In our introductory series on points systems, we explained what miles are. But that article also mentioned terms like “Star Alliance,” “Oneworld,” and “SkyTeam.” So what exactly are these alliances? You may also hear people say they credit the miles from Airline XX to Airline YY—how does that work? Today, OneMoreDay will give a simple introduction to how all of this works.
Airline alliances are essentially the result of major airlines teaming up. The world’s first airline alliance was Star Alliance, founded in 1997. Oneworld was established in 1999, and SkyTeam followed in 2000. These alliances allow airlines to share resources, expand their networks through codeshares, and more.
So what benefits do airline alliances bring to those of us who play the miles-and-points game? In the early days of frequent flyer programs, each airline’s mileage program was completely separate. For example, if you flew United (UA), your miles could only be credited to United itself; you could only earn United elite status; and United miles could only be redeemed for United flights. Airline alliances made these separate mileage programs much more useful by connecting them together. Let’s use United (UA) and Air China (CA), both members of Star Alliance, as an example to see how these connections work:
1. Miles can be credited across programs. If you fly Air China, you can credit the flight to United MileagePlus. If you fly United, you can also credit the flight to Air China’s PhoenixMiles program.
2. Miles can be redeemed across programs. You can use United miles to book an award ticket on Air China, and you can also use Air China miles to book an award ticket on United.
3. Elite status is mutually recognized. If you are a United Gold member, then when you fly Air China you may be able to check one additional bag, check in at the business class counter, access Air China lounges, enjoy priority boarding, and receive your checked bags earlier—provided you are crediting the flight to United. The reverse is also true.4. Checked bags can be tagged through to your final destination. What does that mean? For example, suppose I book a trip from New York to Frankfurt on United and then connect the same day to Beijing on Air China, as shown below:
These two segments are operated by different airlines, but because United and Air China are both in Star Alliance, you do not need to pick up your checked bag in Frankfurt and re-check it there. When you check in in New York, you can ask to have your bag checked all the way through to Beijing. PS: There are exceptions. At the first point of entry into the United States or China, you must pick up your checked bags and re-check them, regardless of whether the flights are within the same alliance.
Among these four points, I think the first two are the most basic and the most important, because they give us much more flexibility in both earning and redeeming miles. Let’s look at three examples:
Example 1
Suppose you buy an $800 United ticket to China on the routing EWR-SFO-PVG. If you credit it to United, how many United miles would you earn? Since United awards miles based on ticket price, if you are not a United elite member, you would earn only 800*5=4000 miles. But if you choose to credit the flight to Singapore Airlines (SQ), another Star Alliance member, then things look very different. SQ awards miles based on flight distance, and all paid United tickets earn at 100% when credited to SQ. That means a round trip on this itinerary could earn you as many as 17432 miles in SQ’s program!
So what can SQ miles do for you? Because SQ and UA are both in Star Alliance, you can use SQ miles to redeem United flights. For example, if you want a domestic United round-trip ticket within the U.S.—say, Los Angeles to Boston round trip—you would need only 25000 miles in SQ’s program. In other words, after just one and a half round trips on that China itinerary, you could already earn enough for a domestic U.S. round-trip ticket! If instead you credit to United, then even after flying to China 6 times, you would have only 24000 miles—still not enough for even one domestic round trip. This shows that choosing a different mileage program can lead to very different results.
Example 2
Suppose I buy an American Airlines (AA) ticket from Los Angeles to Hong Kong with a connection in Dallas. I could choose to credit the flight to AA, or to Cathay’s mileage program (Asia Miles), since both belong to Oneworld. The number of miles earned would be the same either way: 18716 miles. So which one should I choose? If you want to redeem miles for a ticket back to Asia—for example, a nonstop Cathay Pacific round-trip economy ticket between Los Angeles and Hong Kong—you would need 70,000 AA miles or 60,000 Cathay miles. Ignoring fuel surcharges, Asia Miles would be the better value because it requires fewer miles. In addition, Asia Miles has more transfer partners—both MR and TYP transfer in.
But if you want to redeem Cathay business class on the same route, you would need 110,000 AA miles or 120,000 Cathay miles. For first class, you would need 135,000 AA miles, while Cathay would require as many as 180,000 miles! So if you want to enjoy Cathay’s premium business or first class experience, crediting to AA would be the smarter choice.
Example 3
Suppose I have 60,000 United miles in my account, accumulated from a credit card signup bonus and everyday spending. My parents want to travel to Japan, but United does not operate flights from mainland China to Japan. Can I still use my United miles to book tickets for them? The answer is yes. You can redeem for flights on ANA and Air China, which are also members of Star Alliance. For example, you could book the following itinerary:
For only 60,000 United miles and $78, you can get two tickets departing from Hangzhou, flying nonstop to Tokyo, then from Sapporo in Hokkaido to Osaka, and after spending three days in Osaka, fly directly back to Hangzhou. A detailed redemption tutorial is here. The routing is shown below:
So how do you get from Tokyo to Sapporo? Of course, you could take the Shinkansen and enjoy the scenery along the way, or you could keep using miles for flights:
Option 1: Still use United miles. 10,000 United miles can get two tickets from Haneda to Sapporo:
Option 2: You can also try Japan Airlines between Tokyo and Sapporo. JAL belongs to Oneworld, so you can redeem using British Airways Avios, since BA is also a Oneworld member. (We will discuss British Airways redemptions in more detail in a future article.) Two tickets cost only 9000Avios+$4, and the schedule is even better:
Conclusion
When thinking about earning and redeeming miles, you should develop an alliance mindset. Specifically, this means remembering the first two points above: miles can often be credited across alliance members, and they can also be redeemed across alliance members. Once you understand these two ideas, you can take full advantage of the convenience that airline alliances provide.
Appendix
Major Star Alliance members: United (UA), Air China (CA), Shenzhen Airlines (ZH), Asiana Airlines (OZ), ANA (ANA), Singapore Airlines (SQ), Air Canada (AC), EVA Air (BR), Lufthansa (LH), Thai Airways (TG), Turkish Airlines (TK), etc.
Major Oneworld members: American Airlines (AA), US Airways (US), British Airways (BA), Cathay Pacific (CX), Japan Airlines (JL), Malaysia Airlines (MH), Qantas (QF), Qatar Airways (QR), etc.
Major SkyTeam members: Delta Air Lines (DL), Air France (AF), China Eastern Airlines (MU), China Southern Airlines (CZ), XiamenAir (MF), China Airlines (CI), Korean Air (KE), Aeroflot (SU), etc.