The Oneworld alliance is announcing its official take-off on February 1.

The following URL will take you to a news release on the subject:

http://nt.excite.com/news/pr/990125/tx-american-oneworld


Star Alliance members (and airline executives!) note: the top level (Emerald) will allow access to First Class Lounge.

In most cases, the top elite level (Gold) of Star Alliance only lets you use the Business class or similar lounges of the participating airlines.

One thing still annoying about oneworld, is the restriction on AA and BA N. America to Europe routes. Looks like that mileage can't be pooled yet....

Also, the press release at www.amrcorp.com says:
The oneworld website on the Internet has been updated to include an interactive route network map, details of transfer procedures at major airports, details of frequent flyer benefits, tables of worldwide fares, and destination guides to key cities. The location is www.oneworldalliance.com.

There's nothing updated that I can tell, or is it just me??

[This message has been edited by burkey (edited 01-25-99).]

It seems from the release that FF programs are now fully interchangeable among OneWorld members - you tell them which program you want credit under for each flight. However, the number of miles/flights/etc. it takes to earn a given OneWorld elite level (Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby) varies from one program to another. For instance, Canadian is a better deal than American - unless you usually fly discount coach, in which case AA might be better for Sapphire and Ruby, but CP still wins for Emerald by about 15 percent. (CP doesn't give extra points for first and business but they count class-of-service bonuses, which is about a wash.) And if you fly discount coach more than once in a blue moon, forget BA - no points at all!

Have I missed some basic concept here? Has anyone done a really complete analysis of this? WebFlyer folks, how about it?

Efrem -- well, there seemed to be a lot of "on eligible flights" going on in the press release, so there may be more fine print than meets the eye, especially since all I've seen is the fluff in the press releases, and not any real rules of the game. And, AA and BA trans-Atlantic flight mileage still can not be posted to the the others FF account. This is not to say that the mileage in your BA and AA accounts can't be combined to claim a "oneworld award" but then again, that info isn't out yet.

[This message has been edited by burkey (edited 01-27-99).]

(from Melbourne, 1 hour before DAvenport, 3 hours before Hingis starts playing, so excuse please my very short appearance on the board)

I am glad about every advantage One World offers compared to StarAlliance (and vice versa), it will improve competition.

Burkey, you're right about no credit transfer BA-AA for trans-Atlantic flights. I wasn't thinking of that because AA has excellent Boston-London schedules so I usually pick up BA from London for AAdvantage miles. (I've never even joined the BA program.) That's the only restriction on credit transfer I'm aware of, though.

Yeah, we used to have AA to LHR from PHL for about 4-5 months about 2.5 yrs ago, now it's two daily BA flts, so being able to have that BA mileage go to my AA account is a big deal for me. Although depending what type of awards can be claimed combining mileage, it might not be too bad. (IE: using combined mileage for upgrade awards.)

You need to be careful about what BA flights give mileage credit. While there is a blanket statement that you will not receive credit for transatlantic flights, I recall reading in the last issue of the AA timetable, that BA routes introduced after a certain date in 1995 are subject to approval. I check with both BA and AA before I book the flight.

Did you know that you can sometimes get credit on AA for BA code share flights? (Even though you may be told by AA that you cannot). I took a BA code share SYD-SIN last July, did'nt get the flight posted automatically so I sent in a copy of the ticket receipt and boarding pass - finally hit my account in December. Turns out it is up to BA whether they will give you the credit or not. Always worth a try.

BA/AA are not allowed to give credit for each others transatlantic routes because they are "in competition".

It would be illegal for them to give credit under US/EC law. I don't think this will change in a hurry.
MF

I looked all over the Oneworld site and I read so many press relases. Every airline involved has the same press release. I just can't find any information on routes or round-the-world specials or fares. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

diver -- see my post re: oneWorld Explorer on the American Airlines board.

Merry -- I did'nt think US or EC law (or air treaties) governed FF programs. In AA's case you can receive credit on Iberia flights (they compete MIA - MAD) and JAL (they will be competing DFW - NRT and I think they already compete ORD - NRT). Granted you don't get elite qualification (yet). The original AA press release that announced the proposed AA-BA alliance is no longer available on the AA web site, but I seem to recall that they said they could go ahead with reciprocal FF arrangements because this fell outside of the existing treaties between the US and EC. I think it is simply a commercial decision - why would either AA or BA want to loose their share on one of the most profitable set of routes in the world, even if it is to each other.

Right, if AA and BA wanted to, they could offer ff credit on the trasn-Atlantic route, as this falls outside any governing law by US or UK(EU) authoritites. What they do need approval for is to code-share. When they first proposed their alliance, they held off offering ff credit on these routes as a "political gesture" since they anticipated lots of disagreement and argument from others because they would account for a large amount of the US-London routes.