Qualiflyer was a frequent flyer program, created in April 1992 by Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Austria, headquartered in Office Park 2 on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat, Wien-Umgebung and a subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Together with regional subsidiary Tyrolean Airways and charter arm Lauda Air, it operates...

, Crossair

Crossair

Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland...

 and Swissair

Swissair

Swissair AG was the former national airline of Switzerland.It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero , in 1931...

. When Swissair began acquiring stakes in other European airlines in 1998, Qualiflyer was extended to become their frequent flyer programs as well. This spawned the alliance known as The Qualiflyer Group. With the failure of Swissair in 2002, the group dissolved along with the program and a company was formed to give each former member airline an individual frequent-flyer program.

Currently Swiss International Air Lines

Swiss International Air Lines

Swiss International Air Lines AG is the principal airline of Switzerland operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Its main hub is Zurich Airport...

, the successor company of Swissair, is participating in the Miles & More

Miles & More

Miles & More is the largest traveler loyalty program in Europe with 20 million members as of February 2011. It offers rewards to passengers of the Star Alliance travelling on certain types of tickets...

 frequent flyer program with Lufthansa

Lufthansa

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...

.

Beginnings

Qualiflyer was formed in April 1992, as Europe's first frequent-flyer program, for Swissair, Crossair and Austrian Airlines. Originally, Swissair's partner airline Crossair

Crossair

Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland...

 and its high-end hotel chain Swissôtel

Swissôtel

Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts is a group of hotels pitched at the higher end of the hotel market. The chain currently includes 28 properties in 15 countries....

 also participated in the program. As one would expect, Qualiflyer's affiliation to one of the world-class airlines caused membership to grow quickly to 2 million members in the first eight years. After that, other airlines joined in the program, and the program received even larger amounts of membership.

Logo and livery

The Qualiflyer Group logo

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...

 resembled a blue globe surrounded by to swooping arms. The entire globe was encircled by ten stars symbolizing the ten member airlines. Airlines participating in the group were required to fly airplanes with a rather large Qualiflyer logo sticker applied. Swissair and Sabena principally had several airplanes painted with a blue underbelly with "The Qualiflyer Group" titles applied near the nose.

The Qualiflyer Group

In 1998, Swissair, one of the more conservative European airlines, decided to have a hand at expansion. Instead of doing this by joining one of the new airlines alliances Star Alliance

Star Alliance

Star Alliance is the world's first and largest airline alliance, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany . The alliance was founded in 1997 by five of the world's leading airlines: Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines...

 and oneworld

Oneworld

Oneworld , branded as oneworld, is one of the world's three largest global airline alliances with its central management team, oneworld Management Company, based in New York City, New York, USA. Oneworld was founded in 1999 by American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific...

, it decided to this by acquiring minority stakes in several airlines. Among these were Sabena

Sabena

SABENA was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, the newly formed SN Brussels Airlines took over part of SABENA's assets in February 2002, which then became Brussels Airlines...

, TAP Air Portugal, Air Europe

Air Europe

Air Europe was a wholly privately owned, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline, established in 1978 under the working title Inter European Airways. It adopted the Air Europe name the following year...

, and LOT Polish Airlines

LOT Polish Airlines

Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. , trading as LOT Polish Airlines, is the flag carrier of Poland. Based in Warsaw, LOT was established in 1929, making it one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation. Using a fleet of 55 aircraft, LOT operates a complex network to 60 destinations in Europe,...

. These airlines all came to participate in the Qualiflyer program. The Qualiflyer Group would ultimately be a contributing factor in Swissair's demise.

Club levels

The Qualiflyer program always made a distinction between genuine frequent flyers and other traveling members. That is why, when Qualiflyer launched in 1992, two account types were introduced: the Qualiflyer basic level, for everyone wishing to collect miles, and the Qualiflyer Travelclub, for more frequent travelers. To meet the needs of particular target groups better, further club levels were added. The Travelclub Gold, for very frequent travelers and Qualiflyer Circle for an exclusive group of selected members. The existence of the "Circle" was not actively communicated, to ensure optimum exclusivity. The Circle was introduced in 1994 and the Travelclub Gold membership only many years later in 2001. For every level, further benefits were offered to make the travel as smooth and pleasant as possible.

Freddie Awards

The Freddie Awards offer frequent travelers a chance to voice their opinions about their favorite frequent traveler programs.

