It’s official – Ethiopian Airlines has announced they will be joining Star Alliance.

This will significantly improve coverage of Africa by the alliance, which has been a problem area for all 3 alliances (less so for Sky Team which has Kenya Airways).  The intra-Africa network of Ethiopian is very complementary to the current members EgyptAir and South African Airways, which mainly cover countries at the north and south of the continent respectively. In addition there are longhaul flights from Washington, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

WHile a lot can change in the next year or so until the actual entry date in the alliance, I have taken a quick look at their Sheba Miles frequent flyer program. 

Status is blue (3000 miles or 2 flights), Silver (25,000 miles or 20 flights) and Gold (50,000 miles or 40 flights). Status bonus 25% for Silver and 75% for Gold.  200% miles for business class.  Class of service and status bonuses appear to be excluded as elite qualifying miles.

There is a 5,000 mile referral bonus but according to the site it only posts when the new member qualifies for Blue status.   Please contact me if you want to refer me.  There is also currently a 1,000 mile sign-up bonus which posts instantly, but unlike Aegean this does not count as elite qualifying miles.

Edited to add – if you have flown Ethiopian Airlines there is also a survey with 2,000 bonus miles and a chance to win a free flight.

Air France and Emirates have both had short flights scheduled on A380 (Paris to London and Dubai to Jeddah respectively), and now it is Lufthansa’s turn with some A380 flights between Frankfurt and Mallorca.  It remains to be seen if the route will stay in the schedule for long (my guess is no).

From time to time Air NZ has one (or a few) aircraft in a special livery. Some are memorable, like the Lord of the Rings ones and the All Blacks front row. Others not so memorable – the green one advertising Air NZ Holidays. The latest special livery has been unveiled for the Rugby World Cup next year – an All Black A320 which will operate on domestic main trunk routes. I expect Air NZ will try to put this aircraft on flights ferrying certain key teams around where possible.

Picture is at the Stuff link.

From 1 October American Airlines’ Admirals Clubs in USA will have free booze (spirits, beer and wine) bringing them into line with the international Admirals Clubs and lounges of most other airlines (United’s Red Carpet Club now being a notable exception).

So at last it will mean an end to fiddling around with drink chits (available for non-AA Oneworld elite members on entry).

Flyer Talk is currently down.

Updated – back up now.

Last year was an absolute blast and this year promises to be even better.  I am shocked there are still some places available on the Star megado 2.  Get in quick.

(For a small taste, here are some clips of last year’s event from WSJ and CNN.)

I have a hectic few days planned across 3 cities in 2 countries with little margin to reschedule.  When I checked yesterday I saw a storm warning with 120km/h winds and severe thunderstorms forecast for 2 of those cities.  I went into contingency planning mode.

• Can I reschedule if needed? Will the fares allow me to be proactive or will I need to wait until close to departure when the airline may (or may not) be more lenient?  If I reschedule when would I reschedule to?
• What do I need to do in the event of significant delays? Do I have any medication with me sufficient for a long delay? Contact numbers for accommodation, airlines, ground transport and venues booked, and of course the people I’m meeting.
• Are there other flight options I can take?  Print off a relevant timetable in case of problems.  Include other routings and other airlines where this is sensible.  Have phone numbers for other airlines to hand.
• Consider what accommodation changes I may need – check availability and have phone numbers to hand.
• In poor weather I may need to change ground transport options at short notice. Do I have taxi phone numbers for each place?
• I normally travel super-light. Should I take more than normal for this trip in case I get stuck somewhere?
• Recheck the weather forecasts and flight statuses for each airport periodically.

I use public transport a lot, even when at home. Surprisingly, while I have a few bus & train passes for some cities scattered across the globe I do not have any in my home country.  That changed yesterday when I bought a snapper (smartcard for buses) in Wellington.  I figure if I’m going to be there more often I may as well get a discount on public transport. The initial $10 outlay for the card will soon repay itself.

Germany has introduced an air passenger tax effective immediately for travel dates from 1 January 2011.  (Hat tip John Macilree.)

It works similar to the UK APD tax – rates based on distance to destination, German transits are exempt and certain domestic flights are also exempt (joy rides and flights to some islands).  The initial rates are (1) €8 to 2500km, (2) €25 2500-6000km, (3) €45 6000+ km.  Distances are all based on the location of the capital city and its distance from Frankfurt airport.

Thus category (1) includes all of Europe (incl Russia) plus part of northern Africa and Turkey.  Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Kosovo, Latvia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United Kingdom.

Category (2) includes the middle of Africa (incl Egypt), Caucasus region, Middle East region and Asia as far as the stans.  Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.

Category (3) is everywhere else – ie southern Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Asia from China and India eastwards, Australia and the Pacific.

Given the stated intention to produce revenue rising to €4b by 2014, I bet the rates will increase from the initial settings.  Full text of the legislation is available here.

A while ago I asked how long is it reasonable for an airline to take to refund a fare?   Most responses suggested up to a week.

American Airlines took over 100 days to process a refundable business class ticket which unfortunately I needed to cancel due to change in circumstances.  When I commented that this was an inordinate amount of time, far in excess of their own policies published on the AA website, they weakly responded that they were busy.