Received the below email from CO this morning. Seems the Skyteam relationship will end 24 oct and word is (although not confirmed) that *A membership will follow very shortly after. Good news for me as I have a CO redemption for November using my OnePass miles and it looks like I will now get lounge access with my BD card (I have no CO status). November will also mark the end of having to fly to the USA on UA or US to get status miles
Excellent news. I finally get a DUB-EWR link that earns miles on a decent carrier. Just in time for Xmas shopping too.
Programs: EI Gold Circle, BD*G, OZ*G, Hilton Gold, assorted Silvers...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DELLAS
Excellent news. I finally get a DUB-EWR link that earns miles on a decent carrier. Just in time for Xmas shopping too.
I share your sense of excitement, and am dying for direct award seats to the US, without having to see LHR. FRA will still get the occasional visit for LH's F product, but not so often now. And can confidently say I won't be seeing the inside of another US Airways 757 in DUB ever again.
CO is a super little airline.
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The thread on a.net suggests that they will enter on 1 Nov
That would seem logical. They probably need a short period of transition between leaving ST and joining *A to get all their computer systems etc set up for the new alliance. Wonder if/when they plan to move to LHR T1?
I was under the impression that the business product wasnt up to international standards. I have no direct experience of the business class however the economy is pretty appauling, albeit relatively standard for american carrier.
I hope this is on topic as it would give some of us in the regions better options for earning/burning bmi points. The article below talks of a United/Continental merger with some financial input from LH which raises my hopes of Star Alliance membership.
Can I just re-remind everyone that whilst CO is joining *A and leaving ST, CO is NOT merging with UA. It's an alliance! Nothing more and nothing less.
Remember this was written back in Feb 08 when we didn't know what the future would hold, when we all had long hair and beards and recession was a term we read about in history books. We only found out some months later that CO/UA would form a close alliance as opposed to a merger.
Remember this was written back in Feb 08 when we didn't know what the future would hold, when we all had long hair and beards and recession was a term we read about in history books. We only found out some months later that CO/UA would form a close alliance as opposed to a merger.
Not sure I would agree with this. I think most people who know anything about CO would know that they would not merge with UA especially whilst UA has been doing so poorly for so long.
FWIW, CO is probably the best run out of the US majors and has been for about the last decade.
I was under the impression that the business product wasnt up to international standards. I have no direct experience of the business class however the economy is pretty appauling, albeit relatively standard for american carrier.
Anyone care to add?
No experience of BusinessFirst but I have found economy to be acceptable by any carrier standards (not sure than American carriers are worse than European ones on the economy front any more).
An important part of the product is the route network. All things being equal, no-one would choose to fly transantlatic in economy in a 757 but if it is flying direct from a local airport (eg EDI) and therefore knocking at least three hours off the journey time and some surcharges off the ticket price then it makes a big difference in overall comfort. CO joining Star will be a huge benefit to Star Alliance members at BHX, BRS, BFS, MAN, AMS etc.
I also think CO is a solid and well-run airline. The brand is a little inelegant and the product not as enjoyable as many would like but in my experience it is consistent and it works (which makes it quite like LH I suppose...)
And so my plan for a *A hub at BHX continues at apace
This is excellent news - and will provide decent *A access for the regions to EWR. Now if BMI/BMI baby can take advantage of this, by either providing feeder services and/or codeshares, we'd really be in business.
No experience of BusinessFirst but I have found economy to be acceptable by any carrier standards (not sure than American carriers are worse than European ones on the economy front any more).
I thought they were a bit more like Easyjet, ie charging for drinks etc in Y?
They will be of use to me none-the-less, due to the RTB flight as my sister lives there (goddamnher).
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kryten22uk
I was under the impression that the business product wasnt up to international standards. I have no direct experience of the business class however the economy is pretty appauling, albeit relatively standard for american carrier.
Anyone care to add?
Not used Bizfirst either however I believe they are just about to launch a new seat. Cradle seats on the 777's at the moment look very comfy for a day flight however.
I've been using their Y product TATL for about 3 years now and it's very good. Their new AVOD is great, seems stable and has a nice mix of old and new films. Food is edible and comes with real knives and forks. There's no free booze but I don't like drinking on planes anyway so that's not an issue. The crews vary as always however they are generally very nice (esp. the HOU based ones) and you never seem to be more than 30 mins from a (free non alcoholic) drinks run. As always avoid the 757's if you can (however the regional departures are nice and on a day flight to NYC they're just fine).
Most importantly for me however this will give us a much needed direct *A route into NYC. Not only this it's into EWR which is in my opinion a much nicer facility than the hole that is JFK!
Who doesn't charge for alcoholic drinks in Y these days? UK>US I can only think of BA and VS - each of which have their own drawbacks (wrong alliance, not particularly good Y product). CO is ruthless at 'ancillary revenues' (ie charging for what used to be free) but everyone else is getting in on that act. CO also has a website that works.
on 1 Nov
