A Guide to Airline Alliances and Codeshares
Much to my surprise, not everyone knows that most airlines are connected to a larger alliance. It is how I can book a flight on United/Delta/AA between Portland ME and Hanoi. I can assure you none of the American based airlines fly to Hanoi and especially don’t from Portland, ME, but alas I can book it on United! How?
Alliances and Codeshares Background
Airlines partner with one another around the world to make it easy to book from point A to B regardless of if your preferred carrier even flies there. This way I can book on my preferred airline’s website (and collect those miles) but potentially fly on a different one. For example, if I wanted to fly from Detroit to Lyon, I would go on Delta.com and punch in those cities. When I am ready to book, I will likely notice that my flight from Detroit to Paris was operated by Delta, but the second flight between Paris and Lyon would be operated by Air France. But wait I booked through Delta, wtf is happening!
Delta and Air France are partners. The idea is if I am French I can book my flight between Paris and Bismarck (why?), check in at the Air France Counter in Paris. Check my luggage with Air France. Fly my Air France flight to Minneapolis and then move to a Delta flight to Bismarck. What is nice is my checked luggage will also be transferred over. What is even nicer is my status would be honored on both airlines.
What are the Alliances?
What Airlines Make up Each Alliance?
Click on each hyperlink above to see all the different airlines😊, but for US based airlines and a few of the larger partners, please see below.
Star Alliance: United Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore Airways, ANA
SkyTeam: Delta Airlines, Air France/KLM, Korean Air
OneWorld: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Japan Airways, Qatar Airways
How Do These Alliances Benefit Me?
They don’t lol. Clearly they are set up to benefit the airlines as in a lot of ways now there are only 3 major airlines…..Kidding (sort of)! The alliances benefit the passenger mostly in two ways.
- Seamlessness: It is quite lovely that I can book a flight to Seville, Spain on American Airlines from Phoenix despite American not flying to Seville. What I would do is book through AA.com and most likely I would fly American Airlines to London, Iberia Airlines to Madrid and Iberia to Seville. I would earn my AA airline miles on all 3, only have to check in once and not worry about my checked bags between Phoenix and Iberia.
- Consistent Status and Benefits: I currently have status on United Airlines. It is nice that if I want to fly to Hamburg, Germany from New York I would likely fly United Airlines to Frankfurt and connect to Hamburg via Lufthansa. Lufthansa would also recognize my United Status and allow me to use their lounge and board first.
But Wait, What are Codeshares?
Codeshares are similar in concept to the alliances, but are just direct partnerships between two airlines. For example, Air Canada and Bamboo Airways (Vietnam) have a codeshare. Air Canada is in the Star Alliance, but Bamboo is not. However because the two have a partnership I can book a trip to Hanoi on Air Canada and connect in Bangkok via Bamboo Airways to Hanoi with the same seamlessness as the alliances.
Anything Else I Should Know?
If you are booking an international flight somewhere less obvious than London or Paris, I would always double check and see who is operating your flight. My brother told me he was flying on Delta to Santiago from Miami and I immediately knew he wasn’t as Miami is not a Delta Hub and they do not fly internationally from there. However, due to a codeshare with LATAM, Delta can sell flights to South America from Miami.
The biggest reason it is important to know who is operating your flight is if a partner airline is fulfilling your first flight, you have to check in with them at the airport. My brother would be royally screwed if he tried to check in with Delta as they would not be able to and LATAM is in a different terminal. That would suck!
In Conclusion
Codeshares and Alliances provide seamless connectivity around the world. However it is a bit more complicating than this brief blog post can provide. If this is something you want to dive more into, please refer to the hyperlinks above.
Bon Voyage,
Andrew
Out And Abroad Luxury Travel 
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