Star Alliance Vs Skyteam, how Italian frequent flyers' lives will change with ITA/Lufthansa marriage
The marriage between ITA Airways and Lufthansa has yet to be sanctioned, the effects of this de facto union will be seen [...]
Lufthansa
ITA Airways
Star Alliance
SkyTeam
The marriage between ITA Airways and Lufthansa has yet to be sanctioned, the effects of this de facto union will not be seen until mid-2025 at the earliest, but For Italian frequent flyers, it's time to start studying because one of the "few" certainties is that ITA Airways earlier, which later, will move to Star Alliance.
ITA Airways farewell Skyteam: when it will happen
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Of course, we are in the realm of hypotheses, but we have some recent examples of similar operations. The most recent is certainly the situation at SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
October 3, 2023 Air France KLM had announced its entry into the capital of SAS. And on the same day it was announced The exit from Star Alliance to Skyteam, 9 months have passed since then, and September 1 the switch will take place. Assuming then the same timeline, but in the opposite direction, ITA can be expected to exit Skyteam in early summer 2025, non-aviation solar summer.
Much will depend on how large the team will be to finalize the transition. At the beginning of the year we saw how Virgin Atlantic joined Skyteam in a very short time and at 100%, without any hiccups, so the timing could be significantly faster than assumed by ITA Lazzerini's former #1.
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Flying and Miles&More, what will happen
Again, it is impossible to bet on what will happen, but since the German group will initially enter with a minority stake in ITA's share capital, it is logical to assume that the two loyalty programs will remain separate, which is also happening in the SAS/AF transaction.
Until LH takes a majority stake in the Italian company, I doubt there will be a merger between the programs or even a unification operation. Certainly recently we saw Finnair switch to Avios as currency, while retaining independence in terms of cards and use of points.
Star Alliance VS Skyteam, what are the differences
If Volare remains the program it is today, there will be subtle differences in the lives of Italian frequent flyers. The main difference is a benefit very dear to those with the Skyteam Elite Plus level and is the free checked baggage allowance.
There is an abysmal difference in fact between the two alliances. With Skyteam there is the possibility of taking one more piece of luggage than provided in the purchased fare, this is a certainty with all tickets and all companies. In contrast, with Star Alliance, if you have equivalent status this is not guaranteed.
In detail. the passenger with Star Alliance gold status (including Senator) traveling LH on an economy light ticket on an intra-EU route Is not entitled to free checked baggage, this means that you will necessarily have to buy a more expensive fare if you have to take a suitcase on board.
A second difference, which is very important, between SA and ST carriers is that the former almost all have two different types of loungesi: one for business travelers and one for status holders. As I have documented in so many of my reviews, each airline has its own vision: Lufthansa and SAS reward status holders, while Singapore Airlines or Air Canada reward business travelers. In contrast, to date, all Skyteam carriers have one type of lounge open to all status holders.
It will also improve the lives of Italian travelers on domestic flights in the U.S.. As is well known Delta eliminated lounge access benefit on domestic flights to non-business travelers; in contrast, United does not (to date) restrict access to passengers on domestic flights in the U.S.
FF's hunt for flying will be triggered
Again, it is easy to predict that with the exit from Skyteam there will be a real assault on the diligence. We are already seeing this with SAS. Two dedicated status match campaigns have come since the farewell to Star Alliance was made official. An aggressive one from Finnair (oneworld) and a conservation by Miles&More's own. In the first case, the Finnish airline tries to attract passengers disgruntled by the move to Star Alliance to oneworld. In the second, it is Lufthansa that wants to keep loyal Scandinavian Airlines passengers in Star Alliance orbit.
