lento

I wish they could always offer champagne OR anything cheaper than champagne.

Purjelentaja

I was very surprised yesterday having the purser welcome me onboard by name and thanking for loyalty when offering the drinks on ARN-HEL leg. I think it was first time ever on that short hop, except once a month ago when a Lumotic sitting next to me got a welcome greeting and I as lowly Plat didn't get even a glance. Actually this was the first time this autumn receiving the on-board recognition regardless of the route, I almost thought they had quit the whole thing. It didn't take any extra time, but was a very nice gesture.

FFlash

When you go outside you see better inside.

I think what AY does for other OWEs in Y is better than other airlines I get for my AY card.
Having flown now few asian airlines in Y and got absolutely nada so far. Regional wifebodies, no comfort seats, recognition, services, nothing onboard, just priocheckin and lounge accesses. Not complaining though, just a data point. 58Ö rules

Steve_Hun

Generally I agree with you on how nicely Finnair plays by the alliance rules!

Which Asian airlines have you used as OWE? My only Asian OW experience is w/ CX and there both in Y or J as a OWE, I've gotten very good treatment! W/ CX & KA, if you have OWR (which is kind of a joke) or better, you can already book for free the extra legroom seats. As a OWE, I've always received a personal greeting from the inflight service manager and most often than not, also receive a bottle of Evian (1l).

Similarly w/ AA, free MCE from booking (and just like w/ CX, you can do it online, no need to call/chat /etc with customer service). And from AA, you get not only drinks, but also a meal/snack, most of which are sold for ~10$. Not that I couldn't afford that, but still appreciate it 😁

I remember with AB (RIP), there really wasn't any recognition. Exactly as you wrote, priority check in and lounge (if that). If I remember correctly I even had to pay for an exit row seat despite being OWE...

CPH-Flyer

There is a reason why the Asian carriers don't give a free drink or a free snack to OWE passengers They have a hot meal with full bar service for all Y passengers on 2 hour flights. Admittedly no champagne.

JAL is rather limited in the attention they give to OWE onboard, greetings from the head of the cabin are not rare, but they are not in the service manual.

CX as mentioned above are usually quite good about these things. I have many times had the in flight service manager come and prepare my tray before the carts are in the aisle, and bring me wine from J rather than the Y wine selection. As she said one time when I asked for the chardonnay in Y, "I'll be right back, I have a nicer chardonnay up front"

JAL does not have Cornfort seats, but their base pitch is 34" so no real need to offer it and the front rows of the cabins are blocked for OWS and OWE.

FFlash

Sure, hot meal on 2hr flights is one thing. But AA does recognize me and BA scores me nice seatblocks at least.

Just flew a short hop on MH 332 aircraft which was quite niceto compare with AY. Better than AY hard product although nothing special

riku2

The OWE recognition with AY/BA/AA is much better than you get with a star gold card. With AA I get main cabin extra, a quite substantial snack. With UA you get nothing onboard and are consigned to the worst parts of the economy cabin with pitiful leg room (half the cabin is what you might call "economy comfort" in AY terms). On LH there is no free advance seat assignment (unless you have a LH *G card). So the benefits with a OWE card are pretty good.

intuition

I think Star Alliance is quite a different thing than oneWorld. Star is built on numerous bilateral agreements, thus there is little incentive to treat other golds nicely (unless you have added that into the specific agreement between airline A and B.
While oneW is more top-down construct, albeit with a very weak top (and heavily influenced by the larger airlines). Thus airlines sign agreement with oneWorld on behalf of all its members and there is a (slightly) larger incentive to deliver the same perks to all OWE.

That's what I reckon.

WilcoRoger

Not judging, not at all.

FFlash

Oops, that spellcheck suddenly attract totally different consequences

Steve_Hun

Haha... That reminds me, that I actually flew MH real short haul (~1 h flight) and as you wrote, nothing special in terms of recognition. So much so, that yesterday evening didn't even remember... 😁

on22cz

Fair comparison on alliance level would be OWS vs. *G. Alternatively, on airline level a fair one would be e.g., AY Platinum vs. SK Diamond.

CPH-Flyer

SK Diamond is just *G when flying on a different carrier than SK. So is Lufthansa HON Circle, or United Global Services. There is no alliance wide recognition of anything above *G.

on22cz

Yes, exactly. That's what I wrote there - within alliance, you can fairly compare OWS and *G, but among airlines, you can compare recognition of specific tiers (even with one being OWE).

CPH-Flyer

Indeed. Misunderstood your post initially.