Star Alliance launches Round the World Online Bookings

Star Alliance has launched a new Star Alliance Book and Fly tool, which allows customers to plan, book and buy round the world tickets via the internet.

This means it is now possible to book the Star Alliance Round the World fare on all of the network's 21 carriers. Customers will have access to more than 17,000 daily flights to 916 airports in 160 countries.

Up until now, it has only been possible to plan an around-the-world trip on the website, with pricing and ticketing having to be handled at airline call centres, ticket offices or travel agents. The sales channels will continue to offer the Star Alliance Round the World fare, in addition to the website.

"Star Alliance Book and Fly has transformed our website into a sales channel for the Star Alliance Round the World fare. Customers can now plan, book and buy through the web at their convenience," said Christopher Korenke, Vice President Commercial, Star Alliance. "On the technological side, the implementation of an automated tool to process very complex routings is truly an outstanding achievement."

The new easy-to-use and interactive tool allows customers to choose from an endless number of options when planning a multiple city round the world trip on the Star Alliance network.

The itinerary can be created by either typing in the appropriate city or by clicking on the destinations displayed on an interactive world map.

The destinations are colour coded in order to distinguish between those to which direct flights are offered and those which can only be reached by transfer connections.

Once a valid itinerary is created, the system displays an estimated fare in the currency of the country of residence for the selected class of travel.

Flight options for each leg of their journey are displayed from the real time availability.

Additional service options, such as travel in premium economy class cabins, can be selected at the applicable surcharge.

Once flights for the entire journey have been chosen, the final price including all taxes, surcharges and fees is displayed.

After entering the personal data necessary to process the booking, the corresponding flights are then reserved. Tickets are paid for online via credit card and customers are emailed their electronic ticket.

The Star Alliance Round the World fare is one of 12 Star Alliance fare products.

Compared to one-way or return tickets, the Round the World fare is attractively priced. The fare levels are set according to distance and class of travel.
Customers can choose between three mileage levels 29,000, 34,000 or 39,000 miles. The fare is available for travel in First, Business or Economy Class.

Tickets are valid for one year. Additionally, the Star Alliance network also offers a Round the World special fare, which is only available for travel in Economy Class, has a maximum mileage of 26,000, must be purchased seven days prior to departure and permits three to five stopovers.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Star Alliance