I noticed on the TG forum that Thai Smiles has announced a split off from Thai Airways, including operating under their own AOC with IATA code "WE"...and most importantly has decided not to participate in Star Alliance. This is supposed to take effect Mid-April.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thai-...-we-drops.html
http://centreforaviation.com/analysi...secured-160934
This has BIG implications for *A travel to many cities, as TG stopped serving many of them in favor of WE service.
While from the Thai Airways perspective the transition from the TG to WE code in some regional markets is not an issue or concern for its passengers, there will be an impact on the Star Alliance given that Thai Airways is the only Star carrier in some of the impacted markets. For example Thai Airways is currently the only Star member serving Vientiane and Mandalay (the latter was launched as a Thai Smile route but is now part of the Star network as Thai Smile has been operating under the TG code). Thai Airways is one of only two Star members serving Phnom Penh or Hyderabad.
Thai Smile takes over for Thai Airways at Hat Yai
Star Alliance will also be losing connectivity to several domestic markets in Thailand. While Thai Airways plans to continue operating to Thailand’s main tourist destinations, Thai Smile has already entirely taken over four domestic routes – Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, Surat Thani and Hat Yai. As Thai Smile transitions to its own AOC, these four destinations will be removed from the Star network.
Hat Yai is the latest and by far the largest domestic route to be taken over by Thai Smile. Hat Yai, located in southern Thailand, is the fourth largest city in the country and the largest outside Thailand’s central region.
Curious as to the impact for M+ members, I did some searching for award travel this summer to cities now served exclusively by Thai Smiles (WE):
Looks like availability is still there, but showing as TG flight numbers and "operated by Challenge"
Anyone have insight if the Thai Smile destinations will continue to be available using M+ miles? Maybe as some sort of "partner" airline instead of a true *A member? UA.com currently does not list them as a partner airline.
Also wondering if we will continue to be able to earn miles on these flights, but less of a concern for me as the distances are not very great. It is disappointing to not have Star Alliance (gold) benefits on these flights as well.