Finding the right frequent flyer programme is no easy feat. That decision largely depends on which airline, or alliance, dominates your hometown airport and which destinations you fly to most often. For business travellers, the choice is not always ours as specially negotiated corporate discounts often limit our options.
But given the choice, loyalty to one or two carriers eventually pays off in the form of entrance into the hallowed halls of airline tier status, granting an oftentimes confusing array of premium services at your chosen airline and, more importantly, across its extended alliance network.
Long gone are the days when your hard-earned miles only took you from point a to point b, and only on the airline from which you actually accrued your miles. Under the umbrella of global airline alliances, you can now easily redeem a trip with, say, Cathay Pacific’s Marco Polo Club miles from Hong Kong to Miami and onwards to Caracas in Venezuela. Cathay will take you to either JFK or LAX, from where you can connect onwards with Oneworld alliance partner American Airlines. Had the two carriers not been alliance partners, your journey would end in either JFK or LAX, resulting not only in added travel time and hassle, but also the need to spend more award miles if you were to redeem the tickets separately.
Henry Harteveldt, travel industry analyst at US-based Atmosphere Research Group, once said: “You may have heard the adage ‘Marry the girl or the boy, but you end up marrying the family’ — the same holds true when choosing an airline and its alliances.”
Determining what an alliance can do for you, given your travel patterns, is crucial in making a choice. The experience at the airport, your ability to upgrade, your ability to earn treasured airline elite status, the ease with which you earn or burn frequent flyer miles, and the price you pay for your tickets – all these are important considerations when finding the airline and alliance partner that works best for you.
Oneworld
Launched in 1999 by founding alliance members American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, Oneworld remains the smallest of the three alliances in terms of the number of airlines. As of July 2014, Oneworld has 15 members that operate some 14,000 daily flights to over 1,000 destinations.
Oneworld has recently experienced expansion, especially in Asia Pacific. Both Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways joined in 2013 while 2014 has seen the inclusion of TAM Airlines, US Airways and Sri Lankan Airlines.
Securing Qatar Airways – one of the big three Gulf carriers – was a milestone in alliance history yet to be matched by the competition. Oneworld has traditionally upheld a more premium image pertaining to the selection of its members than the competition, so the integration of Qatar Airways certainly seemed appropriate. Geopolitics is also a factor. In May, Sri Lankan Airlines officially became a Oneworld member, making the small carrier with a fleet of 24 the first in the subcontinent to join an alliance. Politics, labour disputes and rising fuel costs have long stifled the competitiveness of South Asia’s aviation sector, creating a void on the world map for airline alliances. But things seem to be improving.
Oneworld is the only alliance that offers three status tiers instead of two. Whereas the lowest tier – Ruby – barely gives you any alliance-wide recognition other than waitlist priority, Sapphire or Emerald tier status grant you access to more than 600 business and first class lounges, respectively, world-wide. Note, however, that priority luggage handling and the increased luggage allowance of 20kg is only available to Emerald tier members.
Oneworld stands a notch above the other two alliances in terms of prestige of its alliance heads’ homebases which are located in the iconic business travel destinations of London, Hong Kong, New York, Sydney and Tokyo. This comes in handy when you are a Sapphire or Emerald tier holder and thereby have access to some of the world’s finest award-winning lounges such as Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong International Airport lounges and British Airways’ Galleries at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 in London.
In order to reach the much sought-after Sapphire status, Business Traveller Asia Pacific recommends the following three Oneworld loyalty programmes:
Royal Jordanian’s Royal Plus requires only 35,000 miles to reach Sapphire status – the lowest among all Oneworld airlines – and in return you get 35 per cent extra award miles every time you fly on Royal Jordanian, in addition to the standardised Sapphire status perks.
Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club only requires you to accrue 300 Qpoints (roughly the equivalent of two business class long-haul return flights) and in return you receive 75 per cent extra award miles every time you use Qatar Airways;
British Airways’ Executive Club awards you 100% extra award miles on every British Airway, American Airlines, Iberia or JAL flight upon accruing 600 Avios (roughly equivalent to two Hong Kong to London business class return flights).
SkyTeam
Founded in 2000 by Aeroméxico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air, Skyteam is the second largest alliance. As of July 2014, the 20 member airlines together serve 1,064 destinations with over 15,900 daily flights.
