And then, there is hoping to Philippine Airlines joining one of
the big airline alliances to give the program a needed boost!
PAL also announced two years ago that they are aspiring to become part of one of
the big airline alliances.
All three are also part of
big airline alliances, which means you can get anywhere with miles in any of the programs.
But if you collect miles with one of
the big airline alliances, you can probably sympathize.
Star Alliance is
the biggest airline alliance in the world with 28 member airlines including Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca Brazil, 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, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United.
In addition, United is a member airline of the Star Alliance, which is
the biggest airline alliance in the world.
Alaska Airlines may not be part of
any big airline alliance but it does have an impressive set of airline partners with whom you can use Mileage Plan Miles.
In addition to being a member of the Star Alliance,
the biggest airline alliance in the world, ANA has partnerships with several other carriers, including Eithad, Garuda Indonesia, Germanwings, Hawaiian Airlines and Virgin Atlantic.
Our favorite mileage programs are AA and United because they allow you to book one way awards and are a great complement to each other because they are part of 2 of
the biggest airline alliances.
Not exact matches
Booking with the
airline directly can save you
big bucks, especially if you have a two - leg journey involving separate
airlines operating under the same
alliance.
Furthermore, it's not part of any of the
big three
airline alliances, which would expand its options.
Though its lineup does not include any major U.S. carriers, ThankYou is partnered with at least one
airline in each of the three
big alliances.
Each of the
big three US
airlines are members of international
alliances.
Note that Asia Miles is not an
airline, and is just an
alliance like the
big 3 listed above.
Though its lineup does not include any major U.S. carriers, ThankYou is partnered with at least one
airline in each of the three
big alliances.
Plus, United is part of Star
Alliance — a pretty
big deal considering this is the largest
airline alliance out there!
Each of the
big three US
airlines are members of international
alliances.
The
biggest advantage to searching the ANA website is that it usually shows all of the
alliance partners (with some exception mentioned below), which is very handy for
airlines like Singapore Airlines which don't usually show up on United or A
airlines like Singapore
Airlines which don't usually show up on United or A
Airlines which don't usually show up on United or Aeroplan.
It may be an unlikely sounding marriage but it would seem that the days of Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) being invited to cooperate with (but not join) the
big global
airline alliances are drawing ever nearer.
The
biggest advantage to moving points across to Krisflyer is that it will open up the full range of Star
Alliance redemption options that are available through Singapore
Airlines membership of that
alliance.
Now, there are some
airlines that do not belong to any of the three
alliances, but you can still fly them and earn miles as the airline you chose had a previous relationship with them before they joined the big A
alliances, but you can still fly them and earn miles as the
airline you chose had a previous relationship with them before they joined the
big AlliancesAlliances.
The
biggest carrier in the oneworld
alliance is American
Airlines; however, they may not offer the cheapest award.
SkyTeam is already the largest
airline alliance in China, and it just got
bigger now that Xiamen
Airlines has announced plans to join by the end of 2012.
The Star
Alliance is the largest
airline alliance out of the
big three (One World, Star
Alliance, and SkyTeam).
Aeroplan (Air Canada) is a member of the Star
Alliance, the largest
airline alliance out of the
big three (One World, Star
Alliance, and SkyTeam).
Although it is not a member of any of the
big three
airline alliances — oneworld, the Star Alliance or SkyTeam — Alaska does have codeshare agreements with a number of partner
airlines, including Aeromexico, Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Emirates, Fiji Airways, KLM, Korean Air and
airlines, including Aeromexico, Air France, American
Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Emirates, Fiji Airways, KLM, Korean Air and
Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Emirates, Fiji Airways, KLM, Korean Air and Qantas.
You can transfer points with any of those programs to carriers in the
big three
airline alliances: SkyTeam, the Star Alliance and oneworld.
A
big benefit of The Business Gold Rewards Card from our partner American Express OPEN is that this card earns points in the Membership Rewards program that aren't tied to a chain or
alliance and can be redeemed across hotel and
airlines.
It is also the second largest full service
airline in the world not, until today, aligned to one of
big global
airline alliances.
Strategically, the tie - up with JAL is a logical step for Alaska; its merger partner Virgin America already has an interline partnership with JAL for connections at SFO and LAX, and Alaska recently started a
big expansion of code - sharing with American
Airlines, which has joint venture and Oneworld global
alliance partnerships with the Japanese carrier.
In the U.S., the 3
biggest domestic / international
airlines each belong to a major
alliance.
Of course there are some
big airlines not a member of any
alliance, notably Virgin Atlantic and Southwest, and in those cases your miles are stuck with the
airline.
Each of the 3 major
alliances have a «
big» domestic US
airline, and the one for OneWorld is American
Airlines.
In addition, Norwegian Air is not part of any of the
big three
airline alliances, so there is no opportunity to earn or burn frequent flyer flyer miles with U.S. partner
airlines.