http://www.flyertalk.com/forum en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:13:47 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.flyertalk.com/forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1019261-advice-c-f-arn-sfo-arn-lax.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:04:17 GMT I'm getting ready to spend some SK EB points on a award trip from ARN to either SFO or LAX some time in the next 6-12 months and would like to hear your opinion on which carrier to choose.

I'm thinking of C or F and would like to make sure to make the best out of the experience. I'm guessing that some C class flights would be par with or actually better than some F trips...

Appreciate your input! ]]> Star Alliance caravaca http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1019261-advice-c-f-arn-sfo-arn-lax.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1019107-lounge-access-lhr-cph-dub.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:07:32 GMT I am a *A gold member as a consequence of my United Premier Executive status. I do NOT have a membership in United's Red Carpet Club.

I will be traveling with Mrs. renault4 in E or E+ from the US to LHR on UA metal, then same day on to DUB.

Later back to LHR on BMI and on to CPH on SAS same day,

Later again, back to LHR on SAS and on to the US on UA same day.

All are *A carriers.

UA and BMI are served by T1, while SAS in in T3;

To what what Airline or specific *A lounges in LHR, DUB or CPH do I have access (and can I guest in Mrs. Renault4?)

thanks. ]]> Star Alliance renault4 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1019107-lounge-access-lhr-cph-dub.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1019063-does-united-have-ability-expunge-member.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:51:55 GMT Does UA or LH (Founding members) have the ability to expunge a *A member?

I think they did that to Mexicana, didn't they?

They should do that to Singapore next.

Is Singapore really feeding its Asia-US traffic to United for UA to want to keep it? I'm sick of SQ's unwillingness to open ANY premium cabin awards to Star Alliance. Forget about starnet blocking, there is not a single premium cabin SQ award to be found when I search through the ANA for the 100th time. Why is SQ allowed to block all of its premium cabin awards?

Now, before you say anything, there are far better airlines that provide better amenities in *A and they don't mind releasing their premium cabins to the Star Alliance Pool. ANA, for instance, always has business available for redemption. Though rare, I have able to redeem ANA F. LH often has F available. Asiana almost always has F available. Turkish also has suites, and they release these awards to Star Alliance. Thai is also available often. But SQ? Nothing. And, SQ premium cabins are no longer new. They have been around for more than 2-3 years. It's no longer an excuse.

We all criticize starnet blocking, but SQ is doing award blocking, which is even worse.

Does United really have any incentive to keep SQ in the alliane? SQ needs to be expunged as far as I'm concerned :mad: ]]> Star Alliance BlissWorld http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1019063-does-united-have-ability-expunge-member.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018981-rtw-stara-few-impressions.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:25:40 GMT I'm at the beginning of a *A RTW, and thought I'd report in...

LHR to ZRH (not on the RTW) started in the lovely BMI Terminal 1 lounge. Which was very nice, as it is always.

ZRH to JFK was on a nice new Swiss plane - A330-300, I think. Couldn't find a lounge in ZRH, but I didn't have much time anyway. The in-flight entertainment on the plane was broken, which was poor, particularly as my companion (who reported it was broken on the return flight as well) was rather looking forward to it.

LGA to BWI (again, not on the RTW) was on US Airways Express - a tiny little propeller Dash 8. The US Airways lounge in LGA was large and light; as a non-UA flyer, I was given a special card for the wifi. Sadly, no lounge in BWI (that I could find, anyway); so I had to mooch about the airport - not too bad, though, since this was one of the airports with free wifi courtesy of Google, and therefore I was able to get quite a bit done.

I'm now doing LGA to Toronto, on Air Canada. They've not got a lounge here, and the United and US Airways ones are in different terminals; but I saw a sign for the Continental Airways one, and here I am. Quiet, lots of wood and grey carpet, coffee and a bar, and free wifi; and bagels and cream cheese for breakfast. The *A Gold sign is up outside the lounge, but it's clear that not too many *A people have found it yet: I was welcomed as 'Ah, look, it's my first BMI card!' by the desk.

