Tag Archives for oneworld.
The oneworld alliance has opened up its first ‘alliance lounge’ at Seoul Incheon airport. There’s been a tremendous amount of fanfare for this week and a half old space. But there are teething pains, because the lounge is improperly denying access to customers with eligible oneworld status, even who are flying business class.
Two weeks ago American Airlines detailed changes coming for the AAdvantage program in 2024. One of those changes was ‘upgrades on select partner airlines’.
While American declined to offer any details of the new option for upgrades on partner airlines, I wrote that I expected this to be the long-delayed oneworld alliance upgrade program.
Many European readers will love, love, love this – and also those in the Mideast. Royal Jordanian is offering a status match and it means benefits including lounge access when you fly American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Qatar and more.
Bottom-line on this deal, think $149 for 12 months of lounge access and airport priority when you travel with any oneworld airline.
In 2019, the oneworld alliance which includes American Airlines, Alaska, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and more, announced plans for its first alliance-wide lounge. This was going to be at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. The pandemic and then Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put that plan on hold, with Russian carrier S7 suspended from the alliance.
However construction is now underway on a oneworld alliance lounge in Seoul.
In 2015 Delta Air Lines made a $450 million investment in Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines. That left fellow SkyTeam member Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines out in the cold. Two years later, American Airlines followed with a $200 million investment (for a 2.76% stake) in Chinese state-controlled China Southern.
China Southern left SkyTeam. They introduced AAdvantage mileage-earning and redmeption and entered into a joint venture with British Airways. BA’s largest shareholder, Qatar Airways, took a 5% stake in China Southern as well.
The former Rwandair Express is 20 years old and Qatar Airways agreed to purchase a 49% stake in the historically loss-making airline last year. They operate a dozen aircraft including Airbus A330 widebodies and Boeing 737 narrowbodies. They serve Brussels and London in Europe; Dubai, Mumbai and Guangzhou in the Mideast and Asia Pacific; and nearly 20 destinations in Africa.
Back in September Oman Air announced its intention to join oneworld alliance and that it is working with Qatar Airways on its application as a sponsor.
Now joining is official.
oneworld says it is on track to roll out the platform for members of one airline’s program in the alliance to use their miles to upgrade on a flight operated by another airline in the alliance.
This would mean members of American Airlines AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan could potentially use their miles to upgrade on at least 14 different airlines.
oneworld lounge access rules provide business class lounge access for business class passengers flying any airline in the alliance. Qantas is using first class lounges as business class lounges, but haven’t renamed those lounges as business lounges so they’re excluded. Hopefully they’ll fully re-open lounges as their international route network restarts – and as partner airlines rebuild their Australia schedules as well.
In covering Alaska Airlines introducing award redemptions on oneworld partner Qatar Airways, I learned a few interesting things about the program’s plan for bringing on additional redemption.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
