SkyTeam Exit Date
 

Conference Call: Last flight on October 24, 2009 is last flight in Sky......

Interesting.

what an odd date

Just looked it up, that looks to be 1 year to the day from when Delta and NOrthwest was approved and finalized.....

Wonder when the first day of *A is. I doubt it's the next day; there are no doubt many system changes that may dwarf the recent fare class changeover. Unlike that change, which could be done in advance even though it was obviously preparation for *A, things like StarNet connectivity (for awards and FLINFO) probably can't be turned on in production in advance.

Also likely lots of legalities. My guess is we won't see CO as an actual *A member until 3-12 months after leaving ST. But we'll see codeshares, especially with UA/AC/LH, and perhaps some bilateral RDM/EQM deals, ahead of the full *A accession.

I'd like to be surprised and have them in *A a couple of days after leaving ST. But I doubt that's realistic. As long as my 2009 CO flying gets me *A status for sometime in 2010 with some benefits on UA/AC/LH earlier, I'll be happy.

doobierw, thank you. That information is very helpful for the NW folks.

From the earnings report:

"Announced plans to leave SkyTeam and join Star Alliance and begin broad code-sharing and other commercial cooperation with United in the fourth quarter of 2009."

LK specifically mentioned the 10/24 exit date, but then never answered anything regarding planned entry date.

I would bet it is to coincide with the November 1 launch of IAH-FRA. I am willing to bet that Star entry will be around November 1.

During the media portion, LK was queried about the specific exit date he provided, and was then asked if he was willing to provide an entry date. He dodged providing a specific date, but his reply with reference to October 24th was 'promptly thereafter'.......

What does the last Skyteam flight mean? Presumably, if you booked on a Skyteam partner before some date (when?) you would still get EQM for that flight even after October 24. Similarly, reward tickets on Skyteam partners booked before some date (when?) would still be honored after October 24. Also, the Northwest partnership with respect to upgrades is not part of the Skyteam agreement. I wonder when those reciprocal upgrades will end? Any ideas on any of these dates?

Yes to having a reward ticket honored. Likely no to upgrades on NW or getting OnePass credit beyond that date, even if already ticketed today.

October 24th is actually the last day of the IATA summer season.
October 25th begins the winter season, so that is probably why they chose that date.

Houston Chronicle Article
 

From this NW Elite, CO will be missed, and I just may follow CO out when it leaves!

Safe Travels.

this is somewhat good as it leaves us with AF and OK for this Summer. So PRG is still a Go. and as bad as AZ is it still gives us a chance to cash in for Italy, or at least to make Italy a stopover in conjunction with other Countries.

I assume the last SkyTeam flight means that after that CO will no longer participate in the alliance. This includes IT sharing, IRROP support, award redemption, etc.

From this CO elite, the DC9's will NOT be missed but the WorldClubs (especially the big one in DTW) will be. Hopefully, UA or US have a nice club somewhere with showers, wifi, snacks, etc.

This also gives you a chance to book Skyteam reward travel for summer of 2010. However, you likely won't be able to make changes, other than cancelling.

Ha! Fat chance of that.

Now, if mice and cockroaches are your idea of a nice club, then you will love the RCCs.

Certainly not within continental US, but the RCC in HKG is very nice with showers and hot foods! While I am not sure how good the lounges are in ST, there are plenty of very nice *A lounges worldwide.

LAX

I never really thought about it, but CO’s leaving SkyTeam will hit me as an Amex Plat member, too. Now I won’t be able to enter CO’s partner airline clubs. The access to DL and NW clubs while getting miles sent to CO was a nice benefit. I wonder if it’s worth keeping anymore.

As for the DC-9's, I did well with upgrades on those old things. I'll miss the F seats!

From the NW side, I'm going to miss access to PC's. Guess I'll have to go out with a bang at the DO. :D

If you're in HKG and have your choice of *A lounge access the RCC would be at the bottom of my list. If it is the only one, OK, but if you can choose between TG, SQ and UA I would do them in that order, with quite a gap between the last two.

I know about the options of *A lounges at HKG, but I was only commenting on the fact there is a RCC in the system that's not too shabby even though it doesn't quite measure up to other *A lounges.:D

LAX

I loved the DC9ers as it almost certainly meant an upgrade and, more importantly, meant I was NOT on a CRJ.

The WorldClubs in DTW are nice, but I prefer more of the spacious open feeling of the PCs.

Just got the email from CO announcing it


Now CM better follows ............PLEASE!

Just got the email too:

Dear emcampbe,

In June 2008, Continental announced plans for extensive commercial cooperation with United Airlines and Star Alliance, linking our networks and services worldwide to deliver new benefits to our customers. We pledged to keep you informed of developments and would like to provide you an update.

Regarding SkyTeam, Continental intends to end its participation in the SkyTeam Alliance after the last scheduled flight on Oct. 24, 2009.

We continue to work through the details of our planned exit from SkyTeam and entry into Star Alliance, but anticipate our participation in Star Alliance will begin promptly after we leave SkyTeam. We are committed to providing our OnePass members with opportunities to earn and redeem miles over an extensive network.

We will be working hard with our good partners at SkyTeam, and our future good partners at Star, to make the transition from SkyTeam to Star Alliance as smooth as possible.

You can expect to receive updates from us as we continue to develop our participation in Star Alliance. Remember the most current updates may be found at continental.com.

As always, many thanks for flying Continental. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,


Mark Bergsrud
Sr. Vice President, Marketing Programs and Distribution

copa
 

Was there any news about copa and if they will stay with co?

Has it been formally announced that CO entering *A means the end of the Amex Plat relationship?

I for one am looking forward to using my OnePass miles on ANA and Singapore. ^

No nothing like that, but since the Amex relationship only extends to CO, NW, DL and AA, I won't be able to get into the clubs of any CO partners in Star.

I think we can book reward travel on Skyteam flights till Oct 24th. Reward tickets may be good for probably six months or one year after that.

But the tickets could be restricted, no changes or postponement after Oct 24th.

I may book a flight somewhere for Oct 24 to say goodbye to ST.

I wonder how long it will take for CO Elites to be able to use *A facilities - especially the lounges.

Also - anyone have any thoughts on which tier will equate to which *A status level?

Should book it so you leave on SkyTeam and come back on *Alliance...

Oooh! We could turn it into a mini-DO!

official email:

Copa
 

Although I have not read of any official movement of Copa (not a full memeber of Sky Team) to *A, it would be almost impossible for them to do anything else without starting their own frequent flyer program as they are part of One Pass. Taca would be the only question as they were supposely in discussion to also join *A.

Hopefully the gap between Sky Team and Star Alliance membership for Continental will be minimal or non-existant.

No, and I wouldn't expect it. The AmEx relationship is a direct contract and unrelated to SkyTeam in any way. CO makes a lot of money from that deal and I cannot imagine them wanting to give it up.

It does mean that when flying on partners there will no longer be access, which will suck, but that will actually likely work in CO's favor as it has the potential to drive more business back to their metal.

I thought we were only allowed into a club/lounge if we were flying on that particular airline's metal; i.e., no access in a DL lounge unless we held a DL ticket (even if it were say, a CO code-share)?

How would CO partner access work?

I'll miss Northwest Airlines.

They may be the only ones in ST I will miss!