Partner Airlines and Alliance Awards

How Alliance Awards Work

The three major aviation alliances — Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam — are commercial cooperation frameworks that allow member airlines to share award space, lounge access, and elite status recognition across their combined networks. When you hold miles with a Star Alliance carrier like United MileagePlus, you can use those miles to book seats on any of the other 43 Star Alliance member airlines — Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, ANA, Air Canada, Swiss, Brussels, South African Airways, and others. The flights physically operate on those partner airlines; only the booking and miles deduction happen through your home program.

Partner awards are the mechanism that unlocks the most celebrated redemptions in the award travel ecosystem. ANA first class — bookable through United MileagePlus — is a partner award. Cathay Pacific business class — bookable through Alaska Mileage Plan — is a partner award. Singapore Airlines Suites — bookable through Singapore KrisFlyer using the carrier's own miles — is a first-party award, but the same seats are accessible to partner program members at prices that sometimes beat KrisFlyer's own pricing. Understanding partner award access fundamentally changes what you can do with a given pool of miles.

Partner award space works through a separate release mechanism than revenue seat sales. Airlines control how many award seats they release to partners and when. The release pattern varies: ANA releases space to United partners beginning 330 days in advance. Singapore Airlines releases some first-class Suites space at 13 months to KrisFlyer members and less to partners. Cathay Pacific releases more partner space than its own program, particularly to Alaska Mileage Plan. The art of booking partner awards is knowing which programs have historically received space on target routes and monitoring at the appropriate release window.

Star Alliance: Best Redemption Opportunities

Star Alliance has 44 member airlines including United, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Air Canada, Swiss, Turkish Airlines, South African Airways, LOT Polish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, and Air New Zealand. The combined network covers nearly every destination on earth, and the program interoperability allows redemptions that would otherwise require multiple separate bookings. A traveler holding United MileagePlus miles can fly United domestically, Lufthansa transatlantically, and Singapore Airlines within Asia on a single award ticket routed entirely within the Star Alliance network.

The standout Star Alliance partner awards are ANA via United (first class at 110,000 miles one-way from the continental U.S.), Singapore Airlines via Singapore KrisFlyer (first class Suites and Business Class), Lufthansa First Class via Aeroplan (70,000 to 80,000 miles one-way, no fuel surcharges), and SWISS First Class via Aeroplan on routes from Geneva or Zurich. Turkish Miles&Smiles prices Star Alliance partner awards at historically aggressive rates: ANA round-trip business class at 45,000 miles, far below what any other program charges for the same itinerary. The Miles&Smiles sweet spots are the most discussed underrated value in current award travel.

Avianca LifeMiles is another Star Alliance program worth maintaining. LifeMiles prices United metal awards — including long-haul routes — at rates below what United charges itself. A LifeMiles business class redemption on United from the U.S. to Europe costs approximately 63,000 miles round-trip, compared to United MileagePlus dynamic pricing that could exceed 100,000 miles during peak periods. Amex transfers to LifeMiles at 1:1, making this an accessible arbitrage when United space is available and LifeMiles hasn't imposed fuel surcharges (they have historically been relatively clean on United metal).

oneworld: Cathay, JAL, and the QantasLink

oneworld includes American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Iberia, Finnair, Malaysian Airlines, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines. The network is strongest for Asia-Pacific (Cathay Pacific and JAL), Europe (British Airways and Iberia), and Australia (Qantas). American AAdvantage is the obvious home program for U.S.-based oneworld travelers, but it has adopted dynamic pricing. Alaska Mileage Plan — a oneworld member since 2021 — provides a fixed chart alternative with excellent access to Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines specifically.

Alaska Mileage Plan's oneworld partner pricing chart is one of the most valuable remaining fixed charts in the U.S. market. Cathay Pacific First Class from North America to Asia prices at 70,000 miles one-way; JAL First Class from North America to Japan prices at 70,000 miles one-way; Cathay Pacific Business Class prices at 50,000 miles one-way. These prices have remained stable through periods of widespread devaluation at other programs. Japan Airlines space to partner programs has historically been generous; Cathay Pacific space through Alaska less so but available at 330 days. The Alaska Aeroplan partnership enables point transfers from Bilt Rewards and some other sources to access these prices.

British Airways Executive Club's Avios program is oneworld's transferable micro-currency, earning from Amex and Chase transfers. The Avios model prices short-haul awards at attractive rates — a domestic British Airways flight under 1,000 miles one-way in economy costs only 4,500 Avios — but Avios pricing on long-haul routes and the fuel surcharge problem ($400 to $800 on long-haul partner awards) undermine value significantly. The sweet spot for Avios is short-haul redemptions on American Airlines domestic routes (bookable through British Airways without fuel surcharges), Alaska Airlines flights, and Iberia short-haul within Spain and Europe. Avoid Avios for long-haul transcontinental redemptions where surcharges erode value.

SkyTeam: Delta, Air France, and Korean Air

SkyTeam includes Delta, Air France, KLM, Korean Air, China Southern, Aeroflot, Aeromexico, Alitalia (now ITA Airways), and Vietnam Airlines. The network is smaller than Star Alliance but includes major global carriers on key routes. Delta SkyMiles is the primary U.S. entry point, and its dynamic pricing extends to partner awards — Delta SkyMiles redemptions on Air France and Korean Air are priced dynamically rather than at fixed rates, requiring opportunistic booking rather than predictable planning.

Korean Air SKYPASS is a SkyTeam program with a published award chart that includes Delta flights. Korean's pricing of Delta award seats at fixed chart rates creates an arbitrage when those rates are below Delta's own dynamic pricing — though this opportunity has narrowed as Korean has adjusted its chart. Korean's own flights — particularly their Prestige Class business and First Class on long-haul routes — are bookable through SKYPASS at rates that represent good value to Asia from U.S. cities served by Korean's network (Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago). Amex transfers to Korean SKYPASS.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is a SkyTeam associate (technically a partner, not a full member) that provides access to Delta's domestic and international network at prices that frequently beat Delta's own SkyMiles pricing. Delta business class across the Atlantic, bookable through Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, has historically been priced at 40,000 to 60,000 miles one-way — far below the 100,000 to 200,000+ miles Delta SkyMiles dynamically charges for the same space. Flying Club transfers from Amex, Chase, Capital One, and Citi, making it broadly accessible. This Delta-via-Virgin arbitrage is one of the most consistently discussed value opportunities in the points community.