A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that SkyTeam and Eurostar are launching a partnership, which the alliance claimed was its first non-airline partnership of the sort. Well, SkyTeam has now announced plans to partner with a second train operator, and there might even be reciprocal points opportunities.
In this post:
Details of the SkyTeam & Trenitalia partnership
SkyTeam and Trenitalia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), intended to offer air travelers a wider choice of destinations across Italy, through intermodal connectivity in a single reservation.
When Trenitalia becomes part of SkyTeam’s global network, customers will be able to book a journey that connects air and rail segments. For example, customers will be able to fly from New York (JFK) to Rome (FCO), collect their bags, and then continue their journey with Trenitalia.
While we’ll see how this plays out, one interesting detail is that SkyTeam frequent flyers will reportedly be able to earn and spend miles when traveling on eligible Frecciarossa rail itineraries, and members of CartaFRECCIA will be able to earn and redeem points when flying on eligible SkyTeam flights.
Furthermore, SkyPriority services will be offered at railway stations when possible, providing perks to SkyTeam Elite and Elite Plus members, as well as Trenitalia’s CartaFRECCIA Platinum and Gold members.
Here’s how SkyTeam CEO Patric Roux describes this development:
“We are delighted to join forces with Trenitalia as our second non-airline partner, strengthening SkyTeam’s intermodal travel strategy by offering more high-quality, high-speed rail connections – supporting our mission to future-proof travel. Italy is an important global market for business and leisure travelers and with Trenitalia customers will have more choice and flexibility to go where they want to, how they want to, while enjoying the many benefits for which SkyTeam is known.”
Meanwhile here’s what Trenitalia Marketing Director and CEO of Italia Loyalty, Mario Alovisi, had to say:
“Partnering with SkyTeam takes Trenitalia closer to our vision of being one of the leading players in the European rail transportation market, offering customers high-quality, reliable train travel that complements international flight schedules. We’re excited to be on a journey together with SkyTeam in a shared mission to make travel more responsible and look forward to welcoming SkyTeam customers to our extensive network across Italy.”
I’m thrilled to see the reciprocity plans!
When SkyTeam announced its partnership with Eurostar (and previously, when Star Alliance announced its partnership with Deutsche Bahn), I was disappointed by the general lack of reciprocity. The alliances claimed that the train operators were joining their alliance, but really there wasn’t much in the way of reciprocity, which to me is the biggest consumer benefit of an alliance like this.
Sure, in theory you can book an air and rail itinerary with select alliance members, but that has already been possible in many cases previously.
While we’ll see how this is executed, I’m excited to see the claim that there will be reciprocal opportunities to earn and redeem points, and even to take advantage of SkyTeam elite perks. So I’m curious to see how this is executed.
Will it be possible to earn and redeem points with SkyTeam programs if you’re traveling just on Trenitalia, without a flight? Or how will Trenitalia train trips be priced with points from SkyTeam programs? How many SkyPesos will be required?
Lastly, I’ve just gotta say that I love Trenitalia. The company’s “executive class” is ridiculously lux and reasonably priced, with a very comfortable cabin, food and drinks, etc.
Bottom line
SkyTeam is adding Trenitalia as an intermodal partner, with this announcement coming just shortly after it was announced that Eurostar would be a partner of the alliance as well. What’s cool is that it’s being claimed it will be possible to earn and redeem points, and take advantage of elite perks, as part of this partnership.
I look forward to learning the details, as the level of integration sounds exciting. With ITA Airways expected to leave SkyTeam and join Star Alliance, I guess this is one of the alliance’s solutions to continuing to offer sufficient connectivity in the country.
What do you make of the SkyTeam and Trenitalia partnership plans?
I can tell from experience: if the word 'clusterfuck' needed an example when writing a thesaurus, then just add a photo of Trenitalia. Staff is rude, disinterested and indifferent, while they are notoriously known for their delays and cancellations (and strikes). On top of that, their trains are often too dirty to touch, both on the outside and inside.
If I was given a choice, I'd rather fly on a domestic Ryanair route in Italia, to be honest...
Surprised at the positive comments on Trenitalia. I eventually gave up on trying to get a refund for a couple hundred dollars for a COVID-affected trip after wasting so many hours on it.
Additionally, I just got back riding both the Swiss SBB and Trenitalia and boy was there a difference! The latter's trains were late and full of trash, while the former's were clean and efficient.
I see this as a reactive measure: with the all-but-certain loss of ITA to Star, they need to do *something* to compete in the Italian market, and creating a new Italian airline wouldn't have been a good idea...
Only 250000 SkyMiles from Milano to Roma!