Star Alliance

Tag Archives for Star Alliance.

And the Longest Flight in the world is operated by… Air India!?

September 26, 2015 by unroadwarrior 2 Comments

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Air India is ready to grab the title of the longest flight in the world by getting all set to operate a non-stop Bangalore-San Fransisco (BLR-SFO) flight!! At 8,701 mile, this would exceed the current longest flight: Sydney – Dallas (SYD-DFW), operated by Qantas, by 123 miles. That flight is 8,578…

Full Fares – Earning bonus Elite miles on United Partners

January 13, 2015 by unroadwarrior Leave A Comment

As I discussed in my last blog post, if you book a full-fare or flexible-fare economy ticket that is booked as a Y or a B fare, you will earn 150% of the miles flown on the trip. This is not a reason to buy these tickets as they can cost several times the cost…

Earning more miles than you actually fly – the how and why?

January 12, 2015 by unroadwarrior 5 Comments

When I looked at the miles I have earned over the years, I have found a consistent trend – my earned Award miles (RQM) and Elite miles (EQM) are always are greater than the actual miles flown (BIS – Butt-in-Seat Miles). This is not unique to me, you will see this in your accounts too.…

Lounge Review: Maple Leaf Lounge, Frankfurt

May 28, 2014 by unroadwarrior 6 Comments

I have flown thru Frankfurt airport (FRA) tens of times. Living in the DC area, it is one of the best connected cities in Europe with 4 flights every day – 2 each by United and Lufthansa. (London’s Heathrow (LHR) has the best connectivity with 7 flights per day, thru three airlines – United, British…

Air China coming to Washington Dulles (IAD)

May 14, 2014 by unroadwarrior Leave A Comment

Air China is starting service to Washington Dulles (IAD) from Beijing (PEK) from next month – June 2014. It will operate 3 times a week on a 777-300ER aircraft. United already flies non-stop to Beijing from Dulles, so this adds more flights on this busy route. Air China is the first Chinese carrier to start…

‘Welcome to US Airways – the new American and a proud member of the Star Alliance network’

February 10, 2014 by unroadwarrior 5 Comments

‘Welcome to US Airways – the new American and a proud member of the Star Alliance network’ We are in ‘limbo-land’. Until March, when US Airways officially exits in the Star Alliance, this is the interesting greeting one gets to hear (or at least I got to hear) on US Airways flights, now a part…

2013 – A (Personal) Travel Year in Review

January 6, 2014 by unroadwarrior Leave A Comment

2013 was an interesting year. Both for me personally from a travel perspective and also for the travel industry. Several firsts and several changes – some for the good and some for the bad. Here are a few I care about. Personal Travel recap: Personally, 2013 was a very interesting year. I made it to…

Alliance Wars: The post US Airways – American Airlines world – Part II

November 21, 2013 by unroadwarrior 7 Comments

In Part I of this post I looked at the impact of the two significant event in the OneWorld Alliance, namely: Qatar joining OneWorld US Airways and American Airline deciding to merge This has made me re-examine my loyalty to Star Alliance. In this post I will look at, or really just think aloud of…

Alliance Wars: The post US Airways – American Airlines world – Part I

November 19, 2013 by unroadwarrior 7 Comments

There are three alliances in the world of Air Travel: Star Alliance OneWorld and SkyTeam Of these three, Star Alliance has been a very dominant alliance – mainly because of the sheer number of airlines they have (28 at the time of posting this), as opposed to OneWorld (13) and SkyTeam (19). Across their members,…

Star Alliance Upgrades

October 16, 2013 by unroadwarrior 5 Comments

One of the most frustrating things about flying on an airline that is not one you have status or miles is the inability to upgrade with miles or upgrade instruments. (You can always upgrade with cash). I recently flew from Japan to the US on ANA and had to sit in coach. Traveling the same…