Best feature among the three heads airline alliance – Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld – This is how you can earn points or miles by flying on any carrier within a given alliance. Similarly, you can use points or miles from any carrier in that alliance for award travel on a flight operated by another. These reciprocal arrangements are easy to understand, even if they do not always work so well in practice.
In addition to major alliances, airlines also have non-alliance partners that travelers can use in a similar way. However, many non-alliance partners restrict which flights you can earn or redeem miles on, so it’s important to review the requirements on the airline’s website before booking any flights. Below, we’ll learn about some lesser-known airline partnerships and highlight some good places to take advantage of them.
air Canada
Air Canada is part of Star Alliance. Its airplane Transfer partner of the program American Express Membership Rewards, Built Rewards, capital one mile, chase the ultimate rewards And Marriott Bonvoy,
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air Creebeque
- Air Dolomiti
- air mauritius
- Air Serbia
- Azul Brazilian Airlines
- Bamboo Airways
- cool breeze
- canadian north
- Cathay Pacific
- search airlines
- Edelweiss Air
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- Eurowings
- flydubai
- Gol Airlines
- Gulf Air
- Juneyao Airlines
- lufthansa
- Olympic Air
- Oman Air
- pal airlines
- sunexpress
- virgin australia
Non-alliance partners for earnings only include:
- Aer Lingus
- Central Mountain Air
- middle east airlines
- sri lankan airlines
Connected: You Can Now Use Aeroplan Points for Emirates First Class, But It’s Not Cheap
Air France and KLM
Air France and KLM are both part of the SkyTeam alliance. The miles you earn on flights on Air France and KLM – with non-alliance partner Transavia – visit flying blueLoyalty program shared between these three airlines.
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Flying Blue is a transfer partner for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards. Citi Thank You Rewards, Wells Fargo Awards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air Corsica
- air mauritius
- airbaltic
- airclean
- Chailer Aviation
- China Southern Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- el al
- Etihad Airways
- Gol Airlines
- japan airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Oman Air
- Qantas
- Transavia
- WestJet
- winair
Flying Blue also has a partnership with Bangkok Airways, but only redemptions are allowed. You cannot earn miles on paid flights on Bangkok Airways.
alaska airlines
Alaska Airlines is part of the Oneworld alliance. Its Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan The program is a transfer partner of Built Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Aer Lingus
- Air Tahiti Nui
- cape air
- condor
- Hainan Airlines
- Icelandair
- Korean Air
- LATAM
- Oman Air
- porter airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- Starlux Airlines
Non-alliance partners for earnings only include:
- Aleutian Airways
- bahamasir
- cape air
- Contour Airlines
- Kenmore Air
- Mokulele Airlines
- Southern Airways Express
Connected: Condor’s inaugural flight to NYC on the Airbus A330neo – in a luxurious new business-class product
All Nippon Airlines
ANA is a Japanese-based airline and a member of Star Alliance. Its ANA Mileage Club The program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air Dolomiti
- Air Macau
- Etihad Airways
- Eurowings
- Garuda Indonesia
- Olympic Air
- philippine airlines
- Virgin Atlantic
- vietnam airlines
- virgin australia
American Airlines
American Airlines is part of the Oneworld alliance. Its American Airlines AAdvantage The program is not part of any credit card transfer programs, but it is a transfer partner of Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
Non-alliance partners for earnings only include:
- Aer Lingus
- indigo
- JetSmart – Currently earning only but redemption coming soon
British Airways and Iberia
British Airways and Iberia are both Oneworld member airlines. They are two of the six airlines that use avios In the form of prize money; Other airlines are Oneworld members Finnair and Qatar Airways and non-alliance members Aer Lingus and Vueling. Although each airline has an individual program, you can freely transfer your Avios between all six airlines at a 1:1 ratio.
Both British Airways and Iberia are transfer partners for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy. The former Capital One is also Miles’ transfer partner. Because you can transfer your Avios between six participating airlines, any Avios you have in these programs can be used to book multiple non-alliance partners.
