NEW: Round-the-world fare mysteries revealed
Trying to figure out how airlines determine fares is utterly futile, but that doesn’t necessarily dampen my curiosity. On a recent visit to the Star Alliance headquarters in Frankfurt, I sought insights into how the global group sets its popular round-the-world fares…
BROWSE COLUMNS BY DATE OR CATEGORY
2010 / 2009 / 2008 / AIRLINES / AIRPORTS / HOTELS / REGULATIONS
MAY 17: Travel companies teach customer-service lessons
MAY 10: Hilton embraces ‘games-players’ / WATCH VIDEO
MAY 03: United’s ‘award’ blocking an issue in Continental merger
APR 26: Flight schedule changes overwhelm agents, travelers
APR 19: Educating the flying public
APR 12: Who gets first meal choice on board?
APR 05: ‘Tweaking’ airlines’ yield management
MAR 29: U.S. has ‘no desire’ to ease airline ownership rules
MAR 22: U.S. airlines handle disruptions best
MAR 15: Free hotel Internet for elites slowly becomes the norm
MAR 08: US Airways’ Web site fails at basics
MAR 01: Airline agents make up U.S. entry rules
FEB 22: When ‘open skies’ aren’t really open
FEB 15: United executive breaks old barriers
FEB 08: Hilton, InterContinental cross swords
FEB 01: Dulles Airport enters the modern age
JAN 25: Donate miles or money to Haiti?
JAN 18: Western carriers return to Iraq
In September 2008, the “On the Fly” column first exposed United Airlines’ previously secret practice of massively blocking “award” seats otherwise made available for mileage redemption by its partners in the global Star Alliance, such as Lufthansa, Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines.
The practice became known as StarNet blocking — a reference to the alliance’s award “middleware” that provides access to those seats by any carrier on a first-come-first-served basis. It caused an uproar and was denounced by loyal United customers as deceitful. In frustration, some of those passengers have turned their backs on United, depriving it of valuable revenue. Some of them canceled corporate contracts with the airline, while others stopped using their United co-branded credit cards.
Apparently, the carrier saves more money by not having to compensate its partners for their “award” seats than it loses by driving some passengers away, so the blocking is still alive and well. Many unsuspecting travelers accumulate thousands of miles in their United Mileage Plus accounts, only to discover later than those miles can’t get them the “award” tickets they hoped to book.
This is one of the most misleading and dishonest practices in the U.S. airline industry, and it hurts customers every day. It’s time we did something about it.
“Direct” flights have been around for more than two decades, and by now frequent travelers know that they are not the same as nonstop flights. But because the Department of Transportation never provided a legal definition, airlines have bent the concept to the point where many “direct” flights are no different from connecting flights. As a result, the advertised benefits of “seamless travel” for passengers have all but vanished.
Here are some of the main disadvantages of “direct” flights:
-
Missing the second part of your flight — during weather delays and other disruptions, the second leg of a “direct” flight often leaves before the first leg has landed, just like any connecting flight;
-
Losing upgrades — if an upgrade is available on your first leg, but not on the second, under normal circumstances you would be able to confirm the first and waitlist the second. However, when you are booked on a “direct” flight, both legs must be available at the same time. The problem is that often, by the time an upgrade on the second leg opens up, the first is no longer available;
-
Losing frequent-flier miles — some airlines give you credit for a nonstop flight, which is often shorter, instead of awarding you the actual miles flown.
Social media