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What are Airline Alliances?
Airline Alliances are when multiple airline companies come together to form a larger group that work with each other in terms of rewards, travel schedules, and baggage. In essence, they help you see more parts of the world at a fraction of the cost with a lot of perks.
Why are they relevant to Travel Rewards?
This may be the coolest part of airline alliances as you can use points from one airline inside an alliance to book flights on another airline in the same alliance. For example, you can use your American Airlines AAdvantage Miles to book flights on British Airways flights.
You can redeem your miles for an award ticket of any member airline, subject to availability, irrespective of the Frequent Flyer Program with which you earned them.
Most airlines will honor your status (ie. Executive Platinum, MileagePlus, etc.) on another airline if they are in the same alliance. This allows you to keep your perks such as priority boarding, free upgrades, lounge access, etc.
Because points and miles can be used on multiple airlines within an alliance, you could then apply for multiple airline specific credit cards (ie. the British Airways Visa Signature Card AND the American AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard) while attempting to gain the most miles.
Three major Airline Alliances (and major US airlines NOT in an alliance):
OneWorld Airline Alliance
Star Alliance Airline alliance
SkyTeam Airline Alliance
Major US Airlines with No Airline Alliance
Your Card Points has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Your Card Points and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.