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What is an Airline Alliance?

November 29, 2022 by Payton Turner 4 Comments

Peanut butter and jelly, Jordan and Nike, and hot chocolate with marshmallows…there are some things in life that go better together. This is true for the airline industry as well because of partnerships and airline alliances. 

An airline alliance is when a group of airlines come together to offer reciprocal benefits to one another’s loyal members, as well as share routes and resources to reduce total costs. It makes sense for airlines and customers to form alliances, as it makes the world easier to travel, a win-win situation.

The Benefits of Alliances

The biggest advantage of airline alliances is the ability to connect from one flight on one carrier to another flight on another carrier. For example, someone coming from the U.S. could fly American to Sydney before connecting on Qantas to fly to Perth on one ticket.

Qantas is part of One World Alliance

This makes traveling around the world easier and allows you to book flights using your preferred airline even if they don’t fly to your destination. It also makes it easier that your bag can be checked through to your destination rather than having to collect your bag and recheck it onto a second airline. 

Additionally, there are shared loyalty benefits for elite members of alliance airline programs. For example, if you have American Airlines’ status, you get free checked bags with British Airways, free seat assignments, priority check-in and possibly even free lounge access, among other benefits. 

It also makes it easier to earn airline elite status since you can earn qualifying elite miles on flights from a partner carrier to the carrier of your choice. Your ANA flight can be credited to United to help you requalify for United status while your British Airways ticket can be credited to American to help you earn American status because of the partnerships of airline alliances. 

The same holds true for earning and burning points and miles. You can earn Delta SkyMiles when flying Air France because of their alliance and you could use the Delta SkyMiles to book a flight on KLM.

The Big 3

There are three main alliances (and some much less notable smaller ones): One World, Star Alliance, and SkyTeam. Just like there are three main legacy carriers in the U.S., each one is a founding member of one of these alliances: American with One World, Delta with SkyTeam, and United with Star Alliance. 

While Star Alliance was the first airline alliance, as well as the biggest with 26 different airline members, different alliances have different benefits depending on where you are trying to fly. For example, Star Alliance has Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and more, which could be helpful if you are flying to one of their hubs such as Singapore.

Alternatively, if you want to fly to Paris or Amsterdam, flying on an airline associated with SkyTeam could be helpful when booking a ticket on KLM or Air France. The same applies to the SkyTeam alliance between London with British Airways or Madrid with Iberia. 

Delta is in the SkyTeam Alliance

The Last Point

Airline alliances build flexibility into your travel, and make the sometimes difficult travel experience much more enjoyable by being able to attain elite perks on airlines where t you don’t have elite status. They also make traveling easier by only requiring one ticket without the need to recheck baggage. 

Alliances also benefit the airlines since they encourage loyalty to its partners when flying abroad, bringing reciprocal benefits with the other airlines’ customers when they come the other way. Airline alliances are here to stay as a win-win for businesses and consumers alike. 

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About Payton Turner

Payton Turner is a University of Virginia student whose passion for all things travel has led him and his family to the far corners of the earth. While loving the luxurious life of first class, his AvGeek heart is just as happy in the back of the plane taking off on his next adventure.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dan @ Points With a Crew says

    November 29, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    Great to see you around Boarding Area – nice post~

    Reply
    • Payton Turner says

      November 30, 2022 at 9:25 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Paul says

    November 29, 2022 at 11:16 pm

    My advice to young people is pick a hotel and airline partnership and stick with it. Before you retire you will likely be at lifetime elite in both. I picked Marriott and United. Marriott worked out great.. There is littte advantage to elite travelers at United since they give too many benefits to corporate flyers, even those who do not fly that frequently. I found it harder and harder to upgrade on international and when I did, I would find my seat mate was some secretary to the CEO who was on her first international flight.

    Reply
    • Payton Turner says

      November 30, 2022 at 9:27 am

      I completely agree. Loyalty goes a long way, especially in the long run. But the only thing I would additionally recommend is to not limit yourself to those brands. Keep an open mind and it will benefit you in terms of your wallet and experiences while traveling. The benefits of being loyal to United have changed for sure, but are still beneficial compared to traveling without them.

      Reply

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About Payton

Payton Turner is a University of Virginia student whose passion for all things travel has led him and his family to the far corners of the earth. While loving the luxurious life of first class, his AvGeek heart is just as happy in the back of the plane taking off on his next adventure. Read More…

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