Airline Alliances

Travel Hacks
Written By Eugene Chiang

Knowing which airline is in which alliance is a crucial step in understanding how to maximize both your mileage earnings and redemptions.

For paid flights, you can fly on one airline but credit your miles to the airline within the alliance with the best redemption rates or the airline program where you already may have existing miles.

For flight redemptions, you can redeem your miles in one airline's program to fly on another.

Star Alliance

The first airline alliance was founded on May 14, 1997, when Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines came together in a globe-spanning partnership. From its first day, Star Alliance served every inhabited continent, in a clear illustration of why alliances exist: You can travel pretty much everywhere on alliance carriers. If you are a frequent flyer, there's an alliance with a value proposition for you based on the perks of loyalty and seamless connections wherever you're based.

  • Aegean Airlines

  • Air Canada

  • Air China

  • Air India

  • Air New Zealand

  • All Nippon Airways

  • Asiana Airlines

  • Austrian Airlines

  • Avianca

  • Brussels Airlines

  • Copa Airlines

  • Croatia Airlines

  • Egyptair

  • Ethiopian Airlines

  • EVA Airways

  • LOT Polish Airlines

  • Lufthansa

  • Shenzhen Airlines

  • Singapore Airlines

  • South African Airways

  • Swiss

  • TAP Air Portugal

  • Thai Airways

  • Turkish Airlines

  • United Airlines

SkyTeam

The newest alliance — founded in 2000 by Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air — has since grown to be the second largest by airline members and people carried on its planes.

  • Aerolineas Argentinas

  • Aeromexico

  • Air Europa

  • Air France

  • China Airlines

  • China Eastern Airlines

  • Delta Air Lines

  • Garuda Indonesia

  • ITA Airways

  • Kenya Airways

  • KLM

  • Korean Air

  • Middle East Airlines

  • SAS

  • Saudia

  • TAROM

  • Vietnam Airlines

  • Virgin Atlantic

  • Xiamen Airlines

Oneworld

The second alliance to be formed, Oneworld was founded in 1999 by American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. It's the smallest, both in terms of member airlines and number of passengers flown, totaling more than 500 million annually.

  • Alaska Airlines

  • American Airlines

  • British Airways

  • Cathay Pacific

  • Finnair

  • Iberia

  • Japan Airlines

  • Malaysia Airlines

  • Qantas

  • Qatar Airways

  • Royal Air Maroc

  • Royal Jordanian Airlines

  • SriLankan Airlines

Eugene Chiang
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