Joint Star Alliance Products
The statistics are impressive – but what do they mean for you? Well, the whole purpose of the Star Alliance is to provide customers with travel benefits that no airline could offer on its own. The products they can offer through the alliance are described below.
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Round the World Fares
The classic product that no Star Alliance carrier can provide alone is a “round the world” fare. Even with the large range of code share arrangements in place between our members, it takes a combination of many players to offer customers a round-the-world itinerary. If you’re planning a round the world trip, these are the partners that can make it happen – efficiently and cost-effectively.
To book go to Star Alliance
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Regional Fares
In addition to Star Round the World fares, we offer five different air passes covering regions where our members operate, as well as a ‘Circle Pacific fare.’ The common feature of these products is that they allow consumers to build their own custom-designed itineraries combining the services of various Star Alliance members. The price is either fixed in advance, or varies based on criteria that do not depend on which airlines form part of the itinerary. For example, if you buy a ticket outside Europe to travel to Europe on a Star Alliance member airline, you can purchase an airpass with up to 10 coupons to cover flights on Star Alliance airlines serving 41 European countries. The fare is determined by the number of coupons you buy or based on the distance you will cover.
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Joint Convention Product
The organisers of conventions often promote their events by offering specially discounted airfares for the attendees. This discount is available for any meeting, convention, conference, exhibition, sport and/or cultural event with a minimum of 500 delegates from three different continents. The discounts can cover flights to the location of the event from any country or region where potential conference attendees reside. For major international events, being able to offer a conference package that covers multiple airlines through the Star Alliance offers a clear advantage over a conference deal from a single airline. This is the basis for the Star Conventions Plus product.
Guidelines are designed to ensure antitrust/competition law compliance by limiting the participating carriers’ activities to what is necessary for the success of the programme, and by avoiding spill-over into their competitive operations outside the programme.
Conventions Plus agreements typically include two elements: (i) an organiser support programme consisting of support tickets granted both pre- and post-event; and (ii) joint delegate fares offered to the delegates and one accompanying companion in the form of discounts off published fares for the delegate’s total travel. Star Alliance approaches convention organisers with this package when a minimum of seven member airlines are willing to participate. Joint offers to convention organisers are made on a consent-only basis. Thus convention organisers are offered the option of receiving a joint Star offer. If the organiser declines the joint approach, then individual airlines may make independent offers to that convention organiser.1 Guidelines and other safeguards are in place to ensure that the information exchanged and the discussions that take place are limited to what is necessary to prepare and administer the joint Star offer for a particular conference. Such exchanges/discussions only take place after a conference organiser seeks a joint offer.
In many cases, the Conventions Plus agreement will be administered on behalf of the association by a professional conference organiser.
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Joint Corporate Agreements
Corporate Plus covers global and regional agreements. Regional agreements are defined as three or more Star Alliance members offering two or more Point of Sale (POS) countries within one region. Global agreements are defined as three or more Star Alliance members offering two or more POS regions.
Companies with substantial travel budgets often seek special corporate travel deals, and need to have those agreements with a number of carriers, since no single airline can cover all their needs. That makes the Star Alliance offerings very attractive to corporate customers. A customer sends a Request for Proposal to a Star Alliance carrier. That lead airline can then negotiate a Star Alliance Corporate Plus Agreement. Legal Guidelines have been developed to ensure compliance with applicable competition laws by limiting the Participating Carrier’s activities to what is necessary for the success of the joint undertaking.
Star corporate agreements typically consist of two elements: (i) discounted pricing on a number of specifically identified city pairs; and (ii) general discounts covering a customer’s total travel. As in the case of joint convention offers, such joint Star corporate agreements are currently offered only on a consent basis and guidelines/safeguards are in place to limit the scope of information exchange and coordination. Star’s practice is only to offer Star joint corporate agreements where the travel needs of the customer involve substantial travel on at least three Star Alliance member airlines.
For more information go to Star Alliance
For all Star Alliance product bookings, please click here