This morning US Airways and American Airlines closed their merger. The oneworld alliance sent out a press release that US Airways would move over to oneworld on March 31.
I speculated that they would stay in Star until March 30th. Some readers noted that this date was actually included in the airlines’ press releases.
I had previously suggested that US Airways would leave Star and shortly thereafter join oneworld.
There’s been some speculation about a gap between leaving one alliance and joining another — a gap that would:
- Make it much more difficult to use US Airways miles
- Make it much more difficult to fly US Airways while crediting to a non-US frequent flyer program
You could credit any oneworld airline travel to American, even as a US Airways elite, and eventually they’ll let you combine status miles from both airlines, but even that’s a bit messy.
And they may limit the effect of not being able to use US Airways miles for international partner travel after leaving Star and before joining oneworld by making it possible to move miles freely between US Airways and American frequent flyer accounts — as was done by US Airways and America West, Delta and Northwest, and United and Continental when those airlines merged.
Of course a seamless transition from one alliance to the other limits those challenges.
But… a funny thing happened to the press release claiming it would be that seamless. Is it just me, or does it no longer list an exit date from Star?
Google certainly shows what the release used to say:
But when I go there now, it just refers to remaining in Star ‘in the meantime’:
On March 31, 2014, we plan to join the oneworld® alliance. In the meantime, we’ll remain a member of Star Alliance, and you’ll continue to receive all your benefits when traveling with Star Alliance partner airlines.
Am I crazy or did they quickly back off the March 30th date? Maybe it’s still mentioned elsewhere, but I wonder if there’s still a fluidity to all of this that didn’t seem initially apparent.
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Click on the Loyalty Program tab, and scroll down to “Important things to keep in mind for upcoming travel”, where the March 30th date was mentioned previously.
@ptacha – well i was showing the us airways press release details above which appears to have had the info before and not now.
On the AA/merger site, under Loyalty Programs, it mentions US Airways joining oneworld March 31 but nothing about the departure date
http://www.aa.com/arriving/ponLoyPro-03.html
Which page are you referring to?
I must be a simpleton as I don’t see any difference between saying they plan to leave *A on March 30 2014 vs saying they plan to join Oneworld on March 31 and ‘in the meantime’ will remain a member of *A.
http://newamericanarriving.com/news-and-updates/amr-corporation-and-us-airways-group-come-together-to-build-the-new-america
Does this seem good enough to you?
I take it to mean at midnight of March 30 they will switch, making both statements correct.
@Steve right – yes i get that, it just seemed very strange that the other page had the info and now it doesn’t, much more wishy washy.
If, as it appears, they went back and edited the press release to remove the hard date, and replaced that with the ambiguous phrase “in the meantime”, I’d say they are at least having second thoughts.
Or worse, the person who wrote the original press release was clueless, and someone who knows the real plan ordered it rewritten so as not to promise something they don’t intend to fulfill.
Just seemed strange!
If the page Steve linked to stays as is, then it is just a minor mystery. But if that page also gets edited today or tomorrow…..
I certainly hope my suspicions are unfounded, since we are waiting for the bonus miles of our second US Air ccs to post, hoping this March to book a Feb 2015 trip with US partners.
Well, my guess would be although the official exit date in Mar 30th, we would see *A benefits watered down gradually (eg. no access to award inventory to certain *A airlines). US Airways don’t want the exit date to be held against them.
Gary- Check this out:
http://www.usairways.com/en-US/aboutus/pressroom/newamerican.html?cint=hp_newslink_21222
Some interesting comments about the UA codeshare ending today, but some other partnerships with Star carriers remain
Well, if you go on US Airways site and click through to the FAQ tab, it states things pretty clearly about March 30th.
http://www.usairways.com/en-US/aboutus/pressroom/newamerican.html?c=glmus_21132&re=1
On March 30, 2014, we’ll exit Star Alliance. Until that time, you’ll be able to enjoy all Star Alliance benefits, including:
Priority recognition when flying on Star member airlines
Star Gold benefits such as priority check-in, priority boarding and lounge access
Ability to earn miles when flying on any Star Alliance member airline (miles will count toward Preferred status)
Ability to book award tickets on any Star Alliance airline. Award tickets booked on Star member airlines will be honored for up to one year (some relationships will continue)
This taken from today’s USAir email sent to me: “We’ll exit Star Alliance on March 30, 2014 and, as of today, we’ll no longer offer codeshare flights for sale on United Airlines.” Things could very well change, e.g. denying access to partner bookings earlier. Who knows, but it is safe to say that if you want Star partner flights you should book now or by the end of this year. It’s very possible that USAir could pull the plug on bookings in Jan.
Flight next week and in January that I’m hoping credits to Aegean. Is there any reason why this wouldn’t credit? All indications are that it should IMO.
@ed – should be fine!
Received an email from United this afternoon that says:
Our partnership with US Airways will end on March 30, 2014. What this means for you:
• All current tickets for travel on US Airways will be honored.
• You can continue to book award travel on US Airways using MileagePlus® miles through March 30, 2014, for travel anytime within the published schedule, even beyond March 30, 2014.
• You can earn MileagePlus award miles on US Airways flights through March 30, 2014. For as long as you earn award miles you will also earn Premier® qualifying miles and Premier qualifying segments. And, on eligible US Airways flights between January 1 and March 30, 2014, you can earn Premier qualifying dollars.*
• Star Alliance status benefits on US Airways will apply through March 30, 2014.
• If you have a United ClubSM membership, or if you are traveling on a United international premium cabin ticket, you can access the US Airways Club through March 30, 2014.
I’d expect to see a provision to transfer miles between the two programs well in advance of an actually combined program.
I’ve not been flying either airline much recently, but I’ve got tons of lifetime miles on both. I hadn’t thought about it until now, but I might be getting very close to million miler status if lifetime miles combine.
Who’d have thunk that we’d ever get to a place where miles from flights on American in the 1980s, on Qantas in the 1990s and America West in the early 2000s would be co-mingled in an American account?