Oneworld
 

The Swiss tabloid "Blick" writes today that Swiss has decided to join Oneworld.

http://www.blick.ch/PB2G/PB2GA/pb2ga.htm?snr=25487

Several other newspapers were reporting this as well. Hope it's true!

But what would this mean for Qualiflyer??

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I Love New York

A major improvement??

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The Qualiflyer program could still 'survice' (with some rules changed/adapted). Most one-world-members have their own Frequent-Flier programs.

Yes, but the other 1W members don't have FFP's that they share with a bunch of other airlines who are not members of 1W.

I still think that Qualiflyer is the superior programme, in terms of collecting miles and what you can do with free tickets. It will be interesting to see what happens, but lets not jump to conclusions. No official announcement has yet been made.

The Teletext pages of Swiss TV (SF1) said today:

"The president of the new airline SWISS, Pieter Bouw, indicated in his presentation in Zurich that SWISS could join Oneworld, the airline alliance headed by BA and AA."

... and Basler Zeitung further about Oneworld:

"Bouw indicated also that Swiss could select [...] Oneworld. He did not want to call the partner by name, but his description of the advantages and drawbacks of such an alliance pointed at Oneworld. The chances for a cooperation between Swiss and [...] Star Alliance are smaller than the possibility to work together with Air France/SkyTeam or Oneworld, Bouw said. Not only the European but also the US partner has a role in the alliance issue. In this respect AA offers the greatest potential for a cooperation."

(Basler Zeitung website 12 March)

See also the March 12 posting http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum83/HTML/000890.html by Terenz

[This message has been edited by timol (edited 03-12-2002).]

One of the major advantages of the large alliances are the savings the airlines get from pooling resources. Good examples of this are the soon to be opened OW lounge at LAX and the OW CTO/check in counters at EZE.

Not sure it's a relevant point. For instance, you can yet accrue miles on SR and ASIANA if you've enrolled into AsiaMiles (CX FFP), and on SR if you're part of AAdvantage on certain routes (indeed good reasons for SR to join OW). Plus members of BA ExClub too can accrue miles on some exotic airlines not members of OW.

To me, being part of OW would be a big advantage for Swiss and Qualiflyer (needless to say qualiflyer members as well), * not a very intelligent choice considering LH and OS. And Swiss, please don't do your first mistake (and the last one I'm afraid) by joining SkyTeam !

The problem is not miles but status miles. Will miles earned for flying SR that you credit to Qualiflyer count toward OW status or toward TravelClub membership? If they had their own FF programme it wouldn't matter, now it does. My guess is they will withdraw from Qualiflyer and start a separate FF programme if/when they join an alliance.

if SWISS will withdraw from Qualiflyer (they might - yes) than it is reasonable and probable, that they will, for a limited time, offer a conversion of miles and status.

I hope that they join with one og the three groupings soon. Since SN and LX withdrew from my local airport (EDI) I have to fly elsewhere before using my Qualiflyer points.

As AF, BA, BD and LH all fly from EDI, I don't really mind which although if they go one world I bet you wont be able to earn points on BA cheap fares.

Stephen

But if SWISS withdraw from Qualiflyer, then surely Qualiflyer will be grounded?

Qualiflyer would be done if SWISS withdrew. But honestly: all I care about are my miles. As long as they let you take your miles to the new FF program (that has a reasonable number of partners), that's fine with me. They would be stupid to make all those frequent flyers mad.

The important thing is also to have the level TC, TC Gold or Circle and the advantages the same... Bonus miles, lounges, checking desks....

I hope also to be able the get Club Miles with the other airlines of the program to be and not just Bonus Miles (like AA on Qualiflyer..).

Kooks.

Unfortunately, I never made it to TC, even though I will now have about 400'000 miles in my account (once the promotion gets credited), so the added benefits are not so important to me.

What I was wondering, though, is if I could achieve an elite level with another airline of the alliance (whichever it's gonna be). In certain US programs, the threshold is lower for elite status. I guess I couldn't get status on AA and collect miles in Qualiflyer, could I ? Would be too good to be true.

If you live in BSL, you should if you are close to the 40'000 Club Miles needed to get TC fly some runs BSL (Basel) to BRN (Bern) the price in C is less then 200.- CHF and it gets you 2'000 Club Miles plus the bonus for E-tkts and E-booking and E-check, you get 8'500 miles per run more or less.

It is very easy to get 10'000 Club miles in a couple of days, even better then fly oversea...

Kooks.

I did five of those runs for the 240k promotion, but so far, I only have approx. 20'000 Club miles, which would require me to spend 2000 CHF to get TC. Since I won't fly much this or next year (and if I will, I'll use miles to fly C or F anyway), TC wouldn't really offer that many additional benefits.

Or maybe they'll keep Qualiflyer as a program aimed at miles activities only and shared with other non-OW airlines. They could then create a distinct loyalty program, just as CX does with AsiaMiles for miles and MarcoPolo for loyalty.

Reuters, Zurich, march-18

If LX joins OneWorld, what are the chances that we will be able to use our Qualiflyer points on OneWorld airlines?

We can already use them on AA, AY, QF (Asian routes) and CX. Only BA and EI seem to be missing - and you can use Qualiflyer points on the BA operated code share between WAW and MAN.

Would be great for me if I could use points on BA as then I could connect down to London domestically from EDI before hooking up with BA or CX or QF or AA.

A boy can dream.

