I am not an expert in mergers and acquisitions, but I am pretty sure merging four different airlines will be complex and complicated, if not a total organisational clusterfuck.
As much as I am happy about the consolidation in the Indian aviation industry and wish I could help Tata in the process — I am only interested in one thing: my frequent-flyer points.
Over a year ago, I was a lowly “Base” tier member with Air India Express through Flying Returns. But now that they have merged with AirAsia India, I am an “Aviator” on the Tata NeuPass. Of course, no points were transferred from Flying Returns to the NeuPass.
I love how I can earn points through NeuPass for my daily groceries and monthly shopping sprees and then use them to get a few free flights someday. That is important because I will never fly enough to reach the top tier. You just can not fly enough on three different programs. I am still a lowly “Base” tier member with Flying Returns on Air India and a humble “Base” tier member with Club Vistara on Vistara.
A few days ago, Air India announced they are completely redesigning their loyalty program for a launch in early 2024. Who knows what that means for my points? New tiers? Transferability of my already earned points? More retail partners and hotels? How will it all work with Star Alliance?
I was really hoping for some free miles by getting a co-branded credit card. But, I am still determining which ones will get removed from the current extensive offering across the different airlines. I am holding my breath, waiting for these proceedings to end quickly.
Chaitanya's Weblog 