Still to come: a lot of AC flights (again, some additional to my RTW); and then Japan with ANA, Seoul, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore perhaps, India, home - flying lots of different *A carriers except my home airline, BD (because they don't fly anywhere that I'd like to go)... ]]> Star Alliance James Cridland http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018981-rtw-stara-few-impressions.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018804-thinking-going-f-ord-europe-lh-vs-lx.html Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:30:46 GMT Since US has laid out its new FF mile policy, I'm thinking I should spend down my balance while it's worth something. I have a conference in HEL next spring that I'd like to attend, and while I only get reimbursed at Coach rates, it beats letting the miles go to waste... so while I'd normally go in coach, instead I'm looking to use up all my miles (and even buy in for some extra miles to get up to F - as I think someone else in the *A forum is looking to do).

I used the ANA tool and it looks like TATL availability is best from ORD - as a side benefit it would give me another hour in F :) Since SAS doesn't have first class, and since SQ's availability in F seems to be long since spoken for, this means that the best remaining TATL F segments seem to go through Germany and Switzerland. (Availability to and from HEL doesn't seem to be an issue right now.)

So it looks like my choices are LH, LX, US, and UA. It sounds like it's pretty unanimous that LH and LX are a better product. Now, here's what I am wondering.

On the way over, ORD-FRA in LH F on a 747 was the most appealing choice. But on the way back, MUC-ORD in LH F on the 340 is one choice... ZRH-ORD in LX F on a ??? (I didn't check, sorry) is the other.

This is probably the only chance I'll ever get to fly internationally in F, so I would really like to try a few different things. I heard that the 747 and 340 are pretty different products within LH, but of course LH and LX are going to be different too. Any more experienced travellers care to recommend one strategy over the other? ]]> Star Alliance shaggy_mutt http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018804-thinking-going-f-ord-europe-lh-vs-lx.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018716-greenland.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:26:24 GMT Is flying to Greenland on *A possible anymore? Looking to fly on miles there from Europe. Is flying to Greenland on *A possible anymore? Looking to fly on miles there from Europe. ]]> Star Alliance erasmus99 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018716-greenland.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018319-ffprogramme-within-star-alliance.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:15:00 GMT Hello everybody! I am sure this kind of question has been asked before but would like some advise on my specific case. I have recently moved to Vietnam and will be travelling with Star Alliance members quite frequently for at least the next... Hello everybody!

I am sure this kind of question has been asked before but would like some advise on my specific case.

I have recently moved to Vietnam and will be travelling with Star Alliance members quite frequently for at least the next three years. The travelling will include 2-3 return flights to Europe and several international and domestic flights, mainly in South East Asia.

Until now, I have been a member of OW but now it becomes obvious that I should join a SA Frequent flyer programme. My only doubt is on which FF company programme I should enrol as I know they are all slightly different.

I don´t consider getting a Singapore Airlines FFcard as it doesn´t seem very generous at all, nor any of the American companies as I won-t be flying with them, at least not in the short/medium term.

Thai and China Airways, apart from Singapore, are maybe the ones I will be using more frequently for the Asia-Europe flights and within South - East Asia, but being from the Northwest of Spain it might be better, for the long term, to join Spanair or Tap Portugal, two companies I know that sooner or later I will use in the long term, and also during my stays in Europe. Or maybe Lufthansa, which seems to have a quite a lot of non-airline partners.

I have recently made two Asia-Europe flights (one with Air China on the 30th August, and one with Singapore Airlines on 19th October) so I would really appreciate if you could tell me if there is any program that would allow me to earn miles on those flights (I know most of them only consider miles travelled after joining the program). That will be a very important factor to take my decision as well as the period of validity of earned miles.


