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