Domestic

Airline Alliances Create Mismatches...and Free Upgrades for You

Welcome to the first entry in First Class Flyer's new Wing Tips blog. You can read more about this new free service here. Today's tip explains how, when airlines partner in alliances, their rules often don't match up. That creates loopholes you can tunnel through to upgrade right to the front of the plane ... if you know how.

Our mission in Wing Tips is to use these brief articles to give you a taste of the same type of opportunities explained in great detail in First Class Flyer, our premium monthly newsletter ... opportunities that save you money on air travel and ensure a better flight experience, often by exploiting loopholes and anomalies the airlines inadvertently build into their fare structures and rules, and sometimes aren't even aware of themselves.

We'd like to start out with a good one ... one that can score the savvy traveler a free upgrade to Business Class for the price of coach, especially when flying overseas to Europe.

The opportunity exists because when behemoths such as United, American, British Airways and now Continental decided to merge into alliances such as oneworld, SkyTeam or Star, they tried to fit all their rules and policies into a one-size-fits-all overall scheme, which has been like trying to fit an entire wardrobe into one suitcase. Some shirttails and socks are bound to stick out, and it's on these little bits of ill-fitting fabric that opportunities grow.

Upgrades for Miles ... or for
Border Crossings
Upgrade opportunities often happen because of mismatches in how the various alliance members calculate credit toward upgrades and free flights. In fact, some depend on miles you've flown and others use geography, offering credit when you pass from one part of the globe to another.

Where's the opportunity? Sometimes a short flight will produce insufficient mileage to claim an award on one line, while crossing the imaginary line in the skies wins an award on another.

To cite an extreme (ok, hypothetical) example of the sort of thing we're talking about: Short-hop across the Hudson River and you've traveled barely two miles but you have made it from one geographical entity (New York State) to another (New Jersey). If your airline calculates credit based on geography, get used to the fellow in the seat ahead leaning in your lap. But if it awards based on distance, grab your carry-on and start thinking about what beverage order to give the flight attendant in Business Class.

Plus--and this is the payoff, if the alliance that includes your carrier of choice has members using both systems--you just need to ticket on the one favorable to you to get an upgrade on another with the itinerary you want.

Of course, we've greatly simplified a more complex picture, but you can get the detail you need to actually capitalize on this loophole by reading the cover story in April's First Class Flyer. Click here for details on how to access the article: "Upgrade to Europe for Free - Just Spot Award Chart Loopholes."

Please return to Wing Tips tomorrow, same gate, same departure time, and we'll help you solve a mystery: It's why the award miles or points you've worked so hard to earn may entirely disappear from your frequent flyer account statement ... just because of how you spell your name.