Alliances are not a matter of choice but a matter of need for airlines in Australia for a network that extends their own and gets them to serve flyers who want to travel all over the place. In the case of Qantas, they have the oneworld allliance by their side.

But considering Virgin does not like getting into alliances, or at least not just yet, they have been working with an interlining strategy so far where they have a network of partners such as Etihad, Delta and Virgin Atlantic to complete their network.However, they now have an alliance with Singapore Airlines, which should be a gamechanger in feeding traffic to their domestic network from the hub of SIN.

The alliance, which was in the works for a while, received the final approval from Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission earlier this month, and was already approved by Competition Commission of Singapore in October 2011.

The new alliance allows SingAir and Virgin Australia to offer reciprocal frequent flyer benefits to each other’s frequent flyers, and codeshare to start with. With effect from 20th December, the carriers are going to roll out the FF benefits to each other’s programs, and in early 2012, they will start codesharing, including Singapore Airline’s Silk Air flights.

What can you expect if you are a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer member, or a Virgin Velocity Rewards member after 20th December? Have a look here:

1. Velocity Platinum and Gold members receive complimentary entry into Singapore Airlines’ SilverKris Lounge, at airports worldwide. KrisFlyer Elite Gold members and PPS Club members receive complimentary entry to the Virgin Australia lounge, at airports in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra. This includes the privilege to bring a guest along.
2. Velocity members will be able to earn and redeem Velocity Points when travelling on eligible Singapore Airlines services. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer members will be able to earn and redeem points when travelling on eligible Virgin Australia services. The airlines clarify these are status credits and not just point credits. So flights on the other carrier should count into your qualifying criteria for the FFP also.

Also, SilkAir is launching a flight to Darwin from Singapore with effect from March 2012, which will be backed up by a Darwin Sydney service early 2012.

Time to whip out my Virgin Australia membership card and see where all in Australia can I go the next year.

Conde Nast Traveller’s India team set out to give away their Readers Travel Awards 2011 at a grand function in New Delhi last evening, and there were some surprises and then some non-surprises which happened out there.Yours truly, being an avid supporter of all  things travel in India, did put in his vote too for the RTA 2011.

Here are some key highlights from the Award Results that came out last night:

- Airlines for Best Business Travel outside India: Singapore Airlines and Emirates

- Airlines for Best Leisure Travel outside India: Emirates and Singapore Airlines

Now this is not surprising at all, given that Emirates and Singapore Airlines both take traffic from India very seriously and use the hub-and-spoke model to fill seats on their long-haul flights. Being small city-state airlines, they have to depend on traffic from outside, and given that India’s own airlines are not being able to serve the demand fully, travelling via UAE or Singapore becomes an attractive option.

- Best Airline for Business/Leisure Travel in India: Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways

Now, here, glitz and brand has won over quality and service. I am branded a Jet Airways loyalist, though I have travelled Kingfisher also lately, and Indigo too. Okay, can’t recall if I travelled Spicejet or GoAir all of this past year, but I think Jet Airways has always had a far more consistent experience than Kingfisher. And a better route network, and which is why have I stuck with them for so long. But the glitz wins, and I sure hope it helps to be popular for them to get out of their current misery.

- Business Hotels in India: The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai and The Oberoi, Delhi

Bang on target! I love the Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai, and it is one of the iconic landmarks of Mumbai. In fact, I put it on my list of best Business hotels in Mumbai last month when I compiled one for CNNGo. The Oberoi Delhi is Aces too! Though of late, I like the Oberoi Gurgaon better

- New Hotels in India: Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad and Trident, Mumbai BKC

Again, wonderful properties, and the Trident BKC is on my list of best Business Hotels in Mumbai. Taj Falaknuma, I am waiting to try and review. I am still adding up the small change in my pocket to get the princely sum required to stay there!

- Hotel Loyalty programs: Taj Inner Circle and SPG

Wow! I have great respect for the Taj Inner Circle. In India, it sure makes sense to be a member. SPG being second to that, comes straight away from the fact that SPG is the loyalty program also adopted by the ITC/Sheraton alliance in India which is perhaps the second biggest luxury/business hotels spread in India. Of course, now that SPG is bringing its other brands to India, we’ll see that change (or not) over a period of time!

Here is the full list of winners on the Conde Nast Traveller website! Congratulations to all the winners, and great work, Conde Nast!

Related Posts:

• 10 Best Business Hotels in Mumbai
• Why I stepped on a Kingfisher plane yesterday!
• Flying Kingfisher: First impressions amongst the ongoing turmoil
• A Comprehensive update on the Kingfisher Route network
• The rumors are true: Jet Airways is the best airline in India

Singapore Airlines is launching the A380 service to the USA via Frankfurt from 15 January 2011. On this occassion, they are offering a special fare of INR 60,000 for a return trip from Mumbai to any of the four US locations served by SIA, namely, New York, Houston, Los Angeles and San Fransisco. This deal is valid for the Economy segment, and from any of the 10 airports served in India by Singapore Airlines / Silk Air.

The deal is sweet in case you are willing for a longer routing from India and want to try out the SQ A380, which I bet would be very good service. I’ve never flown SQ to the USA, but I am thinking if this deal is where I start. You should find more details of the deal here.