ual744777sta

So what's going to haapen to the lounge?

FlyZ46

http://www.shanghai-air.com/cmsweb/N...825526993.html

DownUnderFlyer

As expected but very unfortunate. I have a revenue booking with them in January 2011 so I guess no miles for that segment.

Black Hawk

My last flight with FM before the exit is on Oct 09. Too bad that a good airlines like FM had to be taken over by a money lossing MU.

Even 3 yrs ago FM was planning on flying to SEA using 787.....

cesco.g

Pretty short notice, IMHO!

Xiaotung

That's probably for the best. You would find your *A award booking on FM end up becoming a MU flight and MU not willing to honor the booking unless you fight for it. *A would have got tons of complaints I would imagine.

mahasamatman

Based on our one experience, I'd rate MU much, much higher than FM.

DownUnderFlyer

As stated in the FAQ, all *A partner bookings will be honoured even after the exit.

Xiaotung

Yes, that is if the flight on that date is still operated by FM. MU has taken over a lot of FM's flight domestically. ie, your FM flight would become MU operated flight even on the date of departure and they will not automatically transfer your booking to MU. This is happening a lot even before this announcement.

Shareholder

+ Any speculation? What are the alternatives at PVG. Does SkyTeam use a lounge in the terminal that STAR can take over? I've been on both sides of the lounge and it is far from the best in this part of the world, but at least it is something apart from the crowds of the main level.

pogonation

Currently the only *A lounge in PVG is the FM lounge. Now that FM has announced it will be leaving the alliance in 3 months what lounge can *A pax expect to use?
Will *A still use the FM lounge as a contract lounge (perhaps quite unlikely considering all skyteam airlines will move to the FM lounge) or is there any chance we may see a new *A lounge? PVG is a major airport for *A with a 13 members flying there and over 1500 flights a week. CA operates 500 flights a week out of PVG (around 5 long-haul routes out of PVG) so can we expect them to make a lounge or can we expect some of the other major visitors such as SQ, NH and OZ? Or are there plans to build a star alliance lounge?

I might be flying through/to PVG quite a few times in the coming years so I am just interested.

Thanks

Xiaotung

It only makes sense to build a *A branded lounge there but not sure if there is still space left. It really depends on whether FM will move back to T1 where MU is. In that case *A could probably take over the FM lounge.

House

I'd expect very little short term change. FM's lounge at PVG handles airlines as diverse as BA, QF and DL already so I doubt that handling Star carriers in a "Skyteam" lounge will be an issue. It will of course be up to each *A carrier to decide how to deal with *A Gold members travelling in Y. I would expect that they will get access, just as BA/QF/DL elites currently get access to the FM lounge.

Eventually I'd expect FM and Skyteam carriers like KE, DL and CZ to move over to join MU in Terminal 1. AF and KL already operate from there. The hold-back is, of course, that T2 is way better than T1, though I understand some remodelling is on the cards.

For info, the other lounge offerings at T2 international are CX/KA (Oneworld), plus two airport operated lounges you can acess with Priority Pass. One of these is little more than a blocked off area on the main departures level.

On the domestic side, there is a Skyteam (CZ) lounge but this is on a separate floor not accessible to the international gates.

ellyse

I've flown FM and MU tons of times, perhaps a bit more on MU as it was unavoidable. FM is definitely loads better!

Also, Shenzhen Airlines is ZH, not HU! HU is Hainan Airlines.

TPacific

It sucks they had to leave Star so fast. I really don't see much difference between FM and MU but I guess it depends on the route. The only good thing about this is I won't have to keep on chasing FM for mileage credit for flights taken.