Travelers, what is your opinion on this? My thoughts: I am afraid that if they merge with United or another partner that the Skyteam Alliance would be split (Man I had over 105,000 in the air domestic Skyteam miles alone last year); That if it does happen, I will lose my automatic upgrade to First Class that I get on Northwest and Continental; They will choke down the Memphis hub thereby reducing options and increasing air costs; Big downside, more trips through ATL From my favorite travel blog: http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/
You have valid concerns as a frequent flyer. Do you do most of your travel on Delta? Do you use the international partners in their alliance often? If most of your travel is on DL then you will probably enjoy whatever alliance they end up with. To me most alliances out there are nicely balanced. Some better than others but all are pretty usable. American's is probably the most diverse to me. In the U.S. it really boils down to where do you do most of your travel since U.S. carriers all have markets they are more competitive in than others. For example if you live in Atlanta you probably are a DL frequent flyer. But if you moved to DFW or maybe do a lot of business in South America you then use AA more. Their new Chicago to New Dehli India flight sells out just about every day as an interesting example. That one route alone may make AA and the One World Alliance very appealling to a traveller since no other domestic carrier goes there. The only thing I would suggest is if you lose your "top tier" status as a result of a merger or even a relocation of your own, let the new domestic airline you will be using most often know you were a "top tier" member on another carrier and they will usually work with you. They want your business. This just me two cents as an airline employee. DB's better (ooops!) other half
Hello DB's Better Half! I would say I travel about 60% of the time on Northwest (Office based in Detroit), 20% on Delta, 10% Continental, and the remaining 10% over the rest of the airlines. Other than for recreation all of my travel is in North America so the International alliances don't help much. If Delta acquires Northwest I am sure they will accept my Elite status, but with so many Elite status Delta folks in the area the benefits get wiped out. I got a feeling that the Delta Union's will shoot down this Northwest deal though, Northwest is so well known for how fairly they treat their workers. 8) I take it you are affiliated with AA, I fly them off and on, especially when I need direct flights to St. Louis. They do seem so much more professional.