1997

• Gold for best flight reward
• Gold for best accrual bonus

2000

• 3rd best newsletter
• 3rd best program for spending miles

2001

• 2nd best award redemption
• 2nd best program for spending miles
• 3rd best frequent flyer program of the year
• 3rd best accrual bonus
• 3rd best credit card partnership

2002

• 2nd best frequent flyer program of the year
• 2nd best award redemption
• 3rd best newsletter
• 3rd best website

Swiss Dialogue Marketing Awards

This award honors the best dialogue marketing campaigns and is selected by a jury of dialogue marketing experts.
2002

• Gold award for relaunch of the Qualiflyer Circle welcome kit
• Silver award for launch of Travelclub Gold

Member airlines

Airline	Notes
Air Europe Air Europe (Italy) Air Europe was an airline based in Malpensa International Airport, Italy. It was at the time of closure part of the Alitalia S.p.A. group.Air Europe suspended operations in December 2008 after Compagnia Aerea Italiana decided to close down the Air Europe brand...
Air Liberté Air Liberté Air Liberté was an airline in France founded in July 1987. Air Liberté was headquartered in Rungis. Airlib was headquartered in Orly Airport Building 363 in Paray-Vieille-Poste....
Air Littoral Air Littoral Air Littoral was an airline in France founded in 1972 and originally based at Montpellier - Méditerranée Airport in Montpellier. In 1975 it was headquartered at Aérodrome du Castellet....
AOM French Airlines AOM French Airlines AOM French Airlines was the second largest airline in France from 1990 until 2001. Its head office was located in Building 363 at Orly Airport, Paray-Vieille-Poste.-History:...
Austrian Airlines Group Austrian Airlines Group The Austrian Airlines Group consists of Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air, Tyrolean Airways and other shares and is a 100% subsidiary of Lufthansa of Germany. It possesses 99 airplanes and in 2007 the Austrian Airlines Group had 10.8 million passengers...	Founding member of the Qualiflyer Frequent flyer program Frequent flyer program A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles...
Balair Balair Balair was a Swiss airline that became BalairCTA when it merged with CTA/Compagnie de Transport Aerien in 1993. Balair had its headquarters in Basel.-Company history:...	Not part of the Qualiflyer Group, just the Frequent flyer program Frequent flyer program A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles...
Crossair Crossair Crossair Ltd. Co. for Regional European Air Transport was a regional airline headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel, Switzerland...	Founding member of the Qualiflyer Frequent flyer program Frequent flyer program A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles...
LOT Polish Airlines LOT Polish Airlines Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. , trading as LOT Polish Airlines, is the flag carrier of Poland. Based in Warsaw, LOT was established in 1929, making it one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation. Using a fleet of 55 aircraft, LOT operates a complex network to 60 destinations in Europe,...
LTU LTU International LTU Lufttransport-Unternehmen GmbH was an airline based in Düsseldorf, Germany, now fully owned by Air Berlin. The initials stand for the German phrase LuftTransport-Unternehmen . It operated scheduled services on medium and long-haul routes, as well as charter services...	Not part of the Qualiflyer Group, just the Frequent flyer program Frequent flyer program A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles...
Portugalia Airlines
Sabena Sabena SABENA was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, the newly formed SN Brussels Airlines took over part of SABENA's assets in February 2002, which then became Brussels Airlines...
Swissair Swissair Swissair AG was the former national airline of Switzerland.It was formed from a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero , in 1931...	Founding member of the Qualiflyer Frequent flyer program Frequent flyer program A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles...
TAP Portugal TAP Portugal TAP Portugal, commonly known as TAP, is the national airline of Portugal. It has its head office in Building 25 on the grounds of Portela Airport in Lisbon, and has been a member of the Star Alliance since 14 March 2005, the same day on which the company celebrated its 60th anniversary...
Volare Volare Airlines Volare S.p.A., as Volareweb.com, was a low cost subsidiary of the old Alitalia-LAI. Its head office was located in Area Tecnica Sud of Terminal 1 of Milan-Malpensa International Airport, in Ferno, Varese, Italy, and it ceased activity with this name since 12 January 2009...

Partner Airlines

Airline
American Airlines American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
Finnair Finnair Finnair Plc is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters on the grounds of Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland, and its main hub at Helsinki Airport. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. The largest...

External links

• Qualiflyer Website (Archive)