For those trying to understand the rapid growth of the international airline alliances, it might make more sense to look back in time and compare it to the evolution of your telephone service. First you were thrilled with a cordless phone. Then came cellular service. Next you got long-distance calls for free. Soon your whole family was included in one plan and could communicate from anywhere in the world (on weekends) for one lump sum. Before you have completely wrapped your head around that concept, your wireless company joins forces with your cable television company, which also happens to be your Internet provider. Now you need to choose not only a plan that suits your needs and lifestyle, but an entire network.

In the end you go with “Brand X” because you like Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Well, it’s decision-making time again. Just as travelers were getting comfortable with hunting down travel bargains online, the surge of airline alliances onto the tarmac has left consumers faced with a whole new slew of question marks in a once familiar industry. What are these alliances all about? Why are they necessary in life? Are airline alliances the flight of the future, or just a marketing ploy designed to give the airline industry something new to talk about, a little more air time?

With the three alliances — Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance — accounting for some 80 percent of the total world airline capacity, is traveling within an alliance less of a choice and more of a “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” decision?

It is probably no accident that the trend of forming airline alliances began in 1980s, the “super-size-me” era. At this point, in response to deregulation of the airline industry in the United States, carriers partnered to gain indirect access to markets where cost and regulatory barriers would ordinarily preclude direct entry. The goal of the alliances is to link multiple markets, such as North America, Europe and Asia. The strategy behind forming an alliance is not just strength in numbers, but to pick the best players from each global market and, through code-sharing (the process of placing one’s airline code on another’s flight), expand their network without adding new services.

This innovation had little or no impact on consumers until the events of Sept. 11, when trends toward consolidation and competition in the airline industry accelerated. In an effort to outperform each other, airline alliances have upped the ante, offering increasingly varied services, adding new members and introducing new programs. This astonishing growth spurt has left customers struggling in their jet streams, trying to catch up and make sense of it all.

There are several very good reasons to join an alliance, though many travelers end up patrons of a particular airline alliance purely by default. The flight attendant approaches you at your seat, asks if you are a member of their frequent-flyer program, gives you a form, and voila — now you are a card-carrying member of alliance No. 2! Others pick an alliance because they are a fan of a particular member carrier or fly regularly to a certain destination or market served by the alliance. This is probably a more responsible and beneficial methodology. At this stage in the game, if you know where your business travel is going to take you, it is time to throw out the eenie-meenie-miney-moe process and make an educated decision as to which alliance fleet suits your needs.

DECISION TIME
Each global player has its own territorial strengths and they are well defined. Perhaps considered the most “worldly” would be Star Alliance with members servicing North America, the Caribbean, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Oceania. SkyTeam has strong representation in the United States and Canada, the Caribbean, South America, Western Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Oneworld, often considered the heavy hitter in South America, also includes the United States and Canada, the Caribbean, Western Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands in its lineup.

Your market known, the benefits of the extended frequent-flyer programs can be fully realized. The plans operate under the same parameters as the first generation of mileage programs — fly frequently on a particular carrier to earn free tickets — but customers can now earn and redeem miles on any carrier in the alliance, meaning a choice of more destinations worldwide. Plus the sheer number of carriers in an alliance equates to more available seats and decreased blackout dates. Like the days of yesteryear, alliance frequent flyers still earn preferred status, offering special check-in services and lounge access — only now both are reciprocal among multiple carriers. One factor to consider when comparing alliance programs is how easy (or complicated) it is to keep track of and redeem your miles. For instance, Star Alliance is the only alliance that allows customers to redeem miles for flights on other carriers with a single phone call. An often missed link is the advantage of the miles earned via your credit card. These are fully transferable. Ideally, your credit card miles should be applied to a carrier belonging to the alliance suiting your geographic needs.

Changes and innovations are frequent in the world of airline alliances. Before committing to a primary alliance, visit their Web sites or contact an airline member representative from each alliance to determine the criteria and benefits for the different levels of elite status in their frequent-flyer programs; whose mile collection and redemption system works best for you and how to continually maximize the benefits of your alliance once you start racking up the miles.

Another tangible benefit to traveling within an alliance is the simplified ticketing process. The member airlines’ code-sharing agreements mean travelers do not need to purchase multiple tickets for each leg of their trip and, upon check-in, they are issued boarding passes for the entire flight.

