When will EI become a full member of Oneworld?
Dec 30, 2018, 5:05 am
#61
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 411
It could also be that if tier points are offered they may be restricted to the joint venture routes only.
IAG took over EI some time ago, but as far as I can see there is no more recognition of BA status on EI than there was before, and no recognition of EI status on BA at all.
If they do start giving tier points on BA for all EI flights though I would start flying EI a lot more. At the moment I would pay a good bit more for a BA flight than an EI one. To be honest I would me more likely to even take a Ryanair flight if it was cheaper than the EI flight. The availability of BA tier points would change that.
Dec 30, 2018, 7:48 am
#62
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 683
Not necessarily, tier point earning will likely only happen if EI join oneworld (probably as connect partner if at all). Will probably be a while anyway before the JV will get approved and in place anyway. So for now only way to earn BA tier points on EI is to book EI flights using a BA codeshare.
Dec 30, 2018, 12:03 pm
#63
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 411
Unfortunately though booking an EI flight as a BA codeshare seems to generally involve paying quite a bit more, especially as I don't think hand baggage only fares are sold on BA codes.
Dec 31, 2018, 2:09 am
#64
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 47
Not necessarily, tier point earning will likely only happen if EI join oneworld (probably as connect partner if at all). Will probably be a while anyway before the JV will get approved and in place anyway. So for now only way to earn BA tier points on EI is to book EI flights using a BA codeshare.
Dec 31, 2018, 3:22 am
#65
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: BA Blue, EI Silver, Honours Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,207
That will change when EI joins the JV, but how it will work hasn’t been disclosed. EI might join OW as full, or connect members. Or it might just be reciprocal earning/burning/recognition across BA/AA/IB/AY. Even then it might be limited to just Trans Atlantic routes.
Dec 31, 2018, 5:42 am
#67
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 683
Correct, no TP’s unless you are booked on the BA code.
That will change when EI joins the JV, but how it will work hasn’t been disclosed. EI might join OW as full, or connect members. Or it might just be reciprocal earning/burning/recognition across BA/AA/IB/AY. Even then it might be limited to just Trans Atlantic routes.
Jan 7, 2019, 12:24 am
#68
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
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Why do people think there is a business case for EI to become a oneworld connect member if there isn't a business case to join oneworld as a full member?
Even if it may make sense for an unaligned airline like Fiji to join oneworld in this way - by helping them to "attract" new business from other oneworld members - it doesn't necessarily follow that it is worth the cost/effort for any other airline to do the same.
Aer Lingus already has "access" to some of the oneworld airlines, and partners with others outside of oneworld too, so doesn't need to go down that route.
And given that they can apparently join the TATL JV without becoming a oneworld member - which I had thought was a prerequirement for joining the JV - then I can see no business case whatsoever for EI to join oneworld.
If they get into the JV, then that's as much integration into oneworld as I think we can expect. [Given that the JV is metal neutral, then flyers in any of the associated airlines would earn miles/points for any such flights - but as others note above, I think it's unlikely that any other EI flights would earn in the other oneworld programmes. As others have noted, if BA (or IAG in general) wanted to give miles/points on EI flights, they already could]
Even if it may make sense for an unaligned airline like Fiji to join oneworld in this way - by helping them to "attract" new business from other oneworld members - it doesn't necessarily follow that it is worth the cost/effort for any other airline to do the same.
Aer Lingus already has "access" to some of the oneworld airlines, and partners with others outside of oneworld too, so doesn't need to go down that route.
And given that they can apparently join the TATL JV without becoming a oneworld member - which I had thought was a prerequirement for joining the JV - then I can see no business case whatsoever for EI to join oneworld.
If they get into the JV, then that's as much integration into oneworld as I think we can expect. [Given that the JV is metal neutral, then flyers in any of the associated airlines would earn miles/points for any such flights - but as others note above, I think it's unlikely that any other EI flights would earn in the other oneworld programmes. As others have noted, if BA (or IAG in general) wanted to give miles/points on EI flights, they already could]
Jan 7, 2019, 5:30 am
#69
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2,016
You'll have to look at the differences between full membership and connect membership. For example, the Fiji Airways deal has very limited lounge access. You basically only get lounge access if you book as codeshare on the airline where you hold status. This means considerable savings for EI as they won't have to pay for a lounge in a lot of situations.
Jan 7, 2019, 6:31 am
#70
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
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You'll have to look at the differences between full membership and connect membership. For example, the Fiji Airways deal has very limited lounge access. You basically only get lounge access if you book as codeshare on the airline where you hold status. This means considerable savings for EI as they won't have to pay for a lounge in a lot of situations.
(Besides, once EI is admitted to the metal-neutral joint venture, all premium customers finding themselves on EI will have lounge access, and it is very likely that status flyers in economy will also find themselves with lounge access. Note that the application mentions co-location/terminal moves so in many cases this would probably end up being in BA/AA lounge anyway!)
Jan 7, 2019, 7:42 am
#71
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 683
Why do people think there is a business case for EI to become a oneworld connect member if there isn't a business case to join oneworld as a full member?