Stephen

The Oneworld decision seems coming closer

http://www.tages-anzeiger.ch/ta/taOn...l?ArtId=172910

If Swiss joins OW, will we able to transfer our QF to a OW Airline or use QF and OW miles in order to get an award? I fear the answer is no :-(

If we are talking about One World we should try not to use "QF" to mean "Qualiflyer" - I always assume it means "Qantas".

:-)

Stephen

no and yes:
no, because none of the alliances allows point transfer between FF programs
yes, because you can always get an alliance award valid on all members carriers.

What if I have a Qualiflyer account and an AA account. Is there any way to consolidate the two ?

I doubt it. You can't combine a BA and an AA accout either. Besides it is in neither airline's best interest to transfer your points to the other.

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airOli, the Swiss Air Line.

this moved a while ago on the AP wire, very similar to the story on tages-anzeiger.ch :

87 23 04 08
Crossair seeking trans-Atlantic partner for U.S. flights
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) _ Crossair, the company that is forming the new Swiss national airline, said Tuesday it wants to find a North American partner for trans-Atlantic flights.

While Crossair is in talks with two possible global alliance partners, it is more important for the airline to have a North American partnership with a single carrier,
Crossair spokesman Markus Baumgartner told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday.

«We will join an alliance only if it makes sense to us,» he said. «What is of utmost importance for us is a partner for the North American business. A bilateral deal with
either American Airlines or Continental Airlines is a possible solution.»

Crossair plans to announce its decision March 26, two days before the once-regional carrier officially merges its fleet with collapsed airline Swissair to fly under the name Swiss.

Industry watchers have suggested that the OneWorld alliance, led by British Airways and American Airlines, would be a viable partner for Switzerland's new flag
carrier.

American Airlines had a code-sharing agreement with Swissair and has intensified flights to Zurich airport since Swissair's collapse.

SkyTeam, dominated by Air France and Delta Air Lines, is also seen as a possibility for Crossair. Delta is a former Swissair partner.

191501 mar 02GMT

AA would make more sense in terms of service consistency/reprocity with AAs 3-class intercontinental fleet. Also, more feeder flights to continental Europe might be an advantage, elbeit this is somewhat balanced out by BAs intra-European network.

Posted in the American Airlines Forum, by MiamiFlyer: "candidates are understood to be American and Delta "

SWISS EXPECTS SMALLER LOSS; FLEET ANNOUNCEMENT IMMINENT
Aviation Daily – 19 March

Swiss, the newly formed national carrier of Switzerland, will post a significantly smaller loss than expected for the year 2002, according to CEO Andre Dose. The airline's load factor on long-haul routes is far ahead of projections, Dose said at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin.

The Swiss business plan was based on the assumption that the airline would report a CHF1 billion loss. Also, Swissair is likely not to use up the CHF1 billion that the Swiss government injected so that flight operations could be continued until April. Dose said he would make a decision on a bilateral alliance with a U.S. carrier by monthend. "I have two contracts on my table ready to be signed," he said. Although Dose did not disclose the identity, the leading candidates are understood to be American and Delta. Swiss also aims at becoming a member of either oneworld or SkyTeam, but Dose pointed out that it was of critical importance to move ahead with a bilateral alliance with a U.S. carrier quickly. Swiss and its partner would have to file a new application for antitrust immunity.

The new carrier has made a decision on the early replacement of 13 MD-11s that it will integrate as of April 1, but Dose declined to disclose his choice, referring to the airline's annual news conference March 26. Swiss has evaluated the Airbus A340-300 and the Boeing 777. Dose said the A340 offered communality with the A330-200s that will make up the other half of the long-haul fleet, but the 777 has more capacity and provides opportunities for traffic growth. Industry sources believe that Swiss will opt for the A340s.Nine aircraft are scheduled to be taken over in 2003. Dose said the MD-11 is a very expensive aircraft to operate and maintain. In his view, the aircraft's image has suffered specifically in Switzerland since the 1998 Swissair crash off the coast of Nova Scotia near Halifax. Swiss is expected to sign a wage agreement with its ground staff today, having already signed one with cabin crew. Dose said he is confident that a solution in the dispute with the former Crossair pilots can be found.

http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalar...query=Crossair

Crossair AG, to be renamed 'Swiss' as of April 1, has reached a wage agreement with its ground handling staff, the airline said.

The agreement concerns around 2,300 staff and is valid for three years.

The minimum wage will be raised to 3,250 sfr from 2,700, the weekly number of working hours reduced to 41 hours from 42.5 and the retirement age reduced to 63 from 65.

Crossair earlier reached wage agreements with Swissair's pilots and cabin crews.

Swiss airline CEO sees partial alliance solution

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/020320/l20527058_1.html

Well, if Continental is still in the picture, does anybody have any experience with that airline ? I checked their website and their BusinessFirst product looks very appealing. A BusinessFirst transatlantic award requires 100'000 miles and gives you a whole lot more than Swissair or AA Business.

I was looking into (and still reeavaluate) Continental after UA abandoned ZRH. While CO's U.S. domestic programm is very attractive (e.g. generous, unlimited upgrades) the major drawbacks for intercontinental flyers seem to be:

- limited upgrade program: confirmation only 30 days or less before flight, no complimentary systemwide upgrade certs,

- only 2-class aircraft configuration: no possibilty to upgrade from C to F, limited upgrade potential due to unfavorable C/Y seat ratio

- reported difficulties in booking business class award seats in the first place

While I am open to and willing to lear about CO program changes/improvements, sofar I decided to stick with * alliance.



[This message has been edited by cesco.g (edited 03-20-2002).]