A beginner's guide to the three major airline alliances

What is an airline alliance, and why does it matter for points?

An airline alliance is a formal partnership between a group of airlines. Member airlines agree to work together in several ways: they share airport lounges, coordinate flight schedules to make connections easier, and — most importantly for points collectors — they let you earn and redeem miles across each other's programs.

Here is what that means in practice:

• Earning miles on partner flights. If you are a member of Air Canada's Aeroplan program, you can earn Aeroplan miles when you fly on any other Star Alliance airline — not just Air Canada flights. So a flight on Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, or Turkish Airlines can all add miles to your Aeroplan account, even if you never touched an Air Canada plane.
• Booking award flights on partner airlines. You can also spend your miles on flights operated by partner airlines. If you have Aeroplan miles but want to fly to Tokyo on ANA (All Nippon Airways), you can use your Aeroplan miles to book that ANA flight — because both airlines are in Star Alliance together.

This is one of the most valuable and underused parts of points collecting. Your miles are not limited to just one airline. They can unlock flights across a whole network of carriers.

There are three major airline alliances in the world: Star Alliance, Oneworld, and SkyTeam. Together, they include nearly every major international airline. Below is a guide to each one, who belongs, and what it means for your earning and redemption options.

Star Alliance

Star Alliance is the largest of the three alliances. It was founded in 1997 and currently has 26 member airlines flying to more than 1,150 destinations in 190+ countries. For Canadian travellers, Star Alliance is the most directly relevant alliance because Air Canada is a member, and Air Canada's loyalty program, Aeroplan, is one of the most widely collected points currencies in Canada.

Member airlines (alphabetical)

Note for editors: The images below use placeholder paths. Please replace each with the corresponding airline logo uploaded to the media library.

	Airline	Loyalty Program	Hub(s)
	Aegean Airlines	Miles+Bonus	Athens
	Air Canada	Aeroplan	Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver
	Air China	PhoenixMiles	Beijing
	Air India	Flying Returns	Delhi, Mumbai
	Air New Zealand	Airpoints	Auckland
	All Nippon Airways (ANA)	ANA Mileage Club	Tokyo
	Asiana Airlines	Asiana Club	Seoul
	Austrian Airlines	Miles & More	Vienna
	Avianca	LifeMiles	Bogotá
	Brussels Airlines	Miles & More	Brussels
	Copa Airlines	ConnectMiles	Panama City
	Croatia Airlines	Miles & More	Zagreb
	EgyptAir	EgyptAir Plus	Cairo
	Ethiopian Airlines	ShebaMiles	Addis Ababa
	EVA Air	Infinity MileageLands	Taipei
	ITA Airways	Volare	Rome, Milan
	LOT Polish Airlines	Miles & More	Warsaw
	Lufthansa	Miles & More	Frankfurt, Munich
	Shenzhen Airlines	PhoenixMiles	Shenzhen
	Singapore Airlines	KrisFlyer	Singapore
	South African Airways	Voyager	Johannesburg
	Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS)	Miles & More	Zurich
	TAP Air Portugal	TAP Miles&Go	Lisbon
	Thai Airways	Royal Orchid Plus	Bangkok
	Turkish Airlines	Miles&Smiles	Istanbul
	United Airlines	MileagePlus	Chicago, Houston, Newark

What Star Alliance means for your points

When you hold miles in any Star Alliance loyalty program, you can generally earn those miles on any of the 26 member airlines' flights, and you can book award flights on any of the 26 member airlines using those miles. The table below shows the specifics for each member airline.

A few things to know before reading the table:

• Earn on partner flights means: if you fly on this airline and give them your Aeroplan number (or any other Star Alliance program number), your miles will go into your account.
• Book award flights on partners means: you can use your miles from this airline's program to book seats on other Star Alliance airlines.
• Key bilateral partners are airlines outside Star Alliance that this airline also has individual earn/redeem agreements with. These are separate from the alliance-wide access.

⚠️ Limited means award bookings are technically possible but are restricted in availability or require additional steps, such as calling the airline's contact centre. Always verify directly with the airline's loyalty program before planning around a specific redemption.

