It strikes me that there are possibly two planned reasons for Swiss to move it's FFP to BAEC.

1. The trans-Atlantic issue mentioned earlier. I'm not sure of the T's & C's but as I understand, it's not possible to earn BAEC status points or miles when flying AA and vice versa across the pond. So even if you did fly Swiss from ORD to ZRH for example, you'd only be able to pick up the miles on your BAEC membership. The AA / BA Duopoly is preserved.

2. Financially, this is an additional bonus for Swiss as it essentially unloads a liability from the balance sheet not to mention the cost savings of not having to maintain lounges, TC call centers, etc. BA picks up more 'direct' access to a new and potentially lucrative customer-base through an under-the-radar transaction no one noticed in any of the press briefings I read today.

I've read the articles, the commentaries, as well as the analysis here on FT, and all I can say is - yawn!

Swiss is in deep $hit and this only prolongs their suffering. LHR slots are some of the most valued assets in the industry, and they're giving up 8 out of 14? Whooopie!

I suppose that this was mainly a defensive move, keeping LX out of LH's paws. That would have been a better fit, IMO. But what do I know.

[This message has been edited by notsosmart (edited 09-23-2003).]

[This message has been edited by notsosmart (edited 09-23-2003).]

Why am I underwhelmed by this announcement? Another European partner. Another Asian partner would be better. Just learned that Swiss is dropping the IAD-ZRH flight. So the advantage of a 1 stop flight to many cities in Europe is gone. And the daytime flight to JNB was switched to an overnight flight. No change or improvements for my travel patterns. Connecting in ZRH would have been a very good development.

When oneworld began and when they added EI and LA there were promotions. Can one hope for a oneworld bonus mile promotion ?

[This message has been edited by headinclouds (edited 09-23-2003).]

promotion for earning only 25% miles on LX discount Y tickets the day LX joins oneworld :P

BA got LHR slots cheap with this deal, just providing a line of credit to LX in return. One wonders if LX will survive long enough to make it to joining OW.

http://www.oneworld.com/pressroom/re...ls.cfm?dID=294

it is official on onewold's site....see news section

well...an additional member in europe does not change the world map much, as there are already IB/BA/EI/AY=4 members.

they need another player in NA (canada to be specific), africa, and another in asia (china/SEA to be precise, japan will also be good)

well, although this might be a win for 1World, *A will get bigger now with LOT and US AIRWAYS, and a possibly Air China. When LOT joins oneworld will have a hole in Eastern Europe and when US AIRWAYS joins, AA will be seeing more competition not only from US but from the Star Alliance. If, Air China joins oneworld will be in a bigger void in Asia unless CX starts HKG-PRC routes.

Wow, that is really disappointing. I had been looking forward to another way to earn AA elite-qualifying points & miles on flights to Europe, without connecting in the LHR mess, without losing three-class service, good front cabins, etc. Guess Swiss won't be that after all.

I agree with all of that but the lounge one. The lounges are used for more than just FF status holders and Swiss will have an incentive to maintain most of them in key spots regardless if they are baec or swiss's current ffp. I imagine maintaining a ffp for a smaller airline like Swiss, Austrian, or LOT would be a real pain in the neck. Like a smaller town maintaining its own police and fire department. It's often cheaper to contract it out to the county or state who are happy to provide the service.

Also, the mileage earning problem with swiss seems like it will only be a one way problem unless the terms change. The way it's written, you cant earn AAdvantage miles on a BA flight and you can't earn BAEC miles on an AA flight. Since Swiss is becoming part of BAEC, you wouldnt be able to take an AA flight and post them to your "swiss" account. But since a swiss flight is not a ba flight, there should be no problem with getting aadvantage miles on a swiss flight.

What is an additional question is how many miles will be earned. BA cut all its mileage to 25% for discount travel. Right now, swiss earns 100% for AAdvantage. Will it continue to or will it be cut due to baec taking over? Who knows. Either way, not sure anyone can do much about it. Personally, I don't expect that LX will be changed so that it doesnt get mileage. I dont think AA will put up with it. But I do think that it will be changed to 25% becausse there isn't a whole lot AA can do. That decision is wholly up to BA. At least trans-atlantic codeshares are still allowed so people still have a choice.

[This message has been edited by Darren (edited 09-28-2003).]

Regarding AA miles while flying SWISS. I see only discount fares are affected. AA may still codeshare, so 100% miles but at a higher fare. Same already exists with AA/EI from US-Ireland. EI flight number, no AA miles, while under the AA flight number 100% miles. As for the premium cabins for OWE, 100% AA miles plus COS. Same is true on BA flights, except the USA-LHR ones.