, perhaps. Hard to avoid US Airways in these parts. But having previously observed that United-US Airways codesharing and cooperation aren’t living up to their hype, I’m still convinced that these two Star Alliance partners aren’t working well together, and need to shape up their cooperation.

The breakdown of cooperation starts with the little things, right at the time of purchase: Why can’t the US Airways website allow me to enter my United frequent flyer number in the reservation? They’re both in Star Alliance, and other Star Alliance carriers let you choose from a range of different frequent flyer options.

Update: The option to add other airlines’ frequent flyer numbers is back on the US Airways site. Not sure what was missing when I booked, but it’s there now. Yay!

Admittedly, other sites have similar issues, especially third party booking sites — Orbitz, I’m looking at you. I bought a ticket on Orbitz recently when no one else would sell me that particular itinerary at a lower price. Again, no option to enter a partner airline’s frequent flyer account. I could enter a US Airways account number, or nothing at all. This limitation isn’t isolated to Star Alliance, either. If you, say, book a British Airways ticket, you can only enter a British Airways frequent flyer number, and not an American Airlines number. (Expedia is much more flexible with frequent flyer accounts.) Alliances and partnerships aren’t new, people! Give us the option!

The cooperation breakdown continues at check-in: My wife bought a United-coded ticket for an all-US Airways flight on United.com (the UA-coded ticket was cheaper) but when she got to the airport to check in, she was told that the ticket wasn’t paid for. Apparently, United hadn’t transmitted the funds to US Airways, and the ticket was still listed as reserved, not issued. Her United receipt (and credit card statement) showed that it was indeed paid, but until the ticket number was manually entered into the computer record, she wasn’t getting a boarding pass.

This is stupid. I know there are incredible complexities that arise when large organizations attempt to integrate or link their data systems, but if the increasing frequency of these kinks is any indication, the problems are getting worse with time, not better.

Related:
- Star Alliance out of alignment: Are United and US Airways fighting codeshare wars?
- Update: US Airways and United codeshare conundrums
- Confused by codeshares? Sue!

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Last year, Star Alliance announced intra-alliance upgrade awards, a system that allowed frequent flyer members of one airline to use their miles on another Star Alliance member’s flight. It’s a great concept, and a great option for those looking to draw down their frequent flyer balances, though the “cost” in miles isn’t always cheap.

But United Airlines frequent flyers won’t be able to participate any longer. Though the airline is one of the founding members of Star Alliance, and though UA offered Star Alliance Upgrades for several months, that feature is gone.

The United website’s page for Star Alliance Upgrades now reads:

Effective May 31, 2007: We will no longer accept Star Alliance Upgrade Award requests at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Is this yet another Mileage Plus program devaluation, or more evidence of problems with intra-Star Alliance cooperation? Other programs don’t appear to have shut down their upgrade functionality, so the problem seems to rest with United.

Readers have been reporting mixed information from United on the intra-alliance upgrade front. Reader Samuel says he bought a flight on Singapore Airlines, and that United told him he could request an upgrade if he booked the ticket in Q class or higher. But Singapore didn’t accept United miles for upgrades, even when the program was functional. (See the chart below, taken from the Star Alliance website, obviously out of date at this point.) Samuel’s problem is emblematic of the confusion over this now-defunct benefit.

So why are the upgrades kaput? Unclear. United has the largest frequent flyer program within the alliance, so perhaps other programs were getting flooded with upgrade requests from United members. The bottom line is a further downgrade of Mileage Plus.

I’ve contacted United and Star Alliance to inquire why UA is no longer a participant. We’ll see if there’s anything to report, and I’ll post whatever I learn.

Hat tip to Benet Wilson for pointing out the changed web page!

While airline alliances were created for the primary benefit of the member airlines, they also promise benefits to the flying public, such as the ability to buy a wider range of codeshared flights. So why are US Airways and United Airlines refusing to sell each others’ flights?

Last night, I tried to reserve an itinerary, sold by US Airways, that involved a change of planes in Charlotte. Ideally, I wanted the final leg of my trip, from Charlotte to Chicago, to be the US-codeshared flight operated by United. The United flight’s time was more convenient, and I could sit in Economy Plus or even try my luck at burning an upgrade or two.

