This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Uganda

Source: Ed Wright

There are bus services from all neighbouring countries to Uganda. Airlines flying to Entebbe, Uganda include:

• Star Alliance – Brussels Airlines, EgyptAir, South African, Turkish
• Oneworld – British Airways
• Sky Team – Kenya, KLM
• Other sSelected – Emirates, Ethiopian

TIP Longhaul travel to/from Uganda most likely requires flying through Europe.  There are relatively few flights intra-Africa and none between Asia and Uganda.

TIP The Oneworld continent-based Explorer around the world fare allows back-tracking through Europe from Uganda as an exception (along with Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania). Only one of the transits through Europe can have a stopover.

TIP For awards, Star Alliance offers the most routing options. However on some programs which limit the number of transfers there may be difficulties due to the lack of flights from any major hubs.

Reader Nun recently made the following comment

I’ve been following “How to get to” for a while. One thing I don’t understand is the strict treatment of the term “alliance.” Just because an airline belongs to an alliance doesn’t mean that’s all the partners they have or that’s all the routes they have. It’s often possible to get somewhere in a codeshare. For example, Iberia has lots of IB coded flights which are actually flown by Vueling. Vueling isn’t part of oneworld but the codeshares are. There are lots of examples. Just a thought…

Good question Nun, and of wider relevance than just for the “how to get to” series of posts.  It is true I base the information on the airline operating the flights, not allowing for codeshare or partner flights. There are reasons for this, which I’ll explain below.

What is a codeshare?

A codeshare is where an airline markets a flight but it is actually operated by a different airline. Eg Air New Zealand codeshares on Aircalin flights between Auckland and Noumea, and Aircalin codeshares on Air New Zealand flights on the same route.  There are different types of codeshare agreements between airlines but that is not important for this discussion.

What is a partner flight?

Most frequent flyer programs (FFPs) also partner with some non-alliance airlines. Sometimes this is limited to a specific route, and other times all routes are included. Some FFPs even partner with airlines that are members of a competing alliance.  For the purpose of this discussion a partner flight excludes flights by other airlines within the same alliance.

Why the operating airline matters (codeshares)

Almost all alliance fare products are limited to flights on airlines within the alliance. There are some limited exceptions (such as Oneworld distance based Global Explorer around the world fare). The fare rules require both operating airline and marketing airline to be within the relevant airline alliance.

For mileage earning and redemption the situation is more complicated, as follows:

• intra-alliance codeshare (eg American codeshare on Qantas flights between USA and Australia) – full earning, status earning, award redemption okay
• marketing airline is the airline of the FFP, operating airline is not in the alliance (eg Air NZ codeshare on Aircalin in relation to Airpoints) – full earning, may or may not earn status miles, award redemption okay
• marketing airline is not the airline of the FFP but is another airline within the same alliance, operating airlines is not in the alliance (eg Air NZ codeshare on Aircalin in relation to United Mileage Plus) – in Oneworld generally earn miles and status miles and allow award redemption, in Star Alliance and Sky Team generally non mileage earning and no award redemption
• marketing airline is not in the alliance but is a partner of the FFP, operating airline is in the alliance (eg Aircalin codeshare on Air NZ in relation to Airpoints) - earn miles, may or may not earn status miles, generally allow awards

Why not include partner airline flights?

Partners of one frequent flyer program are not normally also partners of all other frequent flyer programs in the same alliance.  A Flyer Talk thread on Star Alliance partner airlines illustrates – for example Virgin Atlantic is a partner of several Star Alliance airlines, but others are not partners with Virgin Atlantic.

Going back to Nun‘s question. I haven’t included partner airlines in the alliance listings in the “how to get to” series of posts because they are useful only to some frequent flyer programs and generally not useful for alliance products or awards.  To include every airline flying to a country would mean some long lists and information that would quickly become out of date. I get around this by listing the main non-alliance airlines as “other”. The reader is left to check which ones may be useful for them for mileage earning or award redemption purposes.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Kyrgyzstan

Visitors to Kyrgyzstan arrive by taxi or bus from neighbouring countries, or by air. Relatively few airlines fly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and they include:

• Star Alliance – bmi, Turkish
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – Aeroflot, China Southern
• Other selected – S7

TIP The only alliance around the world tickets which can easily include travel to Kygyzstan are on Sky Team.  A Star Alliance around the world ticket would require a surface segment since backtracking to Europe is not allowed.

