A comprehensive airline alliance cheat sheet and user guide

Sorting through the minutiae of which airline and partner alliance to choose, and why, can be maddening. They all purport to be better, to offer more, to fly you farther in less time with more benefits and advantages than ever before. That’s not quite the case though, is it? We’re living through a rough time in aviation history. Lounge access is being revoked, and mileage value is being reduced. Privileges are being stripped away, like so many superfluous winter layers in a TSA line. Make no mistake about it, the blame rests with our airline overlords and the system that allows them to persist. These are enormous corporations who receive billions of bailout funds in times of need, and turn it into billions of profits by nickel-and-diming their loyal consumers once the crisis has passed. Pick your poison may never have been so apt, but here we are. Story looks at each alliance.<br/>