oneworld looking to poach Star Alliance members with bonus miles initiative
The battle for customer loyalty in the skies is set to escalate after
oneworld announced its counter attack strategy to the Star Alliance's
aggressive acquisition drive.
oneworld (whose members include Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British
Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LanChile, and Qantas) is
offering a bonus of 15,000 frequent flyer miles to existing loyalty
scheme members and those who sign up to the programme. To qualify, air
travellers must fly on at least three Oneworld airlines, including the
one they are registered with as a frequent flyer, between October 1 and
November 30.
oneworld hopes to poach customers from Star Alliance operators, which
include Lufthansa, United, Air Canada and Singapore Airlines.
Star Alliance recently targeted members of the Oneworld airlines'
frequent flyer schemes by offering to match their status if they
transferred. The scheme was criticised by British Airways as
"effectively queue-jumping".
Commenting on the latest initiative, Oneworld managing partner John
McCulloch said: "It's a way of highlighting to customers new and old
that if their travels take them beyond their regular airline's
schedules, they'll receive the same high level of care, service, support
and frequent flyer privileges from all the other carriers in our group."
The oneworld bonus offer is being promoted through press and poster
advertising and by individual carriers.
The 15,000 air miles can be redeemed against flights across the frequent
flyer programmes of Oneworld's member airlines.
Since oneworld launched five years ago, members have been able to
collect points that they can use across the group's network, which
covers 135 countries.
17th September 2004
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