Hi. Obviously I'm a newbie here, and am wondering what are the advantages and disadvantages of joining alliances? Is it the same with real life alliances ie. connecting flights etc?
Thanks!
There are no cons and there really aren't all that many pros either.
It's a social group akin to joining a Clan/Guild/Team/Whatever in some other multiplayer type game where like-minded players can group together. It offers no real benefits nor any detriments either. All you do is join, that's the limit of what you have to do.
There is no modeling of connecting passengers or codeshares or anything of the sort. There's a slight passenger preference for those belonging to a stronger alliance, but it isn't particularly appreciable. The real benefit comes in how active the members are in helping one another. An active Alliance may keep track of airlines closing around the world for major opportunities, may sell aircraft for one another for good prices (difficult to organize), and other means of helping one another that perhaps the general forums aren't providing.
It might be worth mentioning, it does cost a small percentage of what you make, the fee is set by the alliance, they seem to hover around 0.8%, which is quite insignificant.
Speaking for myself, my CI got a good boost from joining an alliance. But Sigma said it all.
Here's my take:
PROs: You will receive a small marketing boost. You can also be assured of a smaller circle of partners to go to for advice. They usually offer good advice.
CONs: A small 0.8% "alliance fee" based on your sales. Also, the alliance is vulnerable to dissolution if 1 of its founders will close.