I knew from the timetables that the flight existed, that it carried a US Airways number (US Airways Flight US5909, operated by United Airlines as Flight UA569), and that it was available for sale on sites like Orbitz, at the same exact price as other itineraries that were wholly operated by US Airways.

But US Airways wouldn’t reserve the flight for me.

Here’s how it worked: I started by going online and searching for flights. US Airways’ website did not include a single flight that was operated by United in its search results. Not one. Neither as a US-labeled codeshare, nor as a UA-numbered flight.

So I tried United’s website. Their search engine lets you tick a box to “include Star Alliance flights” in the search results. But it only included some Star Alliance flights, and only ones that carried a United codeshare number. The list wasn’t exhaustive, either — not all codeshared flights were listed. And it didn’t include any flights that were sold under the US flight number.

In the past, I have been able to use United’s site to book flights on other Star Alliance carriers, usually as part of a mixed itinerary. That doesn’t appear to be consistently possible any more. The site’s help page for booking codeshares implies that it should still be possible to book Star Alliance and codeshare flights using their tool. But the options are severely restricted.

None of this would have been an issue if I had been ready to pull the trigger and purchase the ticket right then and there. I could have just gone to Orbitz and bought the flight, albeit with a $6 surcharge. But I wanted to put the flight on a 24-hour hold, and Orbitz doesn’t allow that. US Airways’ website doesn’t allow putting flights on hold, either (that’s a post for another day), so I picked up the phone and called them.

The phone agent couldn’t — or wouldn’t — reserve the flight I wanted. I gave them the flight number — US5909 — but the answer was no. “That flight is not available for purchase.” So I settled for a later flight, which leaves me more time to partake in the Charlotte Airport’s rocking chairs, barbeque stands, and North Carolina wine bar.

My experience doesn’t appear to be a complete fluke. I’ve seen this sort of thing before, but I’ve always assumed it was just a temporary glitch. After seeing this again and again, it seems deliberate. To give them one last benefit of the doubt, I just tried searching different itineraries (some domestic, some international) on both the United and the US Airways websites. US Airways excluded every United-operated option, every time. United’s website included some US Airways flights, but only if they carried a UA number. Other Star Alliance carriers, like Lufthansa, didn’t face the same discrimination.

My only conclusion: US Airways and United are no longer fully cooperating within the Star Alliance. It’s stupid, it’s annoying, and it irritates the consumer. Fix it.

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When free drinks aren’t welcome
Why would there be an uproar over an airline giving a customer a free bottle of wine? When that customer is a celebrity who just left rehab for alcoholism. A well-meaning Qantas flight attendant gave a bottle of red to singer Keith Urban, who apparently declined. But come on: give the flight attendant a break! Unless the airline is giving CIA-style background briefings about the passengers in the cabin, you can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of every celebrity’s (or every passenger’s) personal life. In fact, I was quite content to be blissfully unaware of Mr. Urban’s specific addiction before this imbroglio. (Thanks Dr. Vino!)

Group hug: Mergers and partnerships
JetBlue merging with Delta? Rumored, but unlikely. Brazil’s TAM and Germany’s Lufthansa? Not a merger, but a codesharing partnership. United is getting in on the hot codesharing action with TAM, too. Lufthansa also joined up with El Salvador’s TACA, already a United partner. Are the Star Alliance invitations far off? And keepin’ it Star, is Singapore Airlines buying China Eastern? They’re buying a piece, but how big will that piece be?…

Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?
British Airways, apparently in a response to the all-business class service from startups like Eos, Silverjet, and Maxjet, is considering rolling out all-premium service between unnamed European and American cities. Premium economy in the back, business in the front. No straight-up economy, and no first. (Thanks, Benet!)

Countdown to 7/8/07
Boeing has started assembling its first 787 Dreamliner, a plane manufactured in prefab pieces around the world and bolted together at the Everett factory. The debut is scheduled for July 8. 7/8/07… 787… har har har.

American updates website, makes it more like Southwest
American Airlines revamped their website, giving you an overview of the different fares you can book. The layout will be familiar, if you’ve ever booked on Southwest. Or Air Canada. Or Qantas. Or Ted. (Does anyone ever actually book tickets at the Ted site?)