Even if it may make sense for an unaligned airline like Fiji to join oneworld in this way - by helping them to "attract" new business from other oneworld members - it doesn't necessarily follow that it is worth the cost/effort for any other airline to do the same.
Aer Lingus already has "access" to some of the oneworld airlines, and partners with others outside of oneworld too, so doesn't need to go down that route.
And given that they can apparently join the TATL JV without becoming a oneworld member - which I had thought was a prerequirement for joining the JV - then I can see no business case whatsoever for EI to join oneworld.
If they get into the JV, then that's as much integration into oneworld as I think we can expect. [Given that the JV is metal neutral, then flyers in any of the associated airlines would earn miles/points for any such flights - but as others note above, I think it's unlikely that any other EI flights would earn in the other oneworld programmes. As others have noted, if BA (or IAG in general) wanted to give miles/points on EI flights, they already could]
Even if it may make sense for an unaligned airline like Fiji to join oneworld in this way - by helping them to "attract" new business from other oneworld members - it doesn't necessarily follow that it is worth the cost/effort for any other airline to do the same.
Aer Lingus already has "access" to some of the oneworld airlines, and partners with others outside of oneworld too, so doesn't need to go down that route.
And given that they can apparently join the TATL JV without becoming a oneworld member - which I had thought was a prerequirement for joining the JV - then I can see no business case whatsoever for EI to join oneworld.
If they get into the JV, then that's as much integration into oneworld as I think we can expect. [Given that the JV is metal neutral, then flyers in any of the associated airlines would earn miles/points for any such flights - but as others note above, I think it's unlikely that any other EI flights would earn in the other oneworld programmes. As others have noted, if BA (or IAG in general) wanted to give miles/points on EI flights, they already could]
Obviously this is mostly for frequent fliers and i'm not sure how far they contribute to a business case for adding oneworld connect membership to the JV inclusion, maybe it is negligible but I thought it must be some consideration for joining. Also I imagine the connect membership is easier (read cheaper) than a full one.
Jan 7, 2019, 8:23 am
#72
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Netherlands
Programs: KL Platinum; A3 Gold
Posts: 28,665
Judging by how Aer Club was set up and is run, I don't think the loyalty scheme and concerns about how Aer Club customers may be "driven" away, is exactly at the heart of everything EI does.
[While jetblue and United may not want to continue working with EI after they get absorbed into the oneworld JV, it would quickly become apparent to Aer Club members that notice or worry about such things that flying on the newly-available EI/AA tickets is more beneficial than flying on EI/UA or EI/B6 tickets. It would appear that, once in the JV, all and any such flights will become earning in Aer Club if only because the document talks about the start of codesharing on the other partners. Conversely, the document warns that EI and BA will have to stop codesharing if EI isn't admitted to the JV]
Besides, concerns about how Aer Club passengers earn on flights, whether operated by partners or codeshared or not, can be addressed by tweaking Aer Club so that Tier Credits (as well as Avios) are awarded on certain partner flights in certain cases; there is no need to actually join oneworld in order to amend Aer Club to be more "generous" (though joining oneworld would, of course, force them to start giving credits for all flights on all oneworld airlines, and not just on the tickets that EI themselves sold or on tickets where EI will get a share of the revenue from as part of the expanded TATL JV. This is something that I don't think Aer Lingus actually wants to do, though).
[While jetblue and United may not want to continue working with EI after they get absorbed into the oneworld JV, it would quickly become apparent to Aer Club members that notice or worry about such things that flying on the newly-available EI/AA tickets is more beneficial than flying on EI/UA or EI/B6 tickets. It would appear that, once in the JV, all and any such flights will become earning in Aer Club if only because the document talks about the start of codesharing on the other partners. Conversely, the document warns that EI and BA will have to stop codesharing if EI isn't admitted to the JV]
Besides, concerns about how Aer Club passengers earn on flights, whether operated by partners or codeshared or not, can be addressed by tweaking Aer Club so that Tier Credits (as well as Avios) are awarded on certain partner flights in certain cases; there is no need to actually join oneworld in order to amend Aer Club to be more "generous" (though joining oneworld would, of course, force them to start giving credits for all flights on all oneworld airlines, and not just on the tickets that EI themselves sold or on tickets where EI will get a share of the revenue from as part of the expanded TATL JV. This is something that I don't think Aer Lingus actually wants to do, though).
Jan 7, 2019, 2:48 pm
#74
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: London, UK
Programs: bmi DC, BAEC
Posts: 1,103
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breaki...eo-875298.html
Jan 26, 2019, 5:56 am
#75
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Dublin
Posts: 15
Aer Lingus applies to join the TATL joint venture
Story here: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/...ture-1.3770986
Aer Lingus as formally applied to join the American Airlines, British Airways, Iberian and Finnair trans-atlantic joint venture. Doesn't mean they'll be rejoining One World however.
Aer Lingus as formally applied to join the American Airlines, British Airways, Iberian and Finnair trans-atlantic joint venture. Doesn't mean they'll be rejoining One World however.
