Comments on: Airline alliance realities: airlines win, consumers lose

By: JH

JH — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:19:44 +0000

Couple more comments….

As a 1K on UA I don’t have to pay for checked luggage and I am allowed to take heavier bags so this saves my employer money.

I also have breakfast or lunch in the lounges when I can so I don’t have to submit expenses for meals.

I can also get work done in the lounges where I (usually) have free internet access and a place to charge the laptop battery.

And my company doesn’t allow us to blindly book on our preferred carrier (or alliance) at any cost. If our travel department finds a cheaper fare then we are obligated to travel on that carrier.

By: JH

JH — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:09:42 +0000

But if there are at least three different alliances (and more than one airline from each alliance) flying the same route then there is already competition.

How does adding a fourth, fifth or sixth make the price any better?

Look at the LAX-SYD route now that there are three carriers (UA, QF and V Australia) and you will see that the price has come way down. How much lower can it go before someone stops flying the route or someone goes bust?

The airlines have a right to make money so why should they continue to serve markets at a loss?

By: John

John — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:03:58 +0000

I love the alliances. I live in Cincinnati and without them would be stuck paying high Delta fare (highest in the country by some accounts) to go anywhere. The alliances give me options.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 22:16:27 +0000

Seamless travel by Interlining bags, sharing Airport Lounges/Clubs, the ability to use your miles on several airlines or travel several different airlines that benefit your FF mile account. That’s anti-consumer? ooooo, kay.

By: John M

John M — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:57:58 +0000

While there are benefits for road warriors, as JH pointed out, there is a downside to their employers and that is the cost of the travel. Not only do the three alliances match prices or come extremely close, which means a higher price paid by the employer, but the loyalty that the traveler feels toward his airline and it’s alliance costs employees thousands of dollars a year, as road warriors chase frequent flyer miles. The statement that JH makes about how “My other colleagues travel on….” illustrates that there isn’t any meaningful competition between the three alliances. The odds are that JH’s employer pays more for travel than he would if there weren’t alliances and if JH wasn’t allowed to accrue any benefit from a frequent flyer program.

Alliances, along with code share flights are anti consumer and do more to cause service issues than to resolve them. They benefit the airlines far more than they benefit the consumer.

By: JH

JH — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:45:55 +0000

I think the Star Alliance works for me. I am a 1K on UA but have access to LH lounges in FRA and MUC, SAS lounges in GOT and CPH and AC lounges in YUL.

If I have a problem in FRA I can use the Star Gold ticket desk which is usually MUCH shorter that the regular ticket desk line.

And I can also use my UA upgrades on LH flights.

My other colleagues travel on SkyTeam and Oneworld carriers and they usually pay the same prices that I do.