TIP On some Star Alliance and Skyteam frequent flyer programs longhaul awards to Kyrgyzstan are a bargain (the ones which ignore the transit through Europe) and on others very expensive (the ones which take the routing into account).

Today Brazilian airline TAM joins Star Alliance, restoring coverage of South America that was lost when Varig collapsed.

The “How to get to” series of posts will be updated in due course.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

This post is how to get to Macau. There are separate posts for how to get to China more generally as well as how to get to Hong Kong.

Macau

Buses connect Macau to the border of the SAR as well as to Guangzhou. Ferries operate to Hong Kong (including the airport), Shenzen and other nearby cities.  Airlines flying to Macau include:

• Star Alliance – Air China, Thai
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – none
• Other selected – Air Macau, EVA, Jetstar Asia, Philippine Airlines, Tiger.

TIP While there are some low cost, mostly intra-asia, fares to Macau, in general it is cheaper and relatively convenient to fly to Hong Kong and take the ferry across.

UPDATED August 2010 – Updated for TAM and Aegean joining Star Alliance, Shanghai leaving Star Alliance, Vietnam Airlines and TAROM joining Sky Team. No change to advice.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

US Virgin Islands

Most visitors to US Virgin Islands arrive by air or by cruise ship.  Airlines flying to US Virgin Islands include:

• Star Alliance – Continental (St Thomas), United (St Thomas), US Airways (St Croix and St Thomas)
• Oneworld – American (St Croix and St Thomas)
• Sky Team – Delta (St Croix and St Thomas)
• Other selected – LIAT (St Croix and St Thomas)

TIP Air fares from main hubs in continental USA are generally competitive.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Cape Verde

The only convenient way to visit Cape Verde is to fly.  Relatively few airlines fly to Cape Verde, and they include:

• Star Alliance – TAP (to Sal & Praia)
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – none
• Other selected – TACV (from several Cape Verde airports), some European low cost airlines (to Sal & Boa Vista), TAAG

TIP There are far more flights to Cape Verde from Europe than from nearby Africa, or South America or Central America.

TIP Including Cape Verde on a Star Alliance around the world requires backtracking and thus uses up a significant amount of the mileage allowed.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Republic of Macedonia

Source: Vladimir Stoykov

There are buses and trains from all neighbouring countries except Greece (use taxis to & from the Greece-Macedonia border).  Airlines flying to Republic of Macedonia include:

• Star Alliance – Adria, Austrian, Croatia, Swiss, Turkish
• Oneworld – Malev
• Sky Team – Czech
• Selected other – JAT

TIP There are no low cost airlines flying to Macedonia, however Thessaloniki isn’t too far away.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Central African Republic

Overland travel is not simple with some borders closed (eg the one with Sudan).  There are buses from Cameroon and boats from Brazzaville.  The few airlines flying to Central African Republic include:

• Star Alliance – none
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – Air France, Kenya
• Selected other – Royal Air Maroc, TAAG

TIP As with many places in central & west Africa, fares tend to be high.  Thus an award or around the world fare to Bangui is a good option.

This is part of a series of blog entries on how to get to countries and places. Here is a link to the index. I plan to eventually cover every country and some other places. If you have a request for a particular country or place please use the Contact link at the top, or leave a comment.

Sharjah

Sharjah in United Arab Emirates (UAE) can be reached by land from other UAE Emirates. Airlines flying to Sharjah include:

• Star Alliance – EgyptAir
• Oneworld – none
• Sky Team – none
• Other selected – various airlines of North-Eastern Africa, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India

TIP Dubai is adjacent to Sharjah and far more widely connected. Check out how to get to Dubai for tips on affordable travel to there.