Mongolia’s national airline hopes to join one of the ”big three” global alliances… sort of.
Continue reading: MIAT Mongolian Airlines Wants To Join Oneworld Connect
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Personally I find it interesting that both OneWorld and *A have a similar programme, but they take such vastly different approaches.
Where the *A connecting partner programme only has co-operation if you are on a connecting flight between that character and another *A carrier, but, all *G members will get benefits like lounge access, etc.
I wonder why they each take such a different approach for a similar scheme.
If MIAT were to join oneworld connect is there a possibility that the Frankfurt route could be dropped in favour of serving a oneworld hub such as London Heathrow? Or is it more so that there's a demographic in Frankfurt that makes the route viable
And airline is not totally in the program so you can't choose where to earn the points etc. Seems almost useless. Many of these smaller airlines will not become big enough to become a full one world member.
While I would rather have them in OneWorld than not, if their is no Loyalty Earning/recognition then I'm not flying them. I sometimes add a full stop or even backtrack just to earn status. I don't think I'm alone.
Having just flown MIAT several times in the past few weeks (just took a tour around Mongolia), I think this plan makes sense. They currently have a very isolated loyalty program and only a small biz lounge at UBN outside security. However the airport and services onboard were otherwise great. I would love to see them take strides toward having partners and expanding rewards. Mongolia is a lovely country and their tourism success depends on the airlines.
No issue extending MIAT an Invitation to Join but there are other Airlines in Asia/Orient that would be worth pursuing as in STARLUX or Philippine Airlines and getting China Southern onboard. Air Astana would also be a notable addition.
If you are flying MIAT where can you credit the mileage? When you buy tickets from MIAT, their site allows you to select frequent flyer airlines (mostly SkyTeam) other than MIAT. Can you get mileage from one of the SkyTeam airlines?