Air Berlin and Air Serbia strike loyalty deal

Members of Air Berlin and Air Serbia’s loyalty schemes can now earn and redeem award miles when flying with the other airline. The agreement means Air Berlin Topbonus members can take advantage of frequent flyer benefits across Air Serbia’s entire network, and vice versa for Air Serbia Etihad Guest members. Members of both programmes can also take advantage of benefits including extra baggage allowance, priority check-in, lounge access and pre-boarding. And, until September 11, Topbonus and Air Serbia Etihad Guest members will receive double award miles when travelling with the other carrier. Alitalia is offering frequent flyers holding elite status with competing airlines the opportunity to status match to its MilleMiglia programme. As the Italian airline is part of the Skyteam alliance, only silver, gold and platinum tier members of non-alliance airlines will be matched. Silver tier members will be matched to Ulisse (Skyteam Elite), and gold and platinum members to Freccia Alata (Skyteam Elite Plus) and Freccia Alata Plus (Skyteam Elite Plus) respectively. To qualify, frequent flyers should sign up for the MilleMiglia programme (if not already a member) and send an email to statusmatchmillemiglia@alitalia.com with their first name, last name, membership number and a copy of the card in the competing programme. The status in MilleMiglia will be updated five working days after the request email is sent, and a membership card will be sent a week after the status is reflected. The corresponding club tier will be valid until March 31 next year, unless the status held with the competing airline expires after March 31; then the equivalent status in MilleMiglia will be valid until March 31, 2017.