Thanks a lot in advance for all your help! ]]> Star Alliance Galega http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018319-ffprogramme-within-star-alliance.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018300-what-united-doing-allowing-continental-elites-into-economy-plus.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:26:19 GMT :mad: Hello everyone, I have been a loyal United 1K member since 2006. I switched to Star Alliance after American announced that they were eliminating more room throughout coach. I had been a loyal Executive Platinum member with American since... :mad:
Hello everyone, I have been a loyal United 1K member since 2006. I switched to Star Alliance after American announced that they were eliminating more room throughout coach. I had been a loyal Executive Platinum member with American since 2000. Last night I just read the e-mail from United indicating that we have reciprocal benefits on Continental for domestic business class upgrades which is great, HOWEVER, who is the idiot at Untied that decided to let all the One Pass elite members have access to economy plus without any equivalent benefit???? Continental's economy is a joke!!! There is no legroom!!!! This decision is crap and I just read a WSJ article about how much clout this forum has, so here I am joining for the sole purpose of boycotting that decision or forcing Continental to reconfigure its planes for economy plus so that this will be a merger of equals. So will anyone join me in fighting United on this issue or forcing Continental to offer economy plus? Or is there another frquent flyer program that will offer me more legroom to Europe and Asia which is where I predominantly fly? ]]> Star Alliance tmootoo http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018300-what-united-doing-allowing-continental-elites-into-economy-plus.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018277-jnb-min-transfer-time.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:58:28 GMT My wife (and infant child) have a bmi star alliance reward booking travelling HRE – JBG with SAA on 24th February at 18:20 arr 20:10 to connect with SAA flight from JBG – LHR departing 21:35 (i.e. 85 minutes transfer time). Bmi accepted the reward... My wife (and infant child) have a bmi star alliance reward booking travelling HRE – JBG with SAA on 24th February at 18:20 arr 20:10 to connect with SAA flight from JBG – LHR departing 21:35 (i.e. 85 minutes transfer time). Bmi accepted the reward booking then called me afterwards to say that the connection was less than the minimum check in time and they could not guarantee the connection. This flight combination is sold as a through connection on the SAA website (so therefore it can’t be less than minimum connection time).

What does this mean? Bmi told me that they would not guarantee to put my wife and infant child on another flight if the connection falls through. Will bmi have written a note on the booking that will mean my wife is left stranded if the connection fails? ]]> Star Alliance sam http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018277-jnb-min-transfer-time.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018063-short-connection-iad-muc-ath.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:14:14 GMT MUC->IAD has an even shorter stop in Munich (roughly 40 minutes). I'm...]]> Hey all -

I'm considering booking a trip on Star Alliance from Dulles to Athens, but it has a relatively short (roughly 1 hour) layover in Munich. The return flight ATH->MUC->IAD has an even shorter stop in Munich (roughly 40 minutes).

I'm wondering - has anyone taken this flight before? Can anyone tell me whether I will run into delays dealing with immigration as a US citizen trying to transfer to my 2nd flight in Munich in such a short period?

Thanks! ]]> Star Alliance jaypubs http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1018063-short-connection-iad-muc-ath.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017972-rtw-reservation-website-vs-ta.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:37:32 GMT I am about to take my first RTW trip, and I have some problems with the website and the TA. The TA can find flights which the website does not find (e.g., CO flights are still not loaded) and even LH/LX flights which are free and are there... I am about to take my first RTW trip, and I have some problems with the website and the TA.

The TA can find flights which the website does not find (e.g., CO flights are still not loaded) and even LH/LX flights which are free and are there (checked this on ITA). In such a case I would have of course prefered to book with a TA, besides the small problem, for a Y ticket, a weird itinerary costs 300$ more at the TA (2700$ with taxes if I book on the site, 2900$ if I start with LH and 3000$ if I start my trip with US). He tried to ask them to look into the matter (these are not YQ charges, we compared the same itin.).

So... how can I book the flights my TA sees, while paying the price I see?

thx! ]]> Star Alliance mkilmo http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017972-rtw-reservation-website-vs-ta.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017937-need-some-advice-rtw-routing.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:14:11 GMT I need to travel to Sydney soon and am having some issues figuring out how to get back.

