A new discount fare product for meetings has been rolled out by the Star Alliance, a network of 24 airlines around the globe, including United Airlines, US Airways, Lufthansa, Air Canada, and Singapore Airlines.
Groups with at least 50 attendees who are traveling from at least three countries are eligible to be part of the program, called Meetings Plus. Meeting organizers use an online request-for-proposal site and are then contacted by one of the Star Alliance carriers to work through the details on behalf of all the carriers that will be used for the meeting. Depending of which Star Alliance carriers are used, fare discounts of 10 percent to 20 percent are offered.
Meetings Plus is a sister program to the Star Alliance Conventions Plus program that’s been running for more than eight years. That program differs in that it provides a convention code to delegates who book travel individually.
In addition to the carriers listed above, the Star Alliance includes Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, bmi, EgyptAir, LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, Swiss International Air Lines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, and THAI. Regional member carriers include Adria Airways (Slovenia), Blue1 (Finland), and Croatia Airlines. Meetings Plus is not available for travel on ANA, LOT Polish Airlines, South African Airways, and THAI.
