Post by Alexi Thornton

This quote - referring to what oneworld Alliance carriers are asking for, got my service design thinking: “What they do want is for us to ensure a seamless, premium experience.” And having travelled with a few of these carriers already, I can see that there is a massive opportunity to align and create smoother experiences beyond the hard product. For example, the last time I booked a flight on Finnair, my first flight out of Sydney was on Cathay Pacific, connecting me to AY in Hong Kong. However, all of the Finnair pre-departure communications did not mention anything about the Sydney to Hong Kong leg, despite my booking showing all of the sectors online. So, this mis-alignment can cause friction and extra touchpoints that are not necessary. Another misalignment exists between two alliance partners that use different reservations systems. How can a traveller know what PNR they can use to flow forward to check-in? e.g., Qantas + American Airlines bookings, connecting onwards from LAX or DFW. Confusing right? We cannot see alliance bookings on our preferred carrier app, so where can we see our full journey details, other than via the website we booked or having to download that carrier's app? Could the alliance create a super app that everything displays there? This is where a lot of travellers choose to push their bookings onto TripIt, for a consistent view of their journey and what is coming next. With Offer & Order being developed, where we will be able to mix & match what we like within and outside our loyalty boundaries (that is the promise at least), one wonders where we will be able to see all the pieces of our puzzle? 😵‍💫 🤯