I'm getting there on the last bit of an outstanding FSTAR, which will then (theoretically) drop me back in ICN, but really anywhere in Asia.

I need to be in NY at 7am Monday at the ABSOLUTE latest.

I would optimally like to fly UA as much as possible for GS requal, and would prefer to fly west to flying east, if I'm on a RTW.

A CPAC is out of the question because the Fs are stupidly expensive and the Cs book into Z on UA and that means no upgrade - and plus the fact that OW lets you go to the east coast and Star only lets you go to the west coast is just offensive, especially now with the CO hubs in EWR and IAH.

So I'm thinking of doing a CSTAR out of NRT. But I see no way to do so, flying UA, west or east, and still leave Sydney on Sunday (well...that's not true - I could fly OZ to ICN in C - but what a waste of the last leg of my FSTAR).

I'd definitely consider an FSTAR if it were $8k or less - but I can't seem to find one.

The other option is to buy a UA B fare to New York and then upgrade - but I throw away two segments of my FSTAR, I fly biz, and, worst of all, I'm in trouble next time I want to go to Sydney on short notice.

The last option is to throw away the last two legs - buy an award of QF to JNB - and start a westbound CSTAR there - but QF has no availability on Saturday - and that brings me back to the point that I don't want to leave Saturday.

I guess the fundamental question, other than suggestions otherwise which is really what I would want, is if there is any way to leave Sydney on Sunday, make it to CMB/NRT in F (preferably on SQ), and still make it to NY on UA by 7am on Monday.

Really open to almost anything, so throw it out there. ]]> Star Alliance stevenshev http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017937-need-some-advice-rtw-routing.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017648-any-hope-business-class-air-new-zealand-using-ual-miles.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:38:05 GMT I was hoping to fly Business Class to Adelaide from the US West Coast next October. Using United miles, that means Air New Zealand from SFO or LAX. Starting 331 days ahead, and continuing for the next 10 days or so, United tells me that Air New... I was hoping to fly Business Class to Adelaide from the US West Coast next October. Using United miles, that means Air New Zealand from SFO or LAX. Starting 331 days ahead, and continuing for the next 10 days or so, United tells me that Air New Zealand "has not released any Business seats yet." Playing around on the ANA site, I couldn't find any days over several months when there were any Business seats available.

I have over 900k United miles I'd like to start using. My question is whether I should give up on Business class and book economy?

If business class ever did open up, I guess I could then pay the $300 change fee (for 2 tix) to switch to business. ]]> Star Alliance randysea http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017648-any-hope-business-class-air-new-zealand-using-ual-miles.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017475-pek-nrt-pick-nh-ua.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:15:27 GMT For a trip between PEK and NRT, would you choose F in UA 777 or J in a NH 763? For a trip between PEK and NRT, would you choose F in UA 777 or J in a NH 763? ]]> Star Alliance Merlin666 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017475-pek-nrt-pick-nh-ua.html http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017400-ease-upgrading-w-miles-co-b-y.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:07:29 GMT since CO joined the star alliance, how successful have you been in securing upgrades when booking in B or Y class on transatlantic flights? there seem to be awesome Y fares available for EWR - TLV, but I dont want to get my hopes up about this... since CO joined the star alliance, how successful have you been in securing upgrades when booking in B or Y class on transatlantic flights?

there seem to be awesome Y fares available for EWR - TLV, but I dont want to get my hopes up about this option, til I hear that there is a fair chance that our upgrades will clear (I know its all subject to availability, our travel dates are pretty flexible - this is part leisure and can be done any time within a 2 month time frame)

can anyone tell me about how it has worked out for them? according to CO, I check for upgrade availability, book the ticket, call UA and get the star alliance miles transferred electronically,and then call them back and confirm that the upgrade is wait-listed or confirmed? is this even correct or did she have no clue what she was talking about?

I am a premier exec/ star alliance gold member, if that helps.

Thanx to all you experts from a flyertalk novice. ]]> Star Alliance doc2b1030 http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star-alliance/1017400-ease-upgrading-w-miles-co-b-y.html