Yapta comes alive!
Yapta, the service that tracks fares after you’ve bought, mentioned here last week, is now live.

Alaska Airlines downgrades their upgrades
If you used miles to upgrade flights on Alaska Airlines, you’ll have to buy far more expensive tickets in order to do so. Thumbs down. Gary Leff has the full scoop.

The Star Alliance wants to give you a free round of golf or a free golf lesson if you travel on one of their member airlines internationally.

It’s 18 holes of real golf, not mini golf, despite my choice of image. (As an aside, if you demand more images of minigolf windmills, see here.)

The deal: Register at the Star Alliance golf offer site. Then buy an international ticket on one of their airlines. El Cheapo Deluxe fares won’t cut it, unfortunately. Tickets need to be in Y, B, or M fares (high-end economy), or full fare business and first. Gee, thanks. But if you’re already intending to go on one of these fares, and you like golf, you might as well get that extra perk. Bizarrely, the offer is open only to residents of the United States and China (but not Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan).

Three days after travel, you should receive an e-mail with the voucher for the free golf. The list of golf courses that participate (limited availability, first-come, first-served, etc., etc.) is pretty extensive, spanning 22 countries, including Pebble Beach (good luck getting that one.)

Full rules, dates, etc. are here.

(image, via The MiniGolf Enthusiast)

If you’re an elite member of a frequent flyer program and you’re looking for a status match at United, you may have a window of opportunity, thanks to the sad demise of Brazil’s Varig. Even if you’re not a traveler to Brazil, this might benefit you.

Varig went bankrupt and lost its membership the Star Alliance, so other Star Alliance members are jockeying to pick up the elite frequent flyers in the now-defunct Varig “Smiles” program. The Star Alliance webpage lists the different status match programs that are available to Smiles members until April 30, 2007. Air Canada, Lufthansa, South African, Swiss, and TAP are all granting status matches to Varig’s elites.

BUT: United goes one further. Their rules doesn’t specify that the status match is only open to Varig flyers, either on the Star Alliance site or on their own page. So this is where it gets interesting.

The offer on the United page reads:

We are pleased to offer you the opportunity to participate in our elite status match promotion, offering top-tier flyers with other airlines an equivalent* status in the Mileage Plus elite program. This offer is valid for status matches received between January 22 and April 30, 2007.

Emphasis added. No mention of Varig, though the address and fax number for sending in the documentation are in Brazil. (The asterisk in the quote above indicates that they will match to Premier or Premier Executive, but not to Premier Executive 1K.)

Worth a shot, and a fax to Sao Paulo.

Related:
- Debating the value of elite status

(via MilesLink)

US Airways announced an $8 billion cash and stock bid to buy Delta out of bankruptcy. If it goes through, the new company will fly under the Delta banner.

It’s pretty remarkable that US Airways is doing this, since they’re not even finished digesting their previous merger (when America West bought the old US Airways and took over the older rival’s name.)

The merger would mean a 10% cut in capacity (i.e., fewer seats, higher prices, fuller planes) and inevitable job losses in cities served by both airlines. Consumers and employees are likely losers here.

Two questions on my mind:

1) Will the emergent Delta be a member of Star Alliance or SkyTeam? I’d put my money on SkyTeam, given Delta’s size and international presence, compared to US Airways.

2) Will this announced offer lead to more mergers? United+Continental has been talked about for some time, though the latest buzz has United going private. But airlines are making money, for now, and the impetus to merge has faded somewhat. US Airways is striking now, while Delta is still in bankruptcy court, and control of the company rests with creditors.

We’ll see what happens.

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Reader Anton writes:

Is there any difference (in your opinion) in per-mile value depending upon a) alliance (Star vs OneWorld vs Skyteam) or b) individual airline?

E.g. what is better 100,000 Delta miles, 100,000 United miles or
100,000 Continental miles (for simplicity, let’s assume you are
non-elite in all of those and that the above miles are all you have in
each program)

Good question, Anton. Yes, I think there is a difference in value between programs, but it’s not easy to quantify. Prepare to geek out!