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Miles & More is a shared loyalty program operated by Lufthansa Group. Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, SWISS, and Lufthansa itself all participate in the same Miles & More program. Miles earned on any of these airlines go into the same pool and can be redeemed across all of them and other Star Alliance partners.

Oneworld

Oneworld (stylised in lowercase as oneworld) was founded in 1999 and currently has 15 member airlines serving more than 900 destinations in 170+ countries. It is the smallest of the three major alliances but includes some of the world's most respected airlines, and it is particularly strong in the Asia-Pacific and transatlantic markets. For Canadian travellers, the most relevant Oneworld members are American Airlines, British Airways, Alaska Airlines, and Qantas.

Member airlines (alphabetical)

Note for editors: The images below use placeholder paths. Please replace each with the corresponding airline logo uploaded to the media library.

	Airline	Loyalty Program	Hub(s)
	Alaska Airlines	Mileage Plan	Seattle, Portland
	American Airlines	AAdvantage	Dallas, Chicago, Miami
	British Airways	Executive Club (Avios)	London Heathrow
	Cathay Pacific	Asia Miles	Hong Kong
	Fiji Airways	Tabua Club	Nadi
	Finnair	Finnair Plus	Helsinki
	Iberia	Iberia Plus (Avios)	Madrid
	Japan Airlines (JAL)	JAL Mileage Bank	Tokyo
	Malaysia Airlines	Enrich	Kuala Lumpur
	Oman Air	Sindbad	Muscat
	Qantas	Qantas Frequent Flyer	Sydney, Melbourne
	Qatar Airways	Privilege Club	Doha
	Royal Air Maroc	Safar Flyer	Casablanca
	Royal Jordanian	Royal Club	Amman
	SriLankan Airlines	FlySmiLes	Colombo

What Oneworld means for your points

Oneworld works the same way as the other alliances: you can earn miles from your home program when flying on any member airline, and you can book award flights on any member airline using miles from your home program.

One thing that makes Oneworld interesting for points collectors is the Avios currency. British Airways, Iberia, and (through a related program) Aer Lingus all share the Avios currency, which can be transferred between their programs at a 1:1 ratio. This sometimes lets you book the same flight for fewer points depending on which Avios program you use to make the booking.

Qantas and Alaska Airlines also have notable bilateral partnerships outside the alliance itself (see the table below), which extends their reach even further.

The Qantas–Emirates partnership is one of the most-discussed bilateral deals in the world. Qantas Frequent Flyer members can earn and redeem points on Emirates flights, even though Emirates is not a Oneworld member. This effectively extends the Qantas network significantly into the Middle East and beyond. It is a good example of how a bilateral partnership can be just as valuable as an alliance membership.

SkyTeam

SkyTeam was founded in 2000 and currently has 18 member airlines serving more than 1,000 destinations in 175+ countries. It is the second largest of the three alliances. For Canadian travellers, the most relevant SkyTeam members are Delta Air Lines, Air France, and KLM — all of which have partnerships with WestJet that are covered in more detail in a separate article.

SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) is also a notable recent addition. SAS left Star Alliance in August 2024 and joined SkyTeam in September 2024, following an investment by the Air France-KLM Group.

Member airlines (alphabetical)

Note for editors: The images below use placeholder paths. Please replace each with the corresponding airline logo uploaded to the media library.

	Airline	Loyalty Program	Hub(s)
	Aerolíneas Argentinas	Aerolíneas Plus	Buenos Aires
	Aeromexico	Club Premier	Mexico City
	Air Europa	SUMA	Madrid
	Air France	Flying Blue	Paris
	China Airlines	Dynasty Flyer	Taipei
	China Eastern	Eastern Miles	Shanghai
	Delta Air Lines	SkyMiles	Atlanta, New York, Detroit
	Garuda Indonesia	GarudaMiles	Jakarta
	Kenya Airways	Asante Rewards	Nairobi
	KLM	Flying Blue	Amsterdam
	Korean Air	SKYPASS	Seoul
	Middle East Airlines (MEA)	Cedar Miles	Beirut
	Saudia	Alfursan	Jeddah, Riyadh
	Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)	EuroBonus	Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo
	TAROM	TaromPlus	Bucharest
	Vietnam Airlines	Lotusmiles	Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
	Virgin Atlantic	Flying Club	London Heathrow, Manchester
	XiamenAir	Eastern Miles	Xiamen

What SkyTeam means for your points

SkyTeam works the same way as the other alliances for earning: flying on any member airline can earn miles in your home SkyTeam program. Award bookings on partner airlines are also available, though the booking process and availability varies more within SkyTeam than in the other alliances. Always check directly with your home program to confirm award availability on a specific SkyTeam partner.

