Jetstar is tantamount to a LCC and is primarily a leisure-based airline. OpenSkies, OTOH, is very much aimed at premium pax, who are the life-blood of worldwide airline alliances. Sure, BA wants the continental-based customers of OpenSkies to join BA ExecClub, but doesn't it want to attract premium pax from the Americas & Asia-Pacific onto these flights? It's hardly an incentive to tell a Chilean businessman who has meetings in the US and in Paris that he won't earn any miles if he flies OpenSkies from JFK to CDG.

As to QF et al. where's the difference between their members flying BA JFK-LHR-CDG and direct JFK-CDG? In fact, the latter probably costs less and the pax are happier into the bargain. I just don't get it.