FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Can an airline participate in more than one Alliance = no? For Loyalty Pgms, yes?
Old May 31, 2014 | 8:57 pm
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garykung
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Your thread have many flaws.

Originally Posted by moretimeoffguy
Can an airline ever simultaneously be a member in good standing of more than one airline Alliance? So far, I've not seen overlap between members of Oneworld, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam--the only Official Airline Alliances I'm aware of.
No in 2 major reasons:

- Antitrust law: For example, LA and JJ were forced to leave *A because AV and TA merged and joined *A

- Exclusivity clause: No alliance will allow any airlines to double dip.

Originally Posted by moretimeoffguy
One thing that threw me for a loop recently, though, is that some airlines seem to participate simultaneously in more than one airline Loyalty Program (LP). And some airlines seem to offer membership in their own LPs to other airlines.

Some examples of the former:
* Aeroflot is a member of the Flying Blue LP (?) yet also has its own LP named Aeroflot Bonus (if I'm reading things correctly)

Some examples of the latter:
* Lufthansa's Miles & More LP seems to have a handful of other airlines associated with it, including SWISS, LOT, and Croatian.

* Flying Blue (owned jointly by Air France / KLM?) has other associated airlines such as Kenya Airways, Tarom, and Air Europa.

Is what I'm seeing and relating here accurate?
No.

1, 3. SU is an airline partner of Flying Blue by virtue of SU being a ST member, as well as AF and KL.

SU's program is still Aeroflot Bonus. Flying Blue associates with other programs or airlines through ST.


2. LH's M&M is a complicated one. But simply saying - for the 10 member airlines, 4 of them join M&M voluntary. 1 was formerly owned by LH Group. And the rest are all LH's Group airlines.

LH, the airlines, does not actually own M&M, but the LH Group does.

Originally Posted by moretimeoffguy
What about Hotel Chains and Brands? Is there simultaneous cross-participation in each other's Loyalty Programs? And could there be a third "category" of LP? One created and not owned / curated / managed by any airline or hotel provider?
Hotels are simple - brand ownership determines everything. So no need to cross over.

Originally Posted by moretimeoffguy
Wondering what the boundaries are with Alliances and Loyalty Programs, if there are exceptions to the rule, etc. I know some airlines partner with each other outside the bounds of both Alliances and Loyalty Programs. One example being:

* Hawaiian Airlines, not being in any Alliance, partners with some airlines that themselves *are* members of one of the three major Alliances, e.g. ANA (Star Alliance), AA (Oneworld), KE (SkyTeam). Presuming there are no transitive benefits. Are there?
The world is in black and white on this. So non-alliance airlines feel free to do anything.
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