Flying Blue is a shared loyalty program operated by Air France and KLM. Miles earned on either airline go into the same account, and you can redeem for flights on both airlines — as well as all other SkyTeam partners.

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Airlines without an alliance: bilateral partnerships

Not every airline is part of an alliance. Some major carriers — including WestJet, Porter, Emirates, and Etihad Airways — operate entirely outside the three major alliances. Instead, they build individual bilateral partnerships with specific airlines or loyalty programs.

A bilateral partnership is simply a one-to-one deal between two airlines (or between an airline and a loyalty program). These deals are negotiated independently and can include earn access, award booking access, or both.

For Canadian travellers, the most relevant examples are WestJet and Porter, whose bilateral partnerships are covered in detail in a separate article on booking Canadian airlines with partner programs. Below is a summary of their key partners and what those partnerships allow.

WestJet Rewards partners

WestJet is not an alliance member. All of its earn and redeem partnerships come from individual bilateral agreements.

Cancellation note: Award bookings for WestJet flights made through Delta's SkyMiles program can offer more flexible cancellation terms than booking directly through WestJet Rewards. If there is any chance your plans might change, it is worth checking the cancellation policy of each option before you book — not just the points cost.

VIPorter (Porter Airlines) partners

Porter is also not an alliance member. Its bilateral partnerships are more limited in number but meaningful for travellers who fly Porter regularly.

Atmos flexibility note: Alaska's Mileage Plan includes a feature called Atmos Rewards for partner bookings. Award flights booked through Atmos can be cancelled before departure with no redeposit fee (though a USD $12.50 non-refundable booking fee per direction applies). This makes it a strong option if you want flexibility.

Emirates key partners

Emirates is one of the world's largest airlines and operates entirely independently of the three alliances. Its most significant bilateral partnership is with Qantas (Oneworld), with whom it has a deep earn and redeem arrangement.

Etihad Airways key partners

Etihad (based in Abu Dhabi) also operates outside the alliances. Its most relevant bilateral partnerships for Canadian travellers include Air Canada and American Airlines.

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Master reference table: all alliance member airlines (alphabetical)

This table lists all 59 alliance member airlines in alphabetical order, along with their alliance, loyalty program, and whether alliance-wide earning and award bookings are generally available. Use this as a quick reference when you are trying to figure out which program to use for a specific flight.

A note on ⚠️ Limited entries: These airlines are full alliance members and do participate in partner earning and award bookings in principle. However, award availability may be harder to find, booking may require calling the airline directly, or access may be more restricted for customers whose home program is outside those specific regions. Always verify directly with your loyalty program before planning around a specific redemption.

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How to use this information when booking

Understanding which alliance an airline belongs to helps you answer one of the most practical questions in points travel: "What program should I use to book this flight?"

Here is a simple process to follow:

1. Identify which airline you want to fly. Look it up in the master reference table to see which alliance it belongs to and what loyalty programs can access its flights. 2. Check the airline's own program first. That is always a reasonable starting point. 3. Then check the other programs within the same alliance. Because the same seat may be bookable through multiple programs at different points costs, comparing within the alliance can uncover meaningful savings. 4. Check bilateral partners last. These are outside the alliance and can sometimes offer unexpectedly low prices for the same flight — particularly for short-haul routes, as described in the article on booking Canadian carriers with partner programs. 5. Compare points cost, fees, and cancellation terms before you commit. The cheapest points price is not always the best deal, especially if the cancellation policy is inflexible.

Airline alliances exist to make travel easier and more connected. For points collectors, they are also the framework that makes it possible to turn miles from one program into flights on dozens of different airlines — often at prices that are lower than booking through the airline's own program.