Starbrook Airlines, the airline that only exists in chocolate, and more...

There are many interesting stories in the aviation industry these days, so interesting that, actually, haven't got the time yet to sit down and write the proper article they deserve. So I thought about sharing a couple of, somewhat lighter, aviation-related stories that might also be of your interest...

For a start the story of this amazing chocolate box I came across the other day....Starbrook Airlines does not exist today...but a Belgian chocolatier has developed a whole range of airline-themed chocolates taking inspiration from the "belle-epoque" of aviation. According to the story in their website, there was actually a "Starbrook Airlines", started by a Belgian in California in the first half of the 20th Century, although I could not find further references to it...

And more vintage (and not so vintage) stuff today, as the great Spanish-language blog "Fronteras" has devoted two very detailed post to those airlines that, for whatever the reason, are no longer flying...you name them: TWA, Varig, Malev, Mexicana, Spanair...even if you do not read Spanish, these two articles (1 & 2) are worth a look, since there are some amazing pictures I am sure any aviation enthusiast will enjoy!

Have a great start of the week!

What is going to happen to BMI Diamond Club miles after BA's acquisition?

As most of you might already be aware of, British airline BMI was sold by Lufthansa to its Oneworld competitor IAG (aka British Airways). Once the news was confirmed, one thought came to my mind: what happens with BMI's Diamond Club frequent flier miles?

As both airlines operated out of the UK, many frequent travelers were members of both British Airways' executive club and BMI's Diamond Club.

The truth is that BMI has moved fast to inform its Diamond Club members and in the last few days has sent a couple of messages providing updates...it looks like BMI Diamond Club cardholders are actually going to get a good deal and, whereas they will have only until the 31st of May to use their miles within  the Star Alliance group, the Diamond Club programme itself will continue to work as usual.

This is possibly the reason that BMI is still accepting applications for its Diamond Club programme while I am writing these lines:

I ignore if this "business as usual" will last for long, as Diamond Club members  are being invited to join British Airways' Executive Club programme. They will also be able to exchange miles into IAG's Avios at a rate of 1:1.

This is literally, an excerpt of BMI's Diamond Club notification email:

"As part of the transition of bmi into British Airways, from 1 May 2012 British Airways is inviting you, as a Diamond Club member, to also join the Executive Club at your equivalent tier status level. Diamond Club Gold customers will be invited to become Gold members of the Executive Club and Silver members to become Silver, which will be in addition to your Diamond Club membership. Further details will follow shortly."

Whereas it's not stated explicitly, I guess IAG's plan is to progressively transition all Diamond Club members to Executive Club. In any case, I think Diamond Club's members are getting quite a good deal and many of those that were on both programmes will be able to consolidate and advance their status within the programme really fast.