It could be miles better

Why are airlines happy to team up on ticketing, check-ins, baggage handling, yet refuse to share information on frequent flyers?

JETTING off to New York for the weekend and not having to pay for it comes pretty high on the wish list of even the most jaded corporate ocean-hopper.

He/she's happy, the airline's happy - great branding, more passenger loyalty, a bigger customer database - everyone's happy with the frequent-flier programmes that make such trips possible. And, in theory, things can only get better.

That's because of the growing number of inter-airline alliances. Oneworld, the alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Qantas, is still signing up new airlines as members, and Star Alliance partners Lufthansa, United and SAS are combining use of their check-in desks and lounges.

This means that the major airlines can offer mix-and-match rewards for those precious points. A new list of holiday hot spots, from Hawaii to Hong Kong, are arriving on the free-flight list even if your favourite carrier doesn't actually fly there.

Unfortunately there's a catch. Individual airlines do not want you to give up your membership of their own schemes and have no intention of combining with their alliance partners to create one "super" card. For one thing, they'd lose out on valuable passenger information - about customers' movements, where they are flying and what sort of tickets they are buying. That database drives much airline marketing, promotion and research.

Bruce Chemel, president of American Airlines AAdvan-tage frequent- flier programme, confirms: "The database is very valuable, that is something we will not be selling to our partners."

So no deal with BA and Qantas. Over at Lufthansa a spokeswoman says there are no plans for a joint Star Alliance FF card, merely a facility to allow each other's members to share benefits.

But the benefits would be so much more if the airlines allowed passengers to combine all their flying miles.

It's not as if the smart-card technology to allow cross-alliance schemes is not available. A pilot scheme combining Hilton Hotels and American Airlines frequent-flier and guest schemes has already shown it can work.

The point is that the various companies just don't want it to happen. The news gets worse for passengers. For a start, the formation of alliances has added to the confusion of travellers over how schemes now work.

Research by Carlson Wagonlit shows that many are baffled as to which airlines have joined, or are about to join alliances.

MEANWHILE, travellers' employers are getting suspicious about which benefits the firm, rather than the individual, accrues. Companies feel that frequent-flier schemes are being used to tempt their staff to use a particular airline instead of following corporate travel policy. As yet few airlines (Lufthansa is an exception) are willing to consider giving company benefits. This leaves firms trying to get employees to hand over their "miles" to be placed in a company pot for business use, or checking that travellers are sticking to airlines listed in the travel policy and not going the long way round to pick up extra miles.

The problem, as Hogg Robinson's managing director Eric Brannan says, is that "people will go to extraordinary lengths to keep their miles. It's not as if firms can go around to their houses and check their statements." Some organisations, such as the British Council, do not let staff use FF schemes at all. Others, including drinks giant Seagram, negotiate with airlines on route deals, and also on membership of its frequent-flier scheme, so that all staff, for example, automatically get access to airport lounges.

The tussle for control of frequent-flier programmes has only just begun.

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