ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   14 June 2009  -   D Hsu   (Australia)

Member Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Emerald

Product Consistency:

3.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

We got a RTW in biz around the end of last year, and had the pleasure of experiencing the various carriers. I have to agree with the various comments that the consistency drastically varies between them. Qantas - middle of the road, however A380 LAX-MEL long-haul is not bad. Cathay Pacific - fantastic, consistently great service from long-haul (HKG-CDG) to mid-haul (MEL-HKG) to short-haul (TPE-HKG). Lounge in HKG is fantastic. Japan Airliines - very good, albeit only short haul (NRT-TPE). Royal Jordanian - surprisingly good, however I suspect they only focused on biz. Malev - this was one of the worst experiences we've had. We discovered there was a ticketing problem in Budapest and MA was not helpful at all to resolve the issue. We had to resolve it ourselves and spent $300 in calls. Iberia - middle of the road. American Airlines - I found it ok travelling in Biz on AA - service consistently good. We didn't travel on British Airways this time. However my previous experiences agrees it's similar to Qantas.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   29 August 2008  -   H Knight   (UK)

Member Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

None

Product Consistency:

4.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

We Bought a Oneworld Explorer round the World ticket and took 15 flights in all on British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, American Airlines, American Eagle, LAN Chile, LAN Argentina and LAN Peru sadly without an e-ticket but this wasn't a great hindrance. Overall, couldn't be happier with the alliance. We didn't miss a single connection (although there was one close call with AA) and our bags were never lost. Obviously there are inconsistencies between the airlines. Of the airlines we flew British Airways and most of the LAN flights were the strong points with excellent long haul services and Japan Airlines and American Airlines were the poorer airlines. However the service we got on every airline (including AA) was consistently good and on every airline including the short haul Asian and Latin American flights we took English was spoken well. I have not been on Star or Skyteam in order to make a comparison but Oneworld did us proud for our round the World trip and I hope to do another trip with them someday.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   7 May 2008  -   Bill Atkins   (USA)

Member Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Emerald

Product Consistency:

4.0

Airport facilities:

5.0

I have used OneWorld on lengthy RTW trips for many years now - tried others but came back, as the older members, BA,QF and CX are generally very good. AA is a weak link, but then the US carriers are in every alliance. E-ticketing is very good across the alliance and never had any difficulties getting through boarding passes and checked luggage. Of course there will be some variance of service and benefits, as in all alliances, due to carriers not all having exactly the same rules and facilities. To me this is the best quality alliance.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   25 February 2008  -   J Court   (Kiribati)

Member Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Emerald

Product Consistency:

2.0

Airport facilities:

3.0

I just completed a One World RTW trip and flew on Qantas, BA, Iberia and American Airlines. I was very surprised to see such variation in service and quality between carriers. Qantas and BA were of a much higher standard than IB or AA with the latter two airlines offering service levels equivalent to cut price airlines like Ryan Air. Iberia was a notch above AA in that food was free however staff were least attentive and we waited 2 hours before being served. On a 6 hour AA flight from Miami to LA, we were offered one food option - a sandwich which was overpriced at $5, or chips/ biscuits at $3 each. Ryan Air at least offers food choices and prices are reasonable. Most concerning about AA and IB were the lax safety measures - on my IB flight from Madrid to Tel Aviv the plane commenced take off before the safety briefing was finished. The staff rushed to finish the briefing and scrambled to their seats as the plane lifted off. There were bags and even a guitar unsecured during take off. On AA during the safety video the staff chatted in the aisle, one was eating and another applying lip gloss. None participated in the safety briefing, pointed out exits or paid any attention. They did a cursory check of the cabin before take off and managed not to notice bags on the floor in the exit row (where i was sitting) and seats everywhere in recline position. In both IB and AA, they started serving drinks while the plane was still climbing, before the seatbelt sign had been turned off. I was really surprised by this as most airlines take the safety briefing and securing the cabin for take off and landing very seriously and in my experience, stop cabin service as soon as the seatbelt sign has been turned on. I will avoid traveling with AA and IB in the future if i can. As an Emerald traveller i used various First Class lounges. The Qantas First Class lounge in Sydney was by far the best offering a full restaurant, spa (massage and facial), business center and acres off space, drinks and snacks all complementary. I understand BA offers similar services in Heathrow Terminal 4 but i connected between two BA flights in Terminal 3 where BA doesn't even have its own lounge. The AA first class lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3 was just like a Business class lounge elsewhere but smaller, only 2 internet terminals and fewer food options. Iberia had a combined Business/ First lounge in Madrid which offered a higher standard of service than the AA first lounge in London. Overall, the connections between flights were good however i was surprised that AA staff for example couldn't give me a boarding pass for my Qantas connecting flight. Despite being One World, the airlines still keep separate booking systems. Checkin and lounge staff for all carriers were helpful in securing exit row seats wherever possible so the one world status counts for something there. I did investigate using points for an upgrade on the 14 hour LA-Syd part of my trip, i was surprised to find that while a full award ticket for the journey would have been less than 50,000 points, an upgrade to Business for the same journey would cost nearly 80,000 points. I was also surprised to find that the additional 15kg luggage allowance Qantas gives to Platinum travellers was not available on the other one world airlines so was not useful on a RTW trip.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   24 January 2008  -   M Loeser   (Australia)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

