![]() ![]() This limitation makes fare comparisons extremely difficult, especially if you're exploring options and haven't yet firmed up an itinerary. And even those members don't provide for airpass research: Delta, for example, says to call reservations. When you log onto an alliance's website, it instructs you to contact one of the alliance members for this information. You can't book and compare prices and schedules online. This problem is not so bad where an alliance has two or more airline members based in the same region, but you still encounter it in most cases. ![]() You can fly nonstop on a non-alliance line, but the pass doesn't cover that option. On the new Go Africa pass, for example, to fly from Johannesburg to Harare, Zambia - a distance of just under 600 miles - you have to fly on Kenya Airways through and connect at Nairobi, a total flight distance of 3,000 miles. ![]() Using an airpass often requires doubling back through one of an airline's regional hubs to reach even nearby points. In the real world, regional airpasses suffer from three serious problems: Supposedly, you get these point-to-point tickets "discount" prices, and they generally carry fewer restrictions and limitations than regular point-to-point tickets.Īnd, like most airpasses, this new one is likely to be of little use to most of you. Instead of fly-all-you-want, airpasses are really what I call "visitor tickets." You buy a group of vouchers for individual point-to-point air tickets at prices generally based on distance zones, but each separate flight requires you buy a separate ticket. Thus you can, as my railroad-loving friend Don recently did, ride trains from Switzerland to Milan and Naples and back to Florence on one day's use of a five-day Eurail Select pass. With railpasses, you can travel as much and as often as you want, during the period of validity, for the same inclusive daily price. ![]() If your definition of a "pass" is based on the Eurailpass model, no "airpass" is a true pass. Star Alliance, (United, US Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai, Turkish, and others) offers airpasses for Africa, Asia, Brazil, China, Europe, Japan, Micronesia, Middle East, South Pacific and Thailand. OneWorld, (American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, JAL, LAN, Qantas and others) offers passes for Africa, Asia, Japan, Australia/New Zealand, Europe and South America. The other two big alliances already offer an Africa pass as well as similar lists of regional and continental passes: Skyteam ( is anchored in North America by Delta, and includes Aeroflot, Air France, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, KLM, Korean, and a few smaller lines. The Skyteam airline alliance just announced a new "Go Africa" airpass, which joins the alliance's existing regional airpasses for Asia, China, Europe and Italy. ![]()
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