Star Alliance new online booking tool

[cosi]

"Star Alliance has just launched their new online booking tool which sees consumers now able to directly book Round the World and Circle fares through their internet website.

Star Alliance’s new ‘Book and Fly’ online tool will allow online users to book tickets, transfers, surface sectors and stopovers like they would at any travel agency."

E Travel Blackboard 21st June 2009

Star Alliance are much more pro active than one world. You cannot book a circle fare on the one world web site. Must use the airline telephone sales to make a one world booking.

 

[freofan]

"Much more proactive than oneworld"

Really?

Pretty sure OW was the first to offer a round-the-world booking service... along with many other 'firsts'

I'd say if anything oneworld is more 'proactive' than star IMO

 

[Evan]

I read somewhere circle fares etc also coming for OW.
But i would say OW is way ahead of *A in online booking... almost a year ahead i guess.

 

[cosi]

You cannot book a circle fare with OW or QF website.

Three or four times a year I travel PER-SYD-NRT-HKG-PER and must always use telephone sales to book the trip. It alsways a hassle because the QF telephone sales staff are not familiar with circle fares.

Looking forward to being able to book this flight one day on OW

 

[Evan]

Yes i did say coming, not here already.
I have booked circle fares no problems, but i do make a point of saying.. That should book as a DAS13 or whatever it is. So if it does not they know to look harder and figure it out.
They are also amazed how i seem to always choose flights that have available D or whatever i am booking... EF to the rescue there

 

[NYCguy]

I've found the new app to be buggier than Memphis in August, and totally useless. Sure, you can plan the itinerary, but try getting it to booking stage! I haven't been able to make it work on OS 10.6 or XP, using a variety of browsers. It's very irritating.

In fact, it's almost as irritating as the pointless OW/*A bickering that rears it's ugly head so frequently on this board...

 

[anat0l]

Well this is a definite improvement from the old tool, of which 'abysmal' would be paying too much of a complement.

I still prefer with the oneworld tool how you can select flights and choose path as you go, rather than the Star Alliance tool where you must select the path first then the flights. It is also good that they show the progressive mileage and cut offs for each of the ticket types.

 

[albatross710]

I've found the new app to be buggier than Memphis in August, and totally useless. Sure, you can plan the itinerary, but try getting it to booking stage! I haven't been able to make it work on OS 10.6 or XP, using a variety of browsers.

and I was thinking it was just me. I find only Internet Explorer works with it.

I find it was not intuitive to make changes to the routes. For instance, if I had 7 segments and for some reason the fare rules didn't validate it was easier (for me) to start from scratch than to try and fix the non-valid itinerary.

I did work it out in the end.