Airline Alliances and Frequent Flyer Cards
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Most business travellers in the UK have a British Airways Executive Club card, stick with it, swear by it and take great pains to try and reach the stratosphere of the Gold Card holder.
Why this should be so is, to me, one of the great travel mysteries. Of all the cards to have, the BA Exec Club card is no longer the blue chip card of yesteryear. There are several reasons for this; the main one being that BA (British Airways) belongs to the OneWorld Alliance of airlines and the OneWorld alliance is rapidly becoming (if it has not already become so) the poor relation of the airline world.
To all intents and purposes, there are three airline alliances which are worthy of consideration. OneWorld is one of them. The other two are Star Alliance and SkyTeam. Star Alliance is now the bees knees of the alliance world. It has an excellent route network, has carriers who are light years ahead of OneWorld and BA in terms of how they construct and operate their fares and generally, have got their act together. SkyTeam are now the number two, for Skyteam have put a lot of work and effort into making their alliance work. It is now OneWorld who have a lot to think about.
Why OneWorld is not quite what it should be! ....
One other pages in this section, I have compiled a list of who belongs to what. If you look at the OneWorld page, you will see that it is made up of one really good airline (Cathay Pacific), one non-descript (QANTAS) two mediocre ones (American and, I am afraid to say BA) and two airlines that seem to have lost all sense of purpose and direction, namely Iberia and Aer Lingus (the latter is to leave the OneWorld Alliance) - with a few bits and pieces tacked on. The route network is sketchy at best and many of the airlines involved, by trying to keep a foot in both the full service and low cost camps, make such things as interlining arrangements difficult, if not impossible.
So, by collecting points on any of the OneWorld carriers, the choice of destinations for using those points is, at best, limited. Further, as anyone who tries to redeem BA air miles will tell you, actually using the miles is difficult, if not frustrating.
As BA does have the legacy of a strong name; people think that if BA is bad, others must be worse. Nothing could be further from the truth. Further, BA miles are very hard to use, Star Alliance are quite the opposite
So Who or What is Star Alliance?
Star Alliance (for Brits) is headed up by British Midland, SAS and Lufthansa, with other such as Swiss thrown in for good measure. Long haul, Singapore Airlines, Thai and Air New Zealand head the list and a growing number of secondary carriers hang on to their shirt tails. The only weakness, perhaps, is in the United States where United is a member. United are big, but very weak on service and standards (try looking on the United website for the customer service contact!) US Air is also a member which "sort of" helps. I have listed on another page the members of the Star Alliance. Redeming your points on SA could not be easier - even to the extent of "turn up at airport - have you any room up front - Yes - Have I enough points - Yes - Good, upgrade me". The view, in SA, is if you keep people using the points, they will not build up in to an unwieldy amount that then have to appear on the balance sheet as a liability (as BA found out - which is another reason BA points are so hard to use)
Why do you rate SkyTeam?
Skyteam were, for a long time, an "also ran". However, consolidation in the airline world, notably that of KLM and Air France, produced a working relationship that powered them nearer the front. Now Kenyan Airlines are members, which is a useful addition as Kenyan and South African (though the latter is Star Alliance) are the two principal, reliable airlines of that continent. Further, Amsterdam and Paris are great airports that put Heathrow to shame (and always will do). They are better at coping with hub passengers, are better built and are generally much more pleasant to be in.
Why is it important to stick with an alliance?
As we move from travel agent to web based bookings, many small though important features have changed. Booking online is not always a good idea. As I have always said, the most expensive way to buy an airline ticket can be from an airline. Usually. Where alliances become important (apart from building up miles with one alliance rather than one airline) is when one is travelling on a more complicated itinearary than simply from point A to point B and back. Interlining, in these cases, is very important. This can and does affect the fare you pay. Another factor is eticket interchange (that airline A can be on the same eticket as airline B) Get these two factors wrong and this can cost you hundreds if not thousands (yes, really!) of pounds on one ticket alone. Getting a fare from A to B is not the same as B to A or from A to B to A - and when C and D get involved, you need a travel agent. The web and self booking tools are not adept at these more complicated itineraries. This is one of the reasons why airlines do not want you to use travel agents - travel agents know too many wrinkles!
By sticking with an alliance that has a strong and above all relevant route network to your travel pattern, problems such as eticket interchange and to a lesser degree, fare strutures can be ameliorated. Which alliance is best for you does, however, require some form of analysis of where you travel or which regions you travel to.
As far as you air miles are concerned, focus on one alliance will see these increase dramatically. It may be that you need to reduce the number of cards you carry, one for each of the major alliances should be adequate. You do not need two or more of each. You may still need odd cards for specific use airlines that are not part of the major alliances, Virgin Atlantic, for example. The main point is to focus and concentrate on one alliance, not one airline - and to choose that alliance based on its network and thow that fits your travel pattern.
It may be useful to spend a little time talking about airline alliances and about the use of frequent flyer cards.