n/a

Product Consistency:

4.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

Have just completed a oneworld RTW trip using QANTAS, BA and AA. All flights left and arrived on time. All baggage delivered promptly and usually waiting by the time we reached the carousel. No baggage went missing, despite checking four bags for most flights. My only gripe is that the internal flights on AA are pathetic when compared to the other flights. I can understand having to purchase alcohol, but meals, On flights 3 to 4hrs long? There needs to be consistency in the product of a global alliance. Our flights in Africa, JNB-HRE-JNB, were on BA subsidiary, Comair, and these flights are 1.5hrs long and we were served a meal and complimentary drink in both directions. And on a 4hr flight from JFK to DFW on AA, you need to purchase your meal. Other than that, everything else was fantastic, and I would certainly continue using this alliance for my RTW trips. This was the third time I have used them. No disaster stories to report.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   27 December 2007  -   J Pronk   (China)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Sapphire

Product Consistency:

3.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

I am American Airlines AA-card holder and travel mostly between Asia and Europe. My experiences: For some airlines in the alliance, even low-fare tickets are eligible for mileage accrual, for other airlines this is not the case. Sometimes, for example when flying BA, mileage is credited after a few days. Other times,like when flying Finnair, it can take months(!). In the latter case had to submit boarding passes etc even though the FF number was given at ticket buying, on-line check-in and at airport. Higher status is attractive because fast mileage accrual. In my case participating airlines recognize the status at airports etc.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   24 December 2007  -   Martin Brown   (UK)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Sapphire

Product Consistency:

4.0

Airport facilities:

5.0

The first thing I have noticed, aside from how difficult it is to achieve status (My company won't pay for fully flexible flights, therefore it was very hard to achieve status even though I am averaging 3 flights a month) is how Sapphire with BA is Silver, whereas with AA, Sapphire is Platinum and Finnair Silver is Ruby, but BA have no Ruby. AA have Ruby, but with AA Ruby is Gold. Surely there should be a common colour between airlines in the alliance (Okay, they have Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, but I am refering to precious metals not stones)? Aside from this, I flew from LAS to DFW to FLL with AA and tried to claim miles with BA. To claim these I had to fax the details off to BA as I couldn't do it online (If you fly with other airlines in the alliance, you can claim these online with BA) but in anycase BA only credited my account with miles from LAS to DFW. I personally believe there should be some commonality between the airlines Frequent Flyer programmes in One World and status should be acheived by miles actually flown and not just expensive tickets. Aside from this, I found connecting between airlines in the alliance a painless experience and I am proud to be Sapphire.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   1 November 2007  -   Rod Hocking   (Australia)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Sapphire

Product Consistency:

3.0

Airport facilities:

3.0

I have used Business Class 'around-the-world' ticket system (twice) using one-world carriers. Have had no problem using the dedicated check-in desk at any airport even when flying internally on Coach. I agree with previous comments about the huge variations in lounge facilities, this is one area wher one-world needs to lift its game; especially in the US. As our airport is Darwin (DRW), the choice of international airlines is VERY limited. Basically; you either go one-world or you don't go. The 'round-the-world tickets are good value, but trips take extensive planning time. Food, overall; is acceptable on all carriers, but it does pay to order one of the special meals available on all carriers and you need to follow up prior to each flight to ensure that your request hasn't 'dropped out' of the system. Have also found AA to be very lax when it come to inputing points. Use of points for an award flight out of DRW is a joke, and there are huge limitations on their use to upgrade, especially on carriers other than QF.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   1 November 2007  -   Bill Atkins   (USA)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Emerald

Product Consistency:

2.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

Had to change my itinerary in HK - small change removing one sector and adding another, It took Cathay 1 1/2 hours and resulted in my paying over US$300 in change and service fees as well as additional fuel surcharges and taxes which BA missed in the original ticket - this as well as forfeiting $500 originally paid for an extra sector.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   17 September 2007  -   N Clark   (USA)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Sapphire

Product Consistency:

1.0

Airport facilities:

3.0

The major problem with oneworld is poor product consistency in almost every aspect. I have flown on all of the oneworld carriers, except Malev and Royal Jordanian, within the past three years. It is amazing to me that Cathy Pacific and Japan Airlines - who consistently provide excellent in-flight experiences, even in coach - are in the same network with the likes of American, British Airways, and Iberia, which range from "never again" quality to mediocre at best. Likewise, oneworld airport facilities range from among the best in the world such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific and JAL) to "bus station" quality (American). The one advantage that oneworld has over Skyteam is ease of cross-network reservations and award travel. Although currently a Sapphire member, that is on the strength of qualifying Emerald travel in previous years. My firm, of which I am a co-owner, switched from oneworld (primarily American Airlines) to SkyTeam (primarily Delta) last year because of our dissatisfaction with in-flight quality and elite-tier customer service. My colleagues and I now avoid oneworld carriers whenever we can.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   16 September 2007  -   S Srinivasan   (USA)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Sapphire

Product Consistency:

3.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

I'm a part of Oneworld as a Platinum member of American's AAdvantage. The program itself is decent, especially when it comes to booking award travel and upgrades on American. Lounge quality varies by carrier - fantastic on CX, fine on AA though I find it cheap that they charge for drinks and wireless access in the Admirals Clubs. Where Oneworld really falls short, though, is 1) the inability to book upgrades on other Oneworld carriers, and 2) although mileage accrual is supposed to be seamless, I've found that the system doesn't work very well. I just took 2 flights on CX, and I gave my AAdvantage number at reservation time, but the miles never showed up in my account, and now AA is telling me I have to mail in my boarding passes!

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   11 September 2007  -   Ken Steel   (USA)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Sapphire

Product Consistency:

2.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

I recently travelled to SYD with AA and QF. My original intent was to purchase a Y ticket and use mileage to upgrade to J. I was told oneworld carriers will not allow mileage from a partner airline to be used for a one-class upgrade on a revenue ticket, including full-fare tickets. Mileage can only be redeemed for a free ticket if there is available inventory. Oneworld advertising makes me think this is a classic "bait and switch" tactic. I'm surprised legal and regulatory agencies allow it. And of course the availability is almost non-existent; the only thing they could offer was a zany routing via YVR/HKG/MEL with excessively long (8+ hours) layovers. I just gave up and bought the ticket. My Platinum status from AA didn't impress QF either; they didn't want me using premium check-in or priority boarding even when I showed my valid card. And one last thing; premium service amongst oneworld carriers does vary and greatly (eg: First on AA is a few notches below BA; Business on IB is of a lesser quality than QF).

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   5 September 2007  -   S Betia   (Spain)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Ruby

Product Consistency:

1.0

Airport facilities:

3.0

Oneworld airlines don't offer any real alliance wide benefits for their most loyal customers. Mileage earning is not universal (eg. impossible to earn miles for CX FFP on discounted economy on IB), no alliance wide extra baggage allowance for Ruby, emerald, sapphire members, no upgrade rewards between alliance members. At most you get priority check in, and lounge access. Oneworld is lagging behind Skyteam and Star.

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE review :   5 September 2007  -   Denis Kwame   (UK)

Customer Satisfaction :

Tier Status:

Ruby

Product Consistency:

5.0

Airport facilities:

4.0

Overall I was satisfied by the services provided by Oneworld alliance airlines. Especially lounges use, extra luggage and flight upgrade from one class to another.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Comments and opinions contained in these pages do not represent the views of Skytrax. All features contain unsolicited input from site visitors, and we seek to exercise the minimum level of editorial control and censorship to ensure the widest debate and platform for customer opinions. We will not publish submissions that contain abusive language. We cannot guarantee to publish all opinions submitted.

ADD YOUR COMMENTS HERE

  The Comments pages are designed to offer guidance and assistance to other travellers, and we ask respondents to use an "informative" style of comment and share any tips for the airline Alliance in question.

  Your First Name (or initial) and Family Name, and E-mail address MUST be supplied.

  When submitting comments, please DO NOT insert paragraphs.

  Please check you use Upper and Lower case only - submissions made all in CAPITALS will NOT be accepted.

  Comment submissions that require extensive text editing CANNOT be published.