Originally Posted by
zkzkz
From a selfish point of view this works fine with me. I'm in no danger of missing these targets.
However it's a bit if an ominous turn for star alliance. The fact that we could use any *A programme and fly any carrier was part of the selling point of the alliance. I like that if one day AC stops working for me I could shop around and try Aegean or Turkish or BMI (not for long...)
If these kinds of requirements start spreading there will be a lot less competition between programmes and a lot less pressure to have good extra benefits like upgrades since your flying pattterns will lock you into a much more limited set of choices.
I agree... shouldn't affect me personally but for *A it's an interesting move. Not a hugely onerous requirement though, I'd be curious as to how many E/SEs they have that don't earn any segments/miles on AC - must be a significant number for this new change.