British Airways’ non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
The carrier also has a partnership with China Southern Airlines, but you can only earn Avios for paid flights. You cannot redeem Avios for China Southern flights.
Iberia’s non-aligned partners for income and repayment include:
- avianca
- Binter Canarias
- LATAM
- level
- vueling
Cathay Pacific
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is part of the Oneworld alliance. Its Asia Mile The program is a transfer partner for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- air Canada
- air china
- air new zealand
- Austrian Airlines
- bangkok airways
- Fiji Airways
- Gulf Air
- HK Express
- LATAM
- lufthansa
- Shenzhen Airlines
- swiss
delta air lines
Delta is a member of the SkyTeam alliance. Its Delta SkyMiles The program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- airbaltic
- cape air
- China Southern
- el al
- Hawaiian Airlines
- LATAM
- WestJet
Redemptions on airBaltic are limited to connections to transatlantic award flights on Delta, Air France or KLM. Earning and redeeming on Hawaiian Airlines is limited to flights within Hawaii only.
Non-aligned partners for redemption include only:
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Mandarin Airlines
- Shanghai Airlines
Connected: 5 things you need to know about the Delta-LATAM joint venture
United Airlines
United is a Star Alliance carrier. Its United MileagePlus The program is a transfer partner for Built Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Aer Lingus
- Air Dolomiti
- airlink
- Azul Brazilian Airlines
- cape air
- search airlines
- Edelweiss Air
- Emirates
- Eurowings
- flydubai
- Hawaiian Airlines – flights within Hawaii only
- jsx
- Juneyao Airlines
- lufthansa
- Olympic Air
- Silver Airways
- virgin australia
For Emirates and flydubai, you can only redeem miles on select routes between Dubai and Africa, the Middle East and the South Asian subcontinent as part of an award reservation, which includes a United flight between Newark and Dubai on a single ticket. Earning and redeeming on Hawaiian Airlines is limited to flights within Hawaii only.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic is part of the SkyTeam alliance. Its Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program and the Virgin Red Rewards program — which you can link to Flying Club — are transfer partners of American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- air new zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- el al
- Hawaiian Airlines
- LATAM
- Singapore Airlines
- south african airways
Virgin Atlantic also has a partnership with IndiGo, but you can only earn points for paid flights. You cannot redeem Virgin Points for IndiGo flights.
The sweet spot between non-aligned partners
Many airlines have moved toward fluctuating award rates, called dynamic pricingFor redemption on your own airline. However, most programs still have a rewards chart for partner redemptions at fixed rates.
Some programs offer region-based redemptions, where the rewards rate is determined by which regions you’re traveling between. Other programs have distance-based redemption, where the rewards rate is based on the number of miles between the airports you’re traveling.
Reviewing an airline’s partner rewards chart can help you target redemptions that may be particularly useful or noteworthy. Here are some good points from non-aligned partners.
Alaska Redemption for Starlux Business Class
Alaska is the only Taiwan-based airline partner Starlux AirlinesStarLux has an impressive business-class product between the US and Taiwan, and award rates start at 75,000 Alaska miles each way.
Connected: Starlux Business Class review on the Airbus A350-900 from Los Angeles to Taipei: Out of this world
Virgin Atlantic Redemption for ANA Business or First Class
This liberation is not as sweet as it used to be later multiple devaluation In the last few years. However, this is still the best use of Virgin Points for premium cabin travel – especially if you can book The Room Business Class or The Suite first class, as opposed to the airline’s older products. One-way business class between the US and Japan is available for as low as 52,500 Virgin Points; First class is available for at least 72,500 points.
Using Virgin points offers more flexibility than ANA’s own miles; This is because Virgin allows one-way redemptions while ANA only allows round-trip redemptions. Virgin also has several more options for transfers from credit card points and miles programs.
ground level
Airline partner rewards make travel a lot easier because they expand the network of carriers and routings available when redeeming your points and miles. It’s not just the airline’s alliance partners that can offer good value for earning or redeeming your miles. Take care of non-alliance partners also.
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