[Anonymous]

[MarcusUK]

The move that was indicated some months ago, now having taken place,and a clear timetable for inter-line bookings in Sept, will the merged FF programs of Virgins Global Airlines offer a new Alliance Alternative?

Bearing in Mind SQ are their main partner & offer reciprocal benefits for Virgin Gold Card holders, & other choice Airlines such as Air NZ, Gulf, Malaysian, ANA, Continental, SAA etc, could this be a real alternative Alliance now?

VirginAtlantic, VAustralia, VBlue, & Virgin America, link up nicely globally, albeit not as comprehensively as the main Alliances. But along with the partners, they offer a new blend of Airlines that would not be available in one other Alliance. They also connect some more unusual routes such as JNB-MEL on VAustralia for eg.

Star Alliance in many views expressed on BT Forum & in the magazine articles, has become too large, too impersonal, & too many restrictions on redemptions recently. It has become stale, dated & unresponsive, harder to earn the miles, more problematic to redeem them. Individual Airlines such as LH & SQ are placing Sub-conditions on redeeming on their flights, or not allowing them at all, and it fails to become a standard alliance network.

I personally welcome this new Global Alliance of the Virgin Group, & like the blend of the other Airlines they feature within the programs for earning & redeeming. It has a more contemporary feel to it, & something fresh for a change.

What are other BT readers feelings on this?
Do many of us have access now as Gold card holders, to the new global network benefits?

[VintageKrug]

I think you have already covered/cut and paste this elsewhere MarkRoberts9:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/Virgin-Atlantic-s-new-livery

Although your position does seem to have morphed from the plan being a fully integrated airline by October 2010 to simply an integrated FFP by middle of 2011.

Pleased you enjoyed your comped Flying Club Silver card and fasttracked FC Gold card. I hope you enjoy your Virgin “alliance” flights between Amsterdam and Barcelona, or perhaps Sao Paolo to Cairo, or even Dallas to Bangkok.

They don’t have any partner flights which cover those routes, you say?

Oh dear, what a terrible shame.

[Hippocampus]

Unfortunately, things don’t seem to be that harmonious between the Virgin branded airlines.

Virgin Group and Virgin Blue are reported by the Australian press to be in dispute over the V name. Virgin Blue is reported to want to consolidate Virgin Blue, Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue and V Australia under one name. However, the Virgin name can only be used for domestic flights in Australia as Singapore Airlines can veto the use of the Virgin name for international flights not operated by Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Group has tried to block an attempt by Virgin Blue to trademark the V Australia name.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/whats-in-a-name-virgins-blue-with-branson-20100711-105ll.html

[LuganoPirate]

Perhaps more in hope than expectation, I would hope Virgin could join the Star Alliance. Most if not all the carriers MarcuUK mentions are Star partners.

In addition Swiss use the Virgin lounges in quite a few destinations for their First Class passengers. In fact the Virgin business is usually far superior to many local offerings used by Star Alliance Business.

I agree Star has become very big, but I still find they have a personal touch especially when using the dedicated number for Gold Card holders available for Swiss / Lufthansa / Austrian.

I have never had a problem using my miles or upgrade vouchers for either tickets or upgrades. One very useful aspect with the LX / LH Senator Card is a companion ticket for 50% of the miles, and the ability to pay the taxes and fees with miles. You can also use them for one way awards and for a premium you can book any flight (only for Senators again) even if there is only one seat left.

I was also able to take advantage of their fly smart awards and book a return ticket for my daughter for just 15,000 miles from Lugano to AMS via ZRH.

[MarcusUK]

Tried some of the various Virgin Sites to make bookings to test out the interlined tickets etc.

VAustralia offering flights from Sydney to London, through USA or South Africa using VirginAmerica or Virgin Atlantic as connections.
So it all works, for both mileage redemptions, as well as paid bookings.

As predicted, & well done to the Virgin group. Nice to see the VAustralia teams leading their Company forwards, with such an involved content workforce, contemporary style of management paying off.

[MarcusUK]

Which Established Alliance should Virgin Join then?

Or does it now fulfil its own, with the Virgin Group, then Air NZ, Malaysian, Gulf Air, ANA, etc…a new mix. Though it has to be said there are not full reciprocal benefits with each…

Or some individual Airlines strategically added…Etihad would be enhance the groups networks, without too much conflict, & beef up the Emirates competition?

Your views?

[MarcusUK]

An interesting further development with Etihad…

It appears that a new Alliance is being created, with closer ties set for Air New Zealand with reciprocal benefits also.

[Author]

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