Guy Betsy

... above from the BA forum..

I never knew that.... seeing that the KA website has a big OW logo on it..

http://www.dragonair.com/ka/en_HK/ca...roduction.html

QRC3288

technically KA is "an affiliate member of the OW alliance", at least that's what they say over the PA each flight.

I have no idea what it means though. For all intents and purposes it seems to have no differentiation than a full blown member for my perspective.

Marco Polo

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/e...strial-dispute

Cathay Pacific to use Dragonair to get around industrial dispute ban on training, union source reveals

alphaod

Yeah they are an affiliate member, must here in the US like American Eagle or when they say it's operated by "affiliate airlines" like Compass Airlines.

KARFA

I supplied the links to the oneworld site which clearly backed up what I stated. Not sure why you still felt the need to get further clarification?

The logo is on the KA website since they are a oneworld affiliate.

24left

As per KARFA's link to OW, the wording on the affiliate page says:

"In addition to the oneworld® member airlines, there are a number of oneworld affiliate airlines that help extend the reach of our network to even more global destinations.

These affiliates provide services in conjunction with individual oneworld member airlines, meaning you can enjoy even greater choice and flexibility when you fly with oneworld. They offer the full range of oneworld services and benefits."


I suppose we can interpret the wording differently unless there is more detailed info available to explain the differences if any, in terms of the overall alliance or how member airlines interact, codeshare, interline, award miles etc.

For eg. this is the Cathay page on AA

https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/e...hayPacific.jsp

The only other definition I found is from a quick wiki-peek, but I'd rather have another source:

"Besides its full member airlines, Oneworld also includes around 30 "affiliate" members. These are generally regional airlines that are either owned by or have strong commercial links with the alliance's full members. For customers, they further extend the network the alliance can offer. In governance terms, these affiliates are represented in Oneworld affairs by their "parent" airline."

QRC3288

thanks, that's interesting.

At least from passenger perspective, I feel pretty confident saying there is zero difference between CX and KA for elite earning, recognition, access, etc. For all intents and purposes as we care about here on FlyerTalk, KA is a full-blown OW member.

I have no idea about other affiliate members, if there is some relevant difference for passengers. But for frequent fliers' perspective, KA might as well be a OW member...the difference is just semantics. Comes with all the OW benefits and rights and whatnot.

My *bet* on why KA is still an "affiliate" member is maybe there are some voting rights, payments or other responsibilities of full blown OW members worked out within the alliance. KA wasn't fully owned by CX until what, 10 years ago so maybe there is some grace period before they have to be a full member. I'm sure there is some internal reason, even if us passengers don't see it. So KA is an "affiliate" whereas CX is a full-blown member. Haha I don't really care what they call it as long as it's OW (and CX) in practice, and the op-ups keep coming

24left

Ha!

Another interesting point might be the relationship between some of the OW members. I was thinking about this in terms of some of the promos where only some OW airlines are included. Last year, I participated in that awesome AA/BA 125,000 miles bonus. Then there was the one with AA/BA/IB/AY, but no one else IIRC. I think there may have been another with JAL.

So, while you might be right about the voting rights or relationship among OW members behind the scenes, it seems there is also the issue of which other airlines are more important in the various relationships.