Branson has said that Virgin would probably need to join one of
the big airline alliances in the wake of BA's takeover of BMI, but that doesn't mean he is about to give up control of the airline — let alone just give away landing slots to some Americans from Atlanta.
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.
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.
But if you collect miles with one of
the big airline alliances, you can probably sympathize.
When travelers first start researching long - term travel, they may think they only have a few options for their airfare - buying an around the world ticket from one of
the big airline alliances or buying one - way tickets as they go.
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.
Alaska Airlines may not be part of
any big airline alliance but it does have an impressive set of airline partners with whom Mileage Plan Miles can be used.
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.
Flying there on an award ticket also helps: You can get there with miles from any of the three
big airline alliances — oneworld, the Star Alliance and the SkyTeam.
PAL also announced two years ago that they are aspiring to become part of one of
the big airline alliances.
It's worth noting, though, that you can purchase flights from any of the three
big airline alliances — SkyTeam, Star and oneworld — with either program.
That's a very good list of partners, giving you access to all three
big airline alliances and a premium carrier like Singapore Airlines.
And then, there is hoping to Philippine Airlines joining one of
the big airline alliances to give the program a needed boost!
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.