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Frequent Flyer news released on June 15, 2009 Brussels
Airlines got already noticed a couple of times in a negative manner in the
last few years due to its actions in the area of the Frequent Flyer Program Privilege - but the ultimate chapter
surpasses (once again) all the precedent ones: The program will be terminated
on October 25, when Brussels Airlines will adopt the program of its new potential
owner Lufthansa, Miles & More.
While one would expect a smooth transition in such situations (see Swiss
three years ago), Brussels Airlines engages its customers. Anyone, who
doesn’t register actively for a mileage transfer by July 31 (!), will
lose all his miles on October 25!! But one always has to think positively:
Life will be much more comfortable for frequent flyers as of the end of October
since you don’t have any longer to get up every morning with the fear
that Brussels Airlines is planning again a new nasty trick - the program will
then have become history and hardly be missed by anybody! By the way,
Brussels Airlines made this announcement although the European Commission has
not yet approved the takeover by Lufthansa at all. That’s why a remark
was added stating that this announcement regarding the merging of the
programs would become invalid in absence of an approval of the takeover deal.
It is also kind of strange for a company living mainly from the existence of the
European authorities to mock at them in such a blunt manner… After
comparable promotions with most US programs, Star Alliance member SAS became
now the first European airline to offer a promotion under which one can get
quicker to the elite level: EuroBonus members receive double status points on all SAS, Blue 1 and Widerøe
flights in all classes from June 23 to August 31. As a European member
residing outside of Scandinavia, you can, for instance, reach Gold status
already after one Business Class roundtrip to Tokyo or Bangkok, which
corresponds to Gold status with Star Alliance. But watch out as a
registration for this offer is required by June 21! Anybody
planning a trip to Barcelona in the near future should definitely integrate Spanair to its
travel plans and register for the so called pioneer program in the Spanair Plus program (which is limited to 30,000
participants). It entitles to various benefits on flights to/from Barcelona, such
as lounge access irrespectively of the class of service or double points
until September 15 (quadruple points for online bookings). And clients, who
currently hold elite status with either SkyTeam or oneworld, are granted a status match with
Spanair Plus and hence with Star Alliance by simply
showing their elite card at the sales counter in Barcelona. Russian
carrier S7 Airlines will join the oneworld
alliance at the end of 2010 and will hence become the second Russian airline
after Aeroflot (SkyTeam)
to join an alliance. As all other Russian airlines are not at a comparable
quality level, the position for Star Alliance to eliminate one if its remaining
white spots becomes comparably difficult, in particular since its potential partner
AiRUnion went bust last year. S7 started its
Frequent Flyer Program S7 Priority
at the end of last year only and has to bring it now quickly to an alliance
level. Greek carrier Aegean Airlines
will, however, join Star Alliance towards mid-2010. Virgin
Atlantic has chosen a new path in order to make the advantage of lounge
access even more relevant to its Flying
Club members: Thanks to a partnership with Regus, the world's leading
operator of flexible workplace solutions, elite members and holders of the
co-branded American Express credit card will have access to all 1,000 Regus lounges as of June 22. Most of them are situated
in city centres. Even base members can apply for a
free 3-month trial membership in Regus' businessworld
gold program, entitling to such an access. One accumulates one mile per pound
spent on any additional services as well. Frequent Flyer news released on May 15, 2009 For
the second time in a row, Alaska Airlines‘ Mileage Plan was voted best program in the Americas under the Freddie
Awards. Alaska Airlines thanks its
customers by granting both double reward and status miles on all (!) its own
flights until June 30. This is particularly interesting since the elite
program is indeed very generous and grants, for instance, also a mileage
bonus of up to 100% on a range of other airlines such as Delta, American, Air France and KLM. 75,000 flown miles per year on these carriers qualify for an
additional bonus of 50,000 miles. The Freddie Awards are determined through a
vote by frequent flyers. To what degree the Freddie Awards only serve as
welcome excuse to Alaska Airlines for such a sensational promotion in these
difficult times remains an open question - but is not really relevant for
customers either! Southeast
Asia - and hence also traffic to Australia - continues to be the
Achilles’ tendon of the SkyTeam alliance. China Southern can so far not really assume the role of Singapore Airlines or Thai in Star Alliance, nor the one of Cathay Pacific (and Qantas) in oneworld respectively. Fast growing Vietnam Airlines is now to join SkyTeam probably in 2010. The
current partners in its Golden Lotus
Plus are Korean Air and Cathay Pacific. But Malaysia Airlines could certainly
better close that gap. However, while the airline already cooperates with
several SkyTeam companies on a bilateral basis, it still doesn't show any
concrete intentions to join the alliance. After
Varig lost all airline partners in its program Smiles following its problems in
2006-07, there is now a turning point: Air
France and KLM are new partners
and give the program immediately an international dimension again. The
situation in Brazil is also an example for the fast-moving character of
partnerships even if one always hears the opposite from marketing
strategists: Not so long ago, nobody would have questioned the partnerships
between Varig
and Lufthansa on one side and
between TAM and Air France on the
other side. Now, not only Varig and Air France are
partners, but also TAM and Lufthansa… Promotions
in hotel programs in the style “one free night per x stays” are
recurring, but often linked to conditions making them less interesting, e.g.
that the free nights can only be used on weekends. Things are currently
different in the Priority Club of
the Intercontinental Hotels Group: Through July 03, one receives one free
night, which can be used flexibly until December 26, for every two nights. Up
to four free nights can be earned like that, which can again be used
separately or together. Members registering for this promotion don’t
get any points or miles for their stays. [Alternatively, one could also
collect double miles, what is, however, far less interesting.] The main
brands of the hotel group are InterContinental,
Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn. Hotels in Japan are excluded from this promotion. Admittedly,
it is not as attractive as the offer above, but runs through August 31 and
can therefore be at least an option for the time after July 03: Stays of at
least two nights at all six brands of Hyatt hotels qualify, after
registration, for sextuple credits in several programs. Participating
programs include the ones of Continental (OnePass), Delta (SkyMiles) and
Southwest Airlines (Rapid Rewards).
As this promotion has just been launched, it might still be announced by
further programs as well. |