After having done around the world trips on all three major alliances in the last year (for business), I thought I would briefly highlight the plusses and minuses for each alliance from my experiences.

I am currently top tier is Sky and Star, and should be second to highest tier in ONE after the miles from this last trip register. I have no dog in this fight, this is just my experiences.

SKYTEAM: (ticketed through DL)

Plusses:

Best computer integration between the member airlines.

Good crediting of miles flown on member airlines without asking.

E-ticketing even on trips more than 16 legs (although re-issue is required part way through trip).

Minuses:

Poor coverage in SE Asia.

Some difficulties gettiing seat availability Transpac in Biz.

No international F on most ST carriers, so a RTW F class ticket is almost all Biz class.

STAR: (Booked through LH)

Plusses:

Good access to LH RTW desk with very helpful (Canadian) staff.

Good global destination coverage.

Reasonable computer integration between member airlines.

Printed paper tickets by mail for trips more than 16 legs.

Good RTW trip planner online.

Minuses:

Tried to book through UA first, but could not even figure out how to talk to an agent, so I gave up and called LH.

Some member airlines poor at providing inventory (SAA).

SQ does not provide F space on some flights (A-380...).

No e-ticketing of 16+ leg trips.


ONEWORLD: (booked through AA)

Plusses:

International F available on most longhaul flights airlines in the Oneworld alliance.

Good global coverage.

Easiest to book reservations, no problems with seat availability.

Minuses:

Poorest computer integration between member airlines. Miles don't automatically post and computer reservations are lost.

More than 16 leg tickets must be HANDWRITTEN at the airport.

Having to connect through LHR/LGW stinks.

Poor AA domestic network connections from my home base (not important for others).



From the above, you can see that each has plusses and minuses. I don't know which I will use this fall for my next RTW, it will depend on the destinations.

Gotta disagree on the OneWorld observations. If you ticket through AA, perhaps over 16 segments must be handwritten. On CX this is not the case, and I greatly preferred dealing with them vs. AA. I personally ticketed a 22 segement F class OneWorld Explorer. The rules now limit the OWE to 20 segments although that drops to 16 after June 1, 08 which means the issue is moot for that and the Global Explorer which is subject to the same limitation.

Not sure about *A RTW bookings but IMO the SkyTeam RTW is a joke as seat availability according to CO comes out of the same buckets as mileage redemption!! So if you can't redeem for miles, you can't get a seat with an RTW ticket. That's insane! Also as you noted there's only F class on KE and AF and those seats simply do not shake loose in the case of AF. No experience with KE as I haven't looked.

[Edited 2008-04-07 14:27:50]

Hi,

Just wondering how expensive are RTW trips, generally? I'd love to take one one day!

Cheers,
Imad

Quoting DLPMMM (Thread starter): Best computer integration between the member airlines.

I disagree. In Star, all member airlines are connected through StarNet and most of them are connected via a Commom IT platform.

On the record, Star also has a better technology product. For example, for the Star buffs: you can get the Star Alliance Screensaver for download. It shows all of the Star flights and updates itself too  . I have it

Quoting AH332 (Reply 2): Just wondering how expensive are RTW trips, generally? I'd love to take one one day!

In Australia you'll pay about $2500 which compares to a SYD-LHR fare.

Worth pointing out that the OneWorld RTWs will be limited to a max of 16 sectors (INCLUDING surface sectors) wef from I believe 1 June or thereabouts. Refer flyertalk.com for more.

Quoting Bill142 (Reply 4): In Australia you'll pay about $2500 which compares to a SYD-LHR fare.

Just for the record: That would be in Economy, whereas a RTW in Business is considerably more expensive.

To get a rough idea you can visit http://www.airbrokers.com/html/around_the_world_tickets.php
-HT