Travel & Lifestyle

Some lesser-known airline partners and how to use them to your advantage

The best thing about the three major airline alliances – Star Alliance, SkyTeam and Oneworld – is that you can earn points or miles on any airline within a given alliance by flying on any other airline. Likewise, you can use points or miles from any airline in the alliance to redeem award travel on flights operated by other airlines. These reciprocal arrangements are easy to understand, although they don’t always work that well in practice.

In addition to the major alliances, airlines have non-alliance partners that passengers can use in a similar way. However, many non-alliance partners limit the flights on which you can earn or redeem miles, so be sure to check the requirements on the airline’s website before booking any flights. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the lesser-known airline partnerships and highlight some of the best points to taking advantage of them.

air canada

Air Canada is a member of Star Alliance. Its Aeroplan program is a transfer partner for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • Kribek Aviation
  • Air Dolomites
  • air mauritius
  • Air Serbia
  • Brazilian airline Azul
  • Bamboo Airways
  • calm air
  • northern canada
  • Cathay Pacific
  • discover airlines
  • Edelweiss Airlines
  • Emirates Airlines
  • Etihad Airways
  • eurowings
  • flydubai
  • Gol Airlines
  • gulf air
  • Juneyao Airlines
  • Lufthansa
  • olympic air
  • Oman Air
  • Philippine Airlines
  • sun express
  • Virgin Australia
You can use Aeroplan points to book first class on Emirates. Eric Rosen/Point Guard

Non-affiliate partners who only earn revenue include:

  • Aer Lingus
  • Central Mountain Airlines
  • middle east airlines
  • SriLankan Airlines

RELATED: You can now use Aeroplan points to buy first class on Emirates, but it’s not cheap

Air France and KLM

Air France business class. Clint Henderson/Point Guard

Air France and KLM are both members of the SkyTeam alliance. The miles you earn on flights with Air France and KLM and non-alliance partner Transavia will transfer to Flying Blue, the loyalty program shared by the three airlines.

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Flying Blue is a transfer partner for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, CitiThankYou Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • Air Corsica
  • air mauritius
  • Air Baltic
  • air caledonia
  • Charai Air
  • China Southern Airlines
  • Copa Airlines
  • el al airlines
  • Etihad Airways
  • Gol Airlines
  • Japan Airlines
  • Malaysia Airlines
  • Oman Air
  • Qantas
  • transavia airlines
  • WestJet
  • Veyron

Flying Blue also has a partnership with Bangkok Airways, but only allows redemption. You cannot earn miles on Bangkok Airways paid flights.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance. Its Alaska Airlines Miles Program is a transfer partner of Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • Aer Lingus
  • Air Tahiti
  • cape air
  • vulture
  • Hainan Airlines
  • Icelandair
  • Korean Air
  • latin america
  • Oman Air
  • Porter Airlines
  • singapore airlines
  • Starlux Airlines
You can book Condor Business Class using Alaska Miles. Zach Grieve/Point Guard

Non-affiliate partners who only earn revenue include:

  • Aleutian Air
  • Bahamas Airways
  • cape air
  • silhouette airlines
  • Kenmore Airlines
  • Mokulelei Airlines
  • China Southern Air Express

Related: Fly to New York on Condor’s first Airbus A330neo — and fly aboard a swanky new business class product

All Nippon Airways

All Nippon Airways is a Japanese airline and a member of Star Alliance. Its ANA Mileage Club program is a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • Air Dolomites
  • Air Macau
  • Etihad Airways
  • eurowings
  • Garuda Indonesia
  • olympic air
  • Philippine Airlines
  • virgin airways
  • Vietnam Airlines
  • Virgin Australia

American Airlines

American Airlines is a member of the oneworld alliance. Its American Airlines AAdvantage program is not part of any credit card transfer program, but it is a transfer partner with Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

You can redeem AAdvantage miles to fly to Tahiti on Air Tahiti. Clint Henderson/Point Guard

Non-affiliate partners who only earn revenue include:

  • Aer Lingus
  • indigo
  • JetSmart — Profit only for now, but redemptions coming soon

British Airways and Iberia

British Airways and Iberia are both oneworld member airlines. They are two of six airlines that use Avios as a rewards currency; the others are oneworld members Finnair and Qatar Airways, and non-alliance members Aer Lingus and Vueling. Although each airline has separate programs, you can freely transfer your Avios between all six airlines at a 1:1 ratio.

British Airways and Iberia are both transfer partners for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, CitiThankYou Rewards, Wells Fargo Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. The former is also a transfer partner of Capital One Miles. Since you can transfer your Avios between six participating airlines, any Avios you have in these programs can be used to book with multiple non-alliance partners.

