One for All...

We currently have in our proposed itinerary upwards of twenty flight segments throughout the journey. While it is possible to book individual tickets for each segment, we have reached the conclusion that we would really rather not do that. For one thing it would be really cumbersome to haul around all those tickets. Also, in spite of the contention of several outfits claiming to have the lowest possible fares, it will be at least as cost effective and more convenient to utilize one of the ‘round the world’ packages offered by one of the three major worldwide airline alliances. Plus if there are any changes we want to make along the way or more importantly, any problems, it will be much nicer to deal with one of the alliance members’ personnel than to try to get in touch with a third party ticket provider. Using the alliance method, though, is not without its problems. Look at that word ‘alliance.’ Here’s how the dictionary that came with my computer defines it:

alliance |əˈlīəns| |əˌlaɪəns| |əˌlʌɪəns|
noun
a union or association formed for mutual benefit, esp. between countries or organizations

The title of this post is also the beginning of the motto adopted by the title characters in Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. The motto, in its entirety is, “One for all and all for one.” It is indicative of the fact that they had formed an alliance; that they were committed to supporting each other. They allied themselves with one another for their mutual benefit. Notice that the motto doesn’t go on to say anything about the benefit of anyone else.

It is very much the same with the airline alliances… although they will cater to the customer to a certain extent, keep in mind that the primary purpose of the alliance is for the good of its members… NOT the customer. It really isn’t realistic to expect any one of the airline alliances to be able to fully accommodate any individual itinerary, despite this quote from the brochure of the alliance we will be using for this trip:

“With 855 airports in 155 countries and a network of 17 airlines, our unique Round the World Fare opens up a world of itinerary options which fit into your plans rather than the other way around.”

In actuality, it is “the other way around” for us. There are several portions of our itinerary that aren’t covered by the alliance, and for those parts, we will be securing either individual tickets or regional passes. This particular alliance serves us best, though. We checked with the other two and it’s the same story, only in different parts of the world. I’m not trying to complain here… I just want to point out a truism of planning a world trip. Collectively, the three alliances could serve us better, but that’s not the way it is. So… we are going with what we’ve got… and we will make the best of it.