As United Airlines plans expansion India, it will add full-service Vistara as a codeshare partner later this year.
United Airlines plans to resume its Newark – Delhi service this autumn and commence new San Francisco – Delhi service in December. As it seeks to offers it passengers more reliable onward connections and feed its longhaul flights, it has announced a new partnership with Vistara, an airline founded in 2013 and co-owned by Singapore Airlines and Tata.
The new partnership will go beyond codesharing to include:
- Reciprocal frequent flyer benefits – United MileagePlus members earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all Vistara routes, and Vistara’s Club Vistara members earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all Vistara and United routes
- UA marketing code on more than 20 flights operated by Vistara (subject to government approval)
- Coordinated United and Vistara customer service
- Single-ticket booking and checked baggage to the customer’s final destination
Here’s Vistara’s route map:
It is no coincidence that Vistara is seeking to ramp up operations and its partnerships in light of the recent demise of Jet Airways. It is also hardly a coincidence that this agreement comes as United prepares to challenge Air India directly on another route (SFO-DEL). Although both are Star Alliance members, the relationship between the two has not strengthened since Air India joined Star Alliance.
CONCLUSION
Indian Airlines see codesharing as essential to fostering long-term growth. Other recent codeshare agreements include Emirates and SpiceJet as well IndiGo and Turkish Airlines. Vistara’s new partnership with United is good news for travelers in both India and North America.
This is great news. United couldn’t have chosen a better partner. I travel for work to India every month. Being in NY, United is my preferred carrier to India. However, Air India was the only option under star alliance for domestic travel and I am not a fan. Vistara is my go to airline in India for domestic travel. It is definitely the best domestic airline. Jet was the only real competitor but that’s not an option any more.
This is AMAZING. Really excited to be able to leverage this partnership soon on one of my regular trips to India.
@ Matthew : what’s your over/under regarding Air India giving the nod to Vistara joining Star as a connecting partner ?
Funny you should ask. I was just thinking about that. My prediction is Air India will not block it and it will happen. AI probably (rightly) realizes it cannot viably complain about balkanizing traffic until it gets its own house in order.
Vistara also has a code share with Singapore Air that enables KrisFlyer members to earn KrisFlyer miles when travelling on Vistara flights, and redeem Vistara flight tickets with their miles. Similarly, Club Vistara members can earn and redeem points when travelling on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flights. I think on grounds of parity United is good on that front.
What about Star’s policy preventing members from cooperating outside the alliance in markets where existing members already provide coverage? It somehow never seems to apply to UA or LH… Obviously, the UA/Vistara partnership is also to pre-empt DL/AA from forming a deeper partnership with them (same as they did with 9W).
Indian Airlines merged with Air India in 2007. Since then multiple Indian airlines have entered the Indian domestic market. Grammar is your friend.