Skyteam’s forte stems primarily from the size and strength of its founding members' networks: Delta Air Lines is the second largest airline in North America, Air France/KLM is the largest airline in Europe and Korean Air features one of the widest networks in North-East Asia. Add to that the largest number of Chinese carriers (China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern and Xiamen Airlines) in any network and you have an alliance that is not necessarily renowned for its premium image, but certainly boasts a wide array of choice, particularly in East Asia, Europe and North America.
Skyteam sports only two elite tiers – Skyteam Elite and Skyteam Elite Plus. Unlike Star Alliance’s Silver tier, however, Skyteam’s Elite status already grants passengers with substantial standardised benefits such as an extra 10kg luggage allowance on every flight and priority check-in services.
Skyteam’s Elite Plus tier members are offered access to the alliance’s 564 lounges, as well as priority luggage handling across the alliance and 20kg extra luggage allowance.
To reach the coveted Elite Plus status Business Traveller recommends the following two Skyteam member programmes:
Delta Air Lines’ SkyMiles requires you to accrue a minimum 50,000 miles on any Skyteam member to reach Elite Plus. In return you get 100 per cent extra award miles on any Skyteam flight and almost unlimited complimentary upgrade options when you travel on Delta Air Lines;
Air France/KLM’s Flying Blue awards you Elite Plus status when you accrue a minimum 40,000 miles on any Skyteam flight. Thereafter, you will receive 75 per cent extra award miles whenever you travel on Skyteam. Note that Flying Blue is the frequent flyer programme shared by Air Europa, Air France, Kenya Airways, KLM and TAROM.
Star Alliance
Known as the grande dame in the airline alliance world, Star Alliance was the first global alliance when it was founded in 1997 by five airlines from three continents – Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways, Air Canada, Lufthansa and United Airlines. Star Alliance continues to enjoy high recognition among frequent travellers for its wide network, premium members and strong reliability. As of July 2014, Star Alliance had 27 members serving 1,269 airports with some 18,000 daily departures.
Star Alliance used to dominate the airline alliance world but it suffered a major loss when it lost both TAM Airlines and US Airways to rival Oneworld earlier this year. The loss of TAM in particular was a blow to Star Alliance which has always had high ambitions in the high-yielding South America market. Star Alliance remains as strong as ever in Europe with founding member Lufthansa at the helm and subsidiaries Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines in support. Legacy carriers Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and All Nippon Airways form the backbone of the alliance in Asia.
Air India is finally confirmed to join Star Alliance this July after its integration process was put on hold in 2011 for failing the meeting the alliance’s standards. Their addition means Star Alliance will offer more flights than any other alliance to India, undoubtedly an important current and future market. In Africa, Star Alliance is already the uncontested market leader with South African Airways, Egyptair and Ethiopian Airlines in its fold.
Star Alliance offers two status tiers – Silver and Gold. To be frank, Silver status does not provide you with any other standardised inter-alliance benefits but priority wait listing. Once you reach the Gold tier, however, the real benefits begin. As a Gold member, you receive 20kg extra luggage on top of your allowance, have access to more than 1,000 lounges world-wide and your bags are given priority handling.
To reach Star Alliance Gold status Business Traveller recommends the following airline partners’ loyalty programmes:
Aegean Airlines’ Miles & Bonus requires a mere 20,000 miles to reach the top tier. This is no joke. But that is about it. There are no additional perks such as extra award miles;
Asiana Airlines’ Asiana Club: awards you Gold status when you reach 40,000 miles. In addition you receive a miles gift and extra award miles every time you fly Asiana;
Turkish Airlines’ Miles & Smiles gives you 200% award miles with every Turkish Airlines flight in business class and heavily discounted year-round companion tickets for 40,000 miles.
Verdict
At the end of the day, your choice of airline loyalty programme remains largely influenced by your location of business and residence, and your travel patterns. What airline alliances achieve is convenience in the sense of finding mostly all partner members under the same roof in big international airports, making connections between their flights much easier. More importantly, alliances manage to make you feel recognised. Many of us who spend more time on aircraft, in airport lounges and our way to and from airports appreciate exactly this personal touch – addressing you by name, offering you a space to work and unwind in and perhaps the occasional upgrade.
Upon closer inspection of all three alliances, it is noteworthy how the individual member programmes vary greatly when it comes to miles needed for top tier privileges. Star Alliance is a case in point – Aegean Airlines requires 20,000 miles for gold status whereas alliance partner Lufthansa requires 100,000.
The attached charts attempt to offer a comprehensive look at how mile accruals are calculated across airlines in different alliances. With this information, you will be better equipped to play the mile game.
Dominic Lalk
