The best feature of the three major airline alliances – Star Alliance, SkyTeam and OneWorld – is that you can earn points or miles by flying on any other aircraft on any carrier within a given alliance. Likewise, you can use points or miles from any carrier in that connection for award travel on flights operated by others. These reciprocal arrangements are easy to understand, even if they don’t always work so well in practice.
Apart from the main connections, the airlines also have non-connecting partners that passengers can use equally. However, many non-affiliated 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 you book any flights. Below, we’ll go through some lesser-known airline partnerships and highlight some sweet spots to take advantage of.
Air Canada
Air Canada is part of Star Alliance. its The Aeroplan program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Built Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air creepback
- Air Dolomite
- Air Mauritius
- Air Serbia
- Azul Brazilian Airlines
- Bamboo Airways
- quiet air
- Canadian North
- Cathay Pacific
- Search for airlines
- Edelweiss Air
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways
- Eurowings
- flydubai
- Gol Airlines
- Gulf Air
- Juneau Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Olympic Air
- Oman Air
- PAL Airlines
- SunExpress
- Virgin Australia
Non-affiliated partners for earnings only include:
- Aer Lingus
- Central Mountain Air
- Middle East Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines
Related: You can now use Aeroplan points for Emirates first class, but it’s not cheap
Air France and KLM
Both Air France and KLM are part of the SkyTeam alliance. The miles you earn from flights on Air France and KLM – along with non-affiliated partner Transavia – go to Flying Blue, a loyalty program shared between these three airlines.
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Flying Blue is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, CitiThankYou Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air Corsica
- Air Mauritius
- Air Baltic
- Aircaline
- Chalair Aviation
- China Southern Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- L al
- Etihad Airways
- Gol Airlines
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Oman Air
- Qantas
- Transvea
- WestJet
- veneer
Flying Blue also has a partnership with Bangkok Airways, but only redemptions are allowed. You cannot earn miles on paid Bangkok Airways flights.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is part of the OneWorld Alliance. its The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan program is a transfer partner of Built Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Aer Lingus
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Cape Air
- Condor
- Hainan Airlines
- Icelander
- Korean Air
- Latum
- Oman Air
- Porter Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- Starlux Airlines
Non-affiliated partners for earnings only include:
- Aleutian Airways
- Bahamas
- Cape Air
- Contour Airlines
- Canmore Air
- Mokulele Airlines
- Southern Airways Express
RELATED: Condor’s inaugural Airbus A330neo on board to NYC – in an exciting new business-class product
All Nippon Airlines
ANA is a Japanese-based airline and a member of the Star Alliance. its The ANA Mileage Club program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air Dolomite
- 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 The American Airlines AAdvantage program is not part of any credit card transfer program, but is a transfer partner of Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
Non-affiliated partners for earnings only include:
- Aer Lingus
- Indigo
- JetSmart — Currently earning only but with 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 it Avios as reward currency; Other airlines OneWorld members are Finnair and Qatar Airways, and non-alliance members Aer Lingus and Vueling. Although each airline has its own individual program, you can freely move your Avios between all six airlines at a 1:1 ratio.
Both British Airways and Iberia are transfer partners for American Express Membership Rewards, Built Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, CitiThankYou Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. Also a transfer partner of former Capital One Miles. Because you can move your Avios between the six participating airlines, any Avios you have in these programs can be used to book multiple non-affiliated partners.
British Airways’ non-affiliated 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 alliance partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Avianca
- Binter Canarias
- Latum
- level
- Vueling
Cathay Pacific
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is part of the OneWorld Alliance. its The Asia Miles program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Built Rewards, Capital One Miles, CitiThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air Canada
- Air China
- Air New Zealand
- Austrian Airlines
- Bangkok Airways
- Fiji Airways
- Gulf Air
- HK Express
- Latum
- Lufthansa
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Swiss
Delta Air Lines
Delta is a member of the SkyTeam alliance. its The Delta SkyMiles program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air Baltic
- Cape Air
- South of China
- L al
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Latum
- WestJet
Redemption on AirBaltic is limited to transatlantic award flight connections on Delta, Air France or KLM. Earnings and redemptions on Hawaiian Airlines are limited to flights within Hawaii only.
Non-affiliated partners for redeeming include only:
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Mandarin Airlines
- Shanghai Airlines
RELATED: 5 Things You Need To Know About Delta-LATAM Joint Venture
United Airlines
United is a Star Alliance carrier. its United’s MileagePlus program is a transfer partner of Built Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Aer Lingus
- Air Dolomite
- Airlink
- Azul Brazilian Airlines
- Cape Air
- Search for airlines
- Edelweiss Air
- Emirates
- Eurowings
- flydubai
- Hawaiian Airlines – Flights within Hawaii only
- JSX
- Juneau Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Olympic Air
- Silver Airways
- Virgin Australia
For Emirates and flydubai, you can only redeem miles on select routes between Dubai and the Africa, Middle East and South Asian subcontinent as part of an award reservation that includes a United flight between Newark and Dubai on a single ticket. Earnings and redemptions on Hawaiian Airlines are limited to flights within Hawaii only.
Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic is part of the SkyTeam alliance. its The Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program and Virgin Red Rewards program — which you can link to Flying Club — are transfer partners of American Express Membership Rewards, Built Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, CitiThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.
Non-affiliated partners for earning and redeeming include:
- Air New Zealand
- All Nippon Airways
- L al
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Latum
- 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.
Sweet spots between unattached partners
Many airlines have moved to a fluctuating award rate, known as Dynamic prices, for redemption on their own airline. However, most programs still have an award chart for partner redemption at a fixed rate.
Some programs offer zone-based redemptions, where award rates are determined based on which regions you’re traveling between. Other programs have distance-based redemptions, where the award 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 of the sweet spots of unattached partners.
Airplane Redemption for United Flights in North America
Economy flights on United that are up to 500 miles in length and within North America can be booked for just 6,000 Aeroplan points. Includes flights from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to Mexico’s Monterrey International Airport (MTY) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL).
Related: How to Redeem Aeroplan Points for Maximum Value
Alaska Redemption for Starlux Business Class
Alaska is the sole airline partner of Taiwan-based Starlux Airlines. Starlux has an impressive business-class product between the US and Taiwan, and award rates start as low as 75,000 Alaska miles each way.
RELATED: Starlux Business Class Review on Airbus A350-900 from Los Angeles to Taipei: Out of This World
Virgin Atlantic Redemption for ANA Business or First Class
The redemption is not as sweet as it used to be after several devaluations in the last few years. However, it’s 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 52,500 Virgin Points; First Class is available for up to 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 many more options for transferring from credit card points and miles programs.
The bottom line
Airline partners make award travel even easier as they expand the network of carriers and routings available when redeeming your points and miles. It’s not just partners within an airline’s alliance that can offer good value for earning or redeeming your miles. Consider unrelated partners as well.
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