Airline alliances are constantly changing – whether it’s mergers or new strategic partnerships, the landscape continues to evolve and in 2014 there will be some notable additions and exits from the major alliances. However, bigger isn’t always better, so deciding on the best alliance for you may take some careful analysis based on factors that impact your travel plans the most, like geographical coverage in the areas you fly, fare class earning between partners, and whether the alliance members actually release award availability on the routes you want to fly.
Use airline alliances to your benefit and get more miles.
I have broken it down into the three main airline alliances: Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance, and then also added in Alaska Airlines since it’s a major US frequent flyer program and has several great international airline partners, as well as both American and Delta here in the US. Remember, before you book tickets or fly, always check the policies for partner airlines and alliances to make sure you are aware of all mileage earning policies and opportunities. Also, since Alaska doesn’t officially have an alliance with their partners there is generally no elite status recognition. However, they do have special benefits with American and Delta and offer elite status earning on all partners.
Overview
Here’s a quick table outlining the scope of each alliance including daily departures, destinations an annual passengers. Read on below to find out the specifics on each alliance and my thoughts on the miles to use in each.
| Oneworld | SkyTeam | Star Alliance | Alaska | |
| Daily Departures | 14,244 | 15,189 | 17,808 | 18,500 |
| Destinations | 981 | 1,024 | 1,348 | N/A |
| Annual Passengers | 475 million | 569 million | 610 million | 625 million |
Just a quick note: These figures are based of prospective alliance membership by April 1, 2014, so they are subject to change based on route network consolidation.
Oneworld
Current Airline Partners:
- airberlin (including NIKI)
- American Airlines (including AmericanConnection, American Eagle)
- British Airways (including BA Cityflyer, British Airways Limited, Comair , OpenSkies and SUN-AIR of Scandinavia)
- Cathay Pacific (including Dragonair)
- Finnair (including Flybe Finland)
- Iberia (including Iberia Regional Air Nostrum, Iberia Express)
- Japan Airlines (including JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air)
- LAN (including LAN Argentina, LAN Colombia, LAN Ecuador, LAN Express and LAN Peru)
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas (including QantasLink and Jetconnect and some Jetstar)
- Qatar Airways (new)
- Royal Jordanian
- S7 Airlines Globus, LLC.
Coming Soon:
- US Airways (projected join date of March 31, 2014)
- TAM Airlines (projected joining date of March 31, 2014)
- Sri Lankan Airlines (unconfirmed joining date of April 2014)
Oneworld’s flight stats.
Stats
The smallest of the alliances, Oneworld has just 13 current members with 3 more joining in the coming months. According to its own statistics, and including soon-to-join members, Oneworld services:
Destinations: 981
Countries: 151
Daily Departures: 14,244
Fleet: 3,283 aircraft
Annual Passengers: 475 million
Of those, the top 5 member (and member-elect) airlines with the most flights are:
1. American Airlines
2. US Airways
3. Iberia
4. British Airways
5. TAM
Award travel notes: Oneworld is arguably the best alliance for redeeming for international and domestic US three-cabin first class awards. Six carriers have solid international first class cabins: American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, JAL, Malaysian and Qantas, and American is the only carrier in the US regularly operating three-cabin first class flights between New York and Los Angeles/San Francisco and Miami and Los Angeles. Note: Qantas first class award availability is generally very scarce, the others open up a decent amount if you’re flexible.
Intra-continental coverage:
Strong: North America, Europe, South America, Australia/New Zealand
Moderate: Asia, Middle East
Weak: Africa (the only intra-African routes are on a British Airways subsidiary)
Credit Cards to Consider:
There are a few great bonuses going on at the moment you might want to consider.
The Citi Executive AAdvantage card comes with 100,000 American miles when you spend $10,000 in 3 months, Admirals Club (and now US Airways Club) lounge access, and you can earn 10,000 elite-qualifying miles when you spend $40,000 in a calendar year.
The British Airways Visa comes with 50,000 Avios when you spend $2,000 in 3 months, and earns 2.5 Avios per $1 on BA purchases, 1.25 Avios per $1 on everything else, earns a 10% discount on BA purchases, as well as a Companion Ticket when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year.
The Chase Ink Bold and Ink Plus both offer 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points (which can be transferred to BA) when you spend $5,000 in 3 months.
Sky Team
Current Airline Partners:
- Aeroflot
- Aerolíneas Argentinas
- Aeromexico
- Air Europa
- Air France
- Alitalia
- China Airlines
- China Eastern
- China Southern
- Czech Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- Korean Air
- Middle East Airlines
- Saudia
- TAROM
- Vietnam Airlines
- Xiamen Airlines
Coming Soon:
Garuda Indonesia (projected join date of March 5, 2014)
SkyTeam currently offers over 15,000 daily departures.
