End of this year, India will likely witness one of the biggest mergers in the commercial aviation space — the merger of Air India and Vistara in a push for a rapid transition to one full-service carrier under the Air India brand.
In January, Vistara’s chief executive officer (CEO) Kannan had said that the Air India-Vistara merger was likely to be completed by the middle of next year.
The recent update on the merger gave insights on the operational integration of the two brands with 7,000 Vistara employees having gone through talent fitment assessments for advanced stages. Cumulatively, the merger will see 24,000 employees coming to together.
Now, what does the merger mean for the customers who have frequent flying program memberships such as the Club Vistara membership (CV) and the Flying Returns membership?
The Club Vistara team, in an email communication, informed that frequent flyers who hold Club Vistara memberships will have their program integrated with Air India’s Flying Returns memberships. The CV membership will continue until the integration is complete.
Here’s all you need to know:
Tier Status – Going forward, the rules of Flying Returns will apply. The flyers will be able to retain at least their current tier status — Silver, Gold, and Platinum — upon the completion of the merger. A higher tier will be assigned depending on the cumulative points of both the memberships. Post the integration, Flying Returns conditions will be applied.
CV Points and Tier Points balance – The cumulative points will be transferred to the Flying Returns program in a 1:1 ratio and will be valid for one year, irrespective of the expiration.
Future bookings using CV points and complimentary flight ticket vouchers – All future bookings will be transferred from CV to Air India’s Flying Returns. The membership holders and the nominees will receive the revised flight details post migration. Any changes to the existing bookings after migration will be as per Flying Returns’ rules.
Vouchers – Flying Returns will hold all valid unutilized One-Class Upgrade vouchers and complimentary flight ticket vouchers with the existing validity. The usage will be governed by the applicable program rules.
Co-brand Cards – The member shall be updated about Club Vistara Co-brand Cards in the coming weeks.
The Club Vistara team has also shed light upon the data transfer that will take place, and how the member can either opt out and second the process. CV membership data will be shared with Flying Returns program, and the email suggests that the transfer shall be “evaluated by authorised representatives, maintaining highest level of confidentiality throughout this process.”
If the member wishes to opt out of the process, they can opt for the process linked in the email within 21 days of receiving it.
Apart from merging Air India and Vistara, the group is also in the process of merging its budget carriers Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India). Once both the mergers are complete, the Air India group will have a full-service carrier Air India and a low-cost airline Air India Express.
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First uploaded on: 15-05-2024 at 23:05 IST