Redemption rates
Short answer: Yes, there’s a difference. Different airlines charge different amounts for similar tickets. But one airline may cost more for one route, and less for another, especially on international routes and in premium classes. For example:

• Flying from North America to Europe in economy class costs 50,000 miles for a typical coach ticket on American, United, Delta, and Continental, to name a few. If you’re a resident of Europe, Lufthansa charges 60,000 miles for the same itinerary. Bizarrely, they charge Americans only 50,000.
• Business class for the same US-Europe itinerary is 90,000 miles on most airlines, but for a few short weeks, United still only charges 80,000. (United is raising the price to 90,000 on October 16, so book quickly if you want the lower rate. See here for details.) But Northwest charges a full 100,000 for the same ticket. Europe is no value on NWA.
• Business class from the US to Australia with United miles (post October 16): 110,000 miles. With American miles: 125,000 miles.
• Chicago to New York area airports on American: 15,000 miles (limited time short-hop rate). Continental: 20,000 miles. Everyone else who flies nonstop (United, Delta): 25,000. On a percentage basis, that’s a big difference.

So, some airlines have “bargains” for certain awards, making those miles worth more than others for those awards. And if you fly those routes, you get more value for your miles.

But… it would be nearly impossible to come up with a one-size-fits-all formula that accurately reflects the differences between programs. Why?

Besides redemption rates, I’d suggest that there are (at least) three other variables that affect comparisons between programs: 1) accrual ease, 2) route network, and 3) redemption ability (award supply).

Accrual ease
If you’re looking to choose a program in which to accrue miles, mileage-earning opportunities matter. You want to be able to earn points easily. JetBlue’s program lets you earn miles in one of two ways: flying JetBlue, or by using their credit card. Not a lot of options there.

At the same time, you could make an argument that excessive accrual opportunities are bad for the program in the long run. Miles function like a currency. If airlines increase the number of miles in “circulation” too much, without award supply moving up similarly, then you’ll have more miles chasing fewer awards. This is what’s happening now, actually: People have the points, but can’t get the ticket they want. The imbalance creates inflationary pressure, meaning that airlines will want to raise the “price” of their award tickets to even out supply and demand.

But in your example, Anton, you have 100,000 miles in the program of your choice, and you’re looking to cash things in right now. So, despite mileage accrual’s effects on your experience with a program, let’s put accrual aside.

Route Networks
Where you fly matters, both for accrual and redemption. If your miles don’t get you where you want to go, then who cares? And this throws a wrench into any efforts to create a formula. One program may work great for one person, but not for another.

Let’s say you want to fly regularly from Los Angeles to a city that’s not a huge hub. Like, say… Tegucigalpa, Honduras! In such a case, you’re probably better off joining a program with an airline in the oneworld (e.g., American) or SkyTeam (e.g., Continental, Delta, Northwest) alliances, and not Star Alliance (e.g., United, US Airways). Star Alliance doesn’t fly to Honduras (though United has a separate side partnership with Central American carrier TACA).

Even domestically, route networks vary. You can’t visit North Dakota with Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards, for example.

For what it’s worth:

• Star Alliance airlines fly to 842 destinations
• oneworld covers “over 600″
• Skyteam claims 728 airports.

Redemption ability/Award availability
You can’t buy anything if there’s nothing on the store’s shelves. But it’s really hard to accurately gauge just how easy it is to grab award seats. And airlines aren’t talking. They’ll tell you how many tickets were redeemed with miles, but how many tries did it take? Was it the first choice? How far in advance were reservations made?

InsideFlyer tried to put airlines to the test, but their methodology isn’t foolproof. So we’re stuck with anecdotal evidence: Some airlines are notoriously difficult for cashing in miles (Continental) while others have a better reputation (American, Southwest).

So whose miles are worth the most? Sorry to waffle, but it really depends on you…

(image: Alex Segre)

It would be great if the Star Alliance could take a break from expansion long enough to improve its cross-airline benefits. SkyTeam has recently (or, recently to me, anyway) made some major steps in that area: cross-airline club access is much smoother than it once was and accessing a partner club does not require a ticket on that partner airline, and all SkyTeam elites get access to preferred seating at the front of the plane (no more legroom, but faster getting off) and in exit rows on every Sky airline. It’s only a shame they don’t really have any airlines worth getting excited about.

Hear, hear.

(Except for the fact that Star Alliance does need to find itself some coverage in South America, now that Varig has become a shadow of its former self.)

