Here's a post that may only be appreciated by my fellow airline geeks. As most of you are probably aware, there are three major global airline alliances -- oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance. Between them, they have nearly 60 member airlines. I'm kinda…
Qatar Airways joined the oneworld alliance in 2013, and has been threatening to leave the alliance since 2015. While the rumors have always been there, this became a frequent point of conversation again in October 2018, when Qatar Airways' CEO, Akbar…
Yesterday I wrote about how we were expecting big announcements from British Airways and/or oneworld today. This is because all oneworld CEOs were attending an event in London, and British Airways was also teasing that something big was coming today.…
In 2015 Aer Lingus was taken over by IAG, also the parent company of British Airways and Iberia. Aer Lingus and oneworld have had quite a history so far. Aer Lingus was part of the oneworld alliance until 2006, at which point they pulled out, realizing…
This June it was announced that Fiji Airways would become a oneworld Connect member. Obviously it takes a little while for this to happen, though it's now official. Yesterday Fiji Airways officially joined as a oneworld Connect member, so the benefits…
Scandinavia is a fantastic place to originate from if you are looking for cheap business class fares. For a long time Oslo was one of the best places to find cheap Qatar Airways business class fares to Asia and Australia. Right now, we're regularly seeing…
It has been an interesting few weeks for the "big three" global alliances. For years these alliances were constantly adding airlines, while for the past few years there hasn't been much movement. I'd argue that largely these alliances are outdated concepts,…
Pistols at dawn! Qatar's (in)famous CEO Akbar Al Baker is known for saying all sorts of things on behalf of his airline that he doesn't mean (how's that new route to Las Vegas going?), but recently he has insisted that Qatar Airways is considering leaving…
As much as I love redeeming miles for premium fares, its been fantastic to see how affordable some revenue fares in business class have become in the last few years, as well as how improved so many premium products flying trans Atlantic have become.…
Last week we learned that Air Canada made an offer to acquire Aeroplan, which is their spun off loyalty program. For over a decade Aeroplan has been the frequent flyer program of Air Canada, though in 2020 their contract ends. The termination of the…
Fiji Airways already partners with Qantas, Cathay Pacific and American Airlines, in different capacities. I've written before about how redeeming Qantas points for Fiji Airways business class across the Pacific is a good 'Plan B' consideration. If Fiji…
I'm having a bit of a crisis at the moment. There are simply so many airlines I want to try that it leads to indecision, and then I end up not booking anything. While roaming around Hong Kong International Airport's gorgeous midfield concourse a couple…
For this article, I am going to be examining the other Reward Charts. No, not the one you had as a child to measure good behavior but the only other logical choice: OneWorld Multi-Carrier Partner Redemption Charts. Say what? These delicate charts, vastly…
Oneworld member SriLankan Airlines is going through a really tough time right now. They recently leased more than half of their new A330-300 fleet to Pakistan at breakeven prices just to reduce their heavy losses. Sadly, this came at a high cost: SriLankan…
In terms of overall benefits, I consider the oneworld alliance to be all around best. That's because as a oneworld Emerald member I receive access to international first class lounges, like the Qantas First Class Lounge Sydney, Cathay Pacific First Class…
Well, we're seeing a good old fashioned business class fare war at the moment between oneworld and SkyTeam, with some fantastic fares which can get even better with a few tricks. I'm seeing plenty of SkyTeam fares in the $1,500-1,600 range for travel…
Last August I wrote about how Finnair was planning on launching seasonal flights between Helsinki, Finland, and Longyearbyen, Norway. The route was scheduled to operate 3x weekly between June 1 and August 28, 2016, using an Embraer E-190 aircraft. For…
Intra-Europe business class is usually a pretty underwhelming product. It even makes domestic first class in the US look good. On most European airlines it's simply an economy seat with a blocked middle and improved service & food. For whatever reason,…
After visiting the [email protected] Lounge, I headed to the Finnair Lounge at around 5:55AM, given that it opened at 6AM. The Finnair Lounge Helsinki Airport is located between gates 36 and 37. So coming from the [email protected] Lounge I had to walk through a…
Finnair operates out of Terminal 8 at JFK, which is the terminal primarily occupied by American. I'm starting the trip report here since my flights from Los Angeles to Dallas to New York were uneventful, and I also barely had time to use the lounge.…
Welcome to my first new trip report of 2016, as my goal for this year is to sample as many new first & business class products as possible. And I'm sure you guys will agree this is a good start. ;) The way this trip came to be is sort of funny. In mid-December…
