Here’s to learning about airline alliances so you can be soaring above the clouds! Photo by: Evan Berman

You’re probably familiar with Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines– the “Big 3” airlines in the US. Each of them are a founding member of an airline alliance. Understanding these alliances and partnerships are essential for using points and miles to travel for less.

oneworld:

American Airlines is one of the founding members of the oneworld alliance. Here is the list of oneworld members:

• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Iberia
• Japan Airlines (JAL)
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Royal Jordanian
• Sri Lankan Airlines

Additionally, Fiji Airways is a “Connect Partner.” This means that the airline partners with some of the members– American, BA, Cathay, and Qantas, while not being fully integrated into the alliance.

There are many great sweet spots in the oneworld alliance. One of them includes booking Qatar Q-Suites for 70,000 AAdvantage Miles from the US to the Middle East. A future article will dive into more of these great values.

Star Alliance:

Star Alliance is the largest of the 3 alliances. United Airlines is one of the founding members. The list of the airlines are:

• Aegean Airlines
• Air Canada
• Air China
• Air India
• Air New Zealand
• All Nippon Airways (ANA)
• Asiana Airlines
• Austrian Airlines
• Avianca Airlines
• Brussels Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• EgyptAir
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Eva Air
• Lot Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Scandinavian Airlines
• Shenzhen Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• Swiss Air
• TAP Air Portugal
• Thai Airlines
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines

A future article will examine the best sweet spots, such as using Avianca LifeMiles to book Lufthansa First Class flights for 87,000 miles and minimal taxes and fees (~$25-$30) or using Air Canada Aeroplan to book an ANA Business Class flight for as few as 55,000 points and low fees (~$75).

SkyTeam:

Finally, Delta was a founding member of the 3rd and final alliance, SkyTeam. The full list of SkyTeam partners is as follows:

• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• AeroMexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• Alitalia
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• Czech Airlines
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indonesia
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• MEA (Middle East Airlines)
• SAUDIA
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Xiamen Air

Virgin Atlantic is a member of SkyTeam Alliance as of March 3, 2023.

Unfortunately, relative to the other two alliances, there are fewer sweet spots in the SkyTeam Alliance. That being said, there are still some great values worth mentioning, such as using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club to book one-way Delta One Business Class awards to Continental Europe for only 50,000 points and $5.60 or using Flying Blue’s monthly promos to fly Air France or KLM for 12,500 miles in Economy to Europe.

Other Partners:

While the 3 alliances get the most attention, it’s important to understand other partnerships in order to get greater value out of points and miles. For example, one of the best deals out there is to fly ANA First Class from the US to Tokyo using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for 55,000 points each way (note that taxes and fees are in the $300-$500 range depending on current fuel price). Here is a list of the most important partnerships to be aware of. This list is not definitive; rather, it is a best of:

Air Canada Aeroplan:

• Air Mauritius
• Air Serbia
• Bamboo Airways
• Emirates Airlines
• Etihad Airways
• Gulf Air
• Oman Air
• Virgin Australia

One of the best things about Aeroplan is the ability to combine partner and Star Alliance airlines on one itinerary. So, for example, you could fly SFO-NRT-ICN-AUH (San Francisco to Abu Dhabi via Tokyo-Narita and Seoul) on ANA, Asiana, and Etihad and pay the same price as flying only on one airline. Additionally, for only 5,000 extra miles, you can add a stopover to any award flight.

Alaska Airlines:

• Air Tahiti Nui
• Condor
• El Al Airlines
• Emirates
• Fiji Airways
• Hainan Airlines
• LATAM Airlines
• Korean Air
• Singapore Airlines

Alaska miles were long the single most valuable of all airline miles. I say were because they have moved away from a hard and fast award chart. Time will tell if this spells disaster like many assume. However, for the time being, Alaska miles are incredibly valuable. You have a free stopover even on one-way award tickets and some of the lowest mileage required for any partner airlines.

American Airlines:

• Air Tahiti Nui
• China Southern Airlines
• Etihad Airways
• Fiji Airways
• Hawaiian Airlines

Etihad Airways:

• Air New Zealand
• All Nippon Airlines (ANA)
• American Airlines
• Asiana Airlines
• Gulf Air
• Oman Air
• Royal Air Maroc

Etihad used to offer one of the best airline partnerships. Unfortunately, the airline has announced that they are switching from an award chart to dynamic pricing. This will likely lead to a devaluation and the sweet spots may no longer be around.

Virgin Atlantic:

Note: these partners are subject to change. As mentioned above, Virgin is about to join SkyTeam. It is possible that some of the Star Alliance airline partnerships will fall apart after this occurs. This post will be updated if and when that occurs.

Here are some of the notable partners:

• Air France/KLM
• Air New Zealand
• All Nippon Airlines (ANA)
• Delta
• Hawaiian Airlines
• LATAM Airlines
• Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airlines
• Virgin Australia

Virgin’s sweet spot awards of ANA First Class and Delta One to Europe have already been mentioned. While there are no stopover deals as with Aeroplan and Alaska, Virgin offers similarly valuable deals.

Summary:

It’s important to understand the airline alliances and partnerships. They allow for outsized value by redeeming with a partner airline. Future articles with dive into these specific sweet spots.

Evan