British Airways’ non-alliance partners for earning and redemption include:

The airline also has a partnership with China Southern Airlines, but you can only earn Avios on paid flights. You cannot redeem Avios for China Southern Airlines flights.

Iberia’s earning and redemption non-affiliate partners include:

  • Avianca
  • bint canary islands
  • latin america
  • grade
  • Vueling

Cathay Pacific

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific is a member of the oneworld alliance. Its Asia Miles program is a transfer partner for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi Appreciation Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • air canada
  • Air China
  • air new zealand
  • Austrian Airlines
  • bangkok airways
  • fiji airways
  • gulf air
  • hong kong express
  • latin america
  • Lufthansa
  • Shenzhen Airlines
  • Swiss

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines is a member of the SkyTeam alliance. Its Delta SkyMiles program is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • Air Baltic
  • cape air
  • China Southern Airlines
  • el al airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • latin america
  • WestJet

AirBaltic redemptions are limited to connecting flights from a Delta, Air France or KLM transatlantic award flight. Earn and redeem on Hawaiian Airlines only for flights within Hawaii.

You can redeem Delta SkyMiles for flights in Latin America. Zach Grieve/Point Guard

Non-affiliate partners available for redemption include only:

  • Air Tahiti
  • Mandarin Airlines
  • Shanghai Airlines

Related: 5 things you need to know about Delta Air Lines-Latin America joint venture

United Airlines

United Airlines is a Star Alliance airline. Its United MileagePlus program is a transfer partner for Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • Aer Lingus
  • Air Dolomites
  • air connection
  • Brazilian airline Azul
  • cape air
  • discover airlines
  • Edelweiss Airlines
  • Emirates Airlines
  • eurowings
  • flydubai
  • Hawaiian Airlines — flights within Hawaii only
  • JSX
  • Juneyao Airlines
  • Lufthansa
  • olympic air
  • silver airlines
  • Virgin Australia

With Emirates and Flydubai, you can only redeem miles on select routes between Dubai and Africa, the Middle East and the South Asian subcontinent as part of an award booking, which includes United flights between Newark and Dubai, All on the same ticket. Earn and redeem on Hawaiian Airlines only for flights within Hawaii.

virgin airways

Virgin Atlantic aircraft parked at London Heathrow Airport. Clint Henderson/Point Guard

Virgin Atlantic is part of the SkyTeam alliance. Its Virgin Atlantic Flying Club program and Virgin Red Rewards program (which you can link to Flying Club) are transfer partners for American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, CitiThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy.

Non-affiliate partners earning and redeeming include:

  • air new zealand
  • All Nippon Airways
  • el al airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • latin america
  • singapore airlines
  • South African Airways

Virgin Atlantic also has a partnership with IndiGo, but you can only earn points on paid flights. You cannot redeem Virgin Points for IndiGo flights.

sweet spot between non-alliance partners

Many airlines have begun using variable award rates, known as dynamic pricing, for redemptions on their own airlines. However, most programs still have a rewards schedule that redeems partners at a fixed rate.

Some programs offer zone-based redemptions, where the reward rate depends on the zone you are traveling to and from. Other programs have distance-based redemptions, with award rates based on the number of miles between the airports you travel to.

Reviewing an airline’s partner rewards chart can help you identify redemption targets that may be particularly useful or noteworthy. Here are some of the advantages of a non-affiliate partnership.

Redeem Starlux Business Class in Alaska

Zach Grieve/Point Guard

Alaska is Taiwan’s StarLux Airlines’ only aviation partner. Starlux offers an impressive business class product between the United States and Taiwan, with award rates as low as 75,000 Alaska miles one-way.

RELATED: Starlux business class review on Airbus A350-900 from Los Angeles to Taipei: Unparalleled

Virgin Atlantic Redeem ANA Business Class or First Class

After several devaluations over the past few years, redemption isn’t quite as sweet as before. However, it’s still one of the best uses 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 offerings). You can fly business class one-way between the United States and Japan for just 52,500 Virgin Points; you can buy first class for just 72,500 points.

Using Virgin Points is more flexible than using ANA’s own miles; this is because Virgin Atlantic allows one-way redemptions, while ANA only allows round-trip redemptions. Virgin Atlantic also offers more credit card points and mileage program transfer options.

bottom line

Airline partners make award travel even easier by expanding the airline network and routes available for redeeming points and miles. It’s not just partners within airline alliances that can offer good value for you to earn or redeem miles. Remember non-alliance partners, too.

Related reading:

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