I have a number of quibbles with airline alliances. While they offer convenience and single-ticket travel across a range of airlines, they aren’t yet a perfectly well-oiled machine, from the consumer’s point of view.

- As Cole says, benefits aren’t clear across partners. Can you sit in exit rows, or not? Can you use the lounge, or not? Priority baggage handling? Etc.

- You need a Ph.D. in Milesology to figure out how many miles you’ll actually earn in your “home” program. Buy a ticket that involves SAS, ANA, and Lufthansa, and you might only earn 25%, 70%, and 50%, respectively, of the miles flown if you credit a United Mileage Plus account. Ridiculous!

- Alliances are potentially monopolistic. (SkyTeam has already been investigated for price-fixing.) With multiple companies selling the same itinerary, competition concerns are appropriate.

Now, on top of it all, Gary Leff points to another problem: Fluctuating redemption restrictions. Some alliance members already seem to discriminate against some partners. Try inquiring about award ticket availabilty using Lufthansa’s miles. Then try the same award — same dates, flights, class, etc. — using US Airways miles. Odds are that the availability differs.

Now United is putting the kibosh on business class awards on Singapore Airlines, long considered one of the best (and most luxurious) carriers. Now, under the new rules, if you’re trying to book seats in business class, you can’t book two flights in a row on Singapore. Let’s say you fly over the Pacific in business class on Singapore, and you want to another destination in Asia, also on Singapore. That connecting flight has to be in coach. Even though you’re “paying” the full business rate in miles.

You can avoid this by flying two different Star Alliance airlines, but why why why is this sort of gamesmanship necessary?

If the Star Alliance is really worth anything for consumers, then the alliance’s management will clamp down on this sort of intra-alliance discrimination. Don’t hold your breath.

Tim Winship notes a change to United Airlines’ Economy Plus program. Getting a seat in the forward section of coach, which offers up to 5 inches more legroom than the rear of the plane, certainly has always been a great feature, especially since American eliminated their “More Room Throughout Coach.”

Now, the zone is reserved for elites in United’s Mileage Plus program, and those who pay to upgrade their legroom. (If a flight is booked solid, you can get lucky and get seats in the E+ zone, too.)

The change to the policy is subtle, if you’re not looking for it. (I sure wasn’t.) Two categories of United customers are no longer given access to Economy Plus: passengers on expensive/full-fare tickets, and elites on other Star Alliance airlines.

While it may make it easier for United elites (myself included) to find a seat in the more spacious Economy Plus section, I don’t agree with Tim that this is a good thing. For starters, the people on the expensive tickets are subsidizing everyone else. Throw them a bone, for God’s sake. That way they’ll come BACK.

And the elites on other Star Alliance airlines now have little reason to choose United for their travels. If you’re hooked on a Star Alliance frequent flyer program, you can earn miles on any of the member airlines. Why give United your cash, when, as an elite, you can get an exit row seat on US Airways?

Maybe United thinks that more people will pay to upgrade their seats, but I have my doubts. If anything, I imagine that this could reduce revenue for the airline.

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tags: travel | United Airlines | Economy Plus | UAL Corp. | frequent flyer

A short write-up of around-the-world ticket options in the New York Times today, while generally good, left out some important options.

- Branch out. The article advises checking with the 3 big airline alliance websites (Star Alliance, OneWorld, and SkyTeam) to see flight options. That’s great, but don’t limit yourself to the alliances alone. Some airlines have side agreements outside their alliance that may be appealing, such as the Emirates/United round-the-world ticket.

- Talk to a travel agent. While many airlines can sell you the ticket, it’s often easier to deal with an agent for this kind of thing. Not every airline customer service rep knows the minutiae of round-the-world ticketing. I’d even suggest you talk to more than one travel agent, to compare pricing, routing, and heck, personality.

- Start in Sri Lanka. If you’re going around the world twice or more, consider buying the second (and third, etc.) ticket someplace like Colombo, Sri Lanka. I’m not kidding. You can buy a business class RTW ticket there for about the same price as a coach RTW ticket in the US or most of Europe, on the same airlines. The article mentions this, but it’s really worth driving home.

tags: travel | RTW | round the world tickets