Stats
According to SkyTeam’s most recently released information, dating to June 2013, its 19 current member airlines offer the following:
Destinations: 1,024
Countries: 178
Daily Departures: 15,189 (just a tick above Oneworld)
Fleet: 2,853 aircraft with a further 1,475 affiliated aircraft
Annual Passengers: 569 million
The top 5 airlines in the alliance with the most daily departures are:
1. Delta
2. Air France/KLM
3. China Southern
4. China Eastern
5. Alitalia
Award travel notes: SkyTeam is possibly the least-friendly alliance, with numerous members blocking awards on partners (Delta blocking all international first class, Air France only allowing their elite members to redeem for first class and Korean with rolling blackout dates). Delta also recently hacked SkyTeam earning ratios and disqualifying all partner spend on non-Delta issued tickets from their Medallion Qualifying Mile program and only releases low-level award availability to partners, which can be very scarce- especially on international flights.
Intra-continental coverage:
Strong: North America, Asia, Europe, Middle East
Moderate: Africa
Weak: Australia/New Zealand, South America
Credit Cards to Consider:
Though public offers on the Delta Amex cards aren’t terribly high at the moment, you should check through the Card Match Tool to see if you are qualified for a higher sign-up bonus. Delta and Flying Blue (the frequent flyer program of Air France/KLM) are also 1:1 transfer partners of Amex Membership Rewards, so if you have a card like the Platinum or Premier Rewards Gold, you can transfer your points into either program. Korean Air is a 1:1 instant transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards if you have the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold or Ink Plus cards.
Star Alliance
The largest of the airline alliances, there are some big changes coming to Star Alliance thanks to the exit of US Airways and TAM, and Air India’s prospective joining of the program.
Current Airline Partners:
- Adria Airways
- Aegean Airlines
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air New Zealand
- ANA
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian
- Avianca
- 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
- TAM Airlines (projected exit date March 30, 2014)
- TAP Portugal
- THAI
- Turkish Airlines
- United
- US Airways (projected exit date March 30, 2014)
Coming Soon:
- Air India (rumored join date June 2014, but who really knows with their recent FAA downgrade)
- Avianca Brazil (rumored joining date summer 2014)
Stats
We’ve added Avianca Brazil’s flight statistics, but have taken out the flight stats for soon departing members US Airways and TAM since they will be leaving the alliance shortly. I also did not add Air India since their addition could easily be delayed (yet again) into 2015 and beyond.
Destinations: 1,348
Countries: 195
Daily Departures: 17,808
Fleet: 3,927 aircraft
Annual Passengers: 610.4 million
The top 5 airlines in the alliance with the most daily departures are:
1. United
2. Air Canada
3. Lufthansa
4. Air China
5. Turkish Airlines
Award travel notes: While Star Alliance has a lot of members, there are also blocking issues between partners. The following carriers are known to be very stingy with premium cabin partner award availability: Air New Zealand (especially between the US and New Zealand), Lufthansa (holding almost all first class space until the last minute) and Austrian/Singapore/Swiss releasing very few first and business class international awards. Additionally, United penalizes their frequent flyers by charging a premium to book partner flights in most circumstances, and Aeroplan has devalued their program several times int he past couple years and charge hefty fuel surcharges on many partners.
Intra-continental coverage:
Strong: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America
Moderate: Australia/New Zealand
Weak: Middle East, South America
Credit Cards to Consider:
You have your pick of Chase cards here. For just co-branded United miles, you can score an Explorer card with a 50,000-mile sign-up bonus in a Chase branch, while all three premium Chase Ultimate Rewards cards – the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Bold and Ink Plus – all transfer points to United miles at a 1:1 ratio instantaneously.
Alaska Airlines
Although not one of the three formal alliances, Alaska has several partners on which you can earn and redeem miles from its Alaska MileagePlan Program.
Current Airline Partners:
- Aeromexico
- Air France
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Delta Air Lines
- Emirates
- Era Alaska
- Fiji Airways (formerly Air Pacific)
- KLM
- Korean Air
- LAN
- PenAir
- Qantas
Alaska does not currently provide stats on its global partner network, but by some measures it should be as extensive as the three formal alliances thanks to the fact that it partners with both American and Delta – the airlines that operate the most flights within their alliances – as well as other heavy hitters like British Airways, Air France/KLM and non-alliance airlines whose networks aren’t available to the alliances, like the ever-expanding Emirates, and Fiji Airways. Our research based on individual airline data indicates roughly 18,500 daily departures and 625 million passengers flown a year.
Award travel notes: While Alaska did recently devalue its program, it paled in comparison to some others like Delta and United and did not impact partner travel at all. Perhaps the biggest downside to Alaska’s faux alliance is that you cannot mix partners on award tickets, but you can include Alaska and a partner on an award. Alaska has pretty good award availability o their own and combined with their numerous partners, like Emirates and their swanky first class, it is an option you shouldn’t overlook when deciding on a loyalty program.
Intra-continental coverage:
Strong: North America, Australia/New Zealand, Europe, Middle East
Moderate: Asia, South America, Asia
Weak: Africa