MEMBER BENEFITS
In the last couple of years airline alliances have taken their global partnerships to a new stratosphere with the construction of “members only” co-location terminals servicing their alliance carriers exclusively. This all-under-one-roof strategy is proving hugely popular with travelers who cannot help but be impressed with the cutting-edge technology, efficiency and increased luxury services these spanking new facilities offer. Taking advantage of the crossover benefits offered by alliance membership has become a breeze with this mi casa es su casa development. Check-in assistance at any counter of any member airline, regardless of what airline reservation you hold, and across-the-board access to all carrier lounges are easier to enjoy given the close proximity of all members’ services.

The pace at which these new co-location terminals are materializing is impressive. SkyTeam’s new London terminal will bring its number of co-located terminals to 23 located in several major destinations including Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Beijing, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Geneva, Istanbul, Lagos, Manchester, Mexico City, Munich, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremtyevo, Paris-CDG2, Prague, Rome, Stuttgart, Tunis, Venice and Vienna. Recently, Star Alliance opened its new facility at Tokyo Narita and has ongoing co-location projects in Bangkok, London-Heathrow, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami (MIA) and Paris. Next year, Oneworld will be welcoming new recruit, Japan Airlines (JAL), along with five other members to its own terminal at Tokyo Narita.

If you are one those travelers who has not booked via a certain route or on a certain airline because of a lousy layover experience (for example, you’re required to go through customs to access the first-class lounge), or you frequent a certain hub with a new shared terminal you want to use, take into account what an alliance member can offer you in terms of access and book your ticket accordingly.

While an alliance’s attraction is often the result of physical resources such as number of carrier members, custom terminals, advanced technology or (high on the list) Oneworld’s impressive number of lie-flat beds in their members’ business-class sections, there are other resources to consider, such as reputation and personal service. In order for passengers to truly benefit from code-sharing scheduling, frequent-flyer programs and ticketing, airlines in the same alliance now need to communicate information to a much vaster network of employees composed of many different languages and cultures. The beauty of global reach and the new melting pot of airline personnel will be lost on the traveler who is experiencing frustration due to a lapse in communication and education among the employees on the front line.

SHARE THE WEALTH
To ensure new information is disseminated efficiently to employees, Star Alliance has set up a separate communication department, its sole purpose being the ongoing education of staff regarding changing programs and services. Likewise, Oneworld offers its employees extensive PC-driven tutorials and SkyTeam is actually run by a committee, with each airline pitching in to help with everything from IT to product development and training programs for staff. Furthermore, to assist in achieving a seamless check-in process, travel agents, as consumer advocates, are being trained to help their customers understand the realities of flying on code-share alliances.

One disputed yet often touted advantage to this one-stop-shopping approach is the total fare is reduced by allowing each airline partner to set the fare for the entire flight, covering both the segments it flies and those handled by partners. Building on this capacity, Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam recently introduced reduced round-the-world fares. These RTW tickets are priced according to class of service, origin of travel, mileage and sometimes season of travel. Restrictions in terms of duration of travel (usually up to one year) and amount of stopovers (anywhere from five to 15), may apply. The plans do differ with each airline alliance, so if this feature is an important one to you ask the carrier members for details.

The actual (or even estimated) percentage of savings when booking with an alliance-versus-non-alliance carrier is still up for debate, leaving many in the travel industry saying, “Show me the money!”

Says Anny Canty, director of communication for American Society of Travel Agents, “Alliances may offer some economic benefits to the aligned carriers, as carriers can share certain costs such as check-in and gate agents and facilities at certain airports, and marketing costs. However, I am not aware of any evidence indicating that consumers have realized lower fares as often suggested by these carriers in their pleas for anti-trust immunity.”

Alliance Update
For passengers determined to keep abreast of and take advantage of their alliance’s new developments, all three maintain detailed Web sites with current special programs and offers from its members or to certain destinations. At the rate these alliances are moving forward, it is wise to pay these sites regular visits.

After all, you wouldn’t want to miss out on your airline alliance’s 2007 rates for the space shuttle.

STAR ALLIANCE www.staralliance.com
Members: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, BMI, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP, THAI Airways, United Airlines, US Airways and Varig Brazilian Airways.

SKYTEAM www.skyteam.com
Members: Aeroflot, Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia Airlines, Continental Airlines, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines.

ONEWORLD www.oneworld.com
Members: Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, Iberia, LAN, Qantas Airways