When you're flying, you've probably heard the announcement: "Welcome aboard United Airlines, a member of Star Alliance!" Ever wondered what it really means?
Ever wondered how airline alliances make travel smoother?
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The journey of airline partnerships over time
The first airline alliance started in the 1930s, with Pan Am and Panair do Brasil working together on their routes. Then, in 1989, Northwest Airlines and KLM from the Netherlands created a big codesharing deal, letting both airlines sell seats on one another's flights. This made it easier for travelers to plan their trips through a single purchase instead of dealing with multiple airlines.
In May 1997, the first true global alliance formed when Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines teamed up to create the Star Alliance network.
Their initial slogan, "The Airline Network for Earth," showed off their global reach. To promote this idea, members customized planes with a special Star Alliance design. By 2000, Star Alliance included 15 airlines and provided customers with an easy way to book flights to 815 destinations across 130 countries.
In 1999, American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines International (which no longer exists), Cathay Pacific, and Qantas teamed up to create the Oneworld alliance. The next year, Skyteam was established, with founding airlines, including Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico, Air France, and Korean Air.
Nowadays, most big airlines belong to one of the 3 major global alliances, but some exceptions exist. Global airlines like Emirates and Etihad Airways aren't part of any alliance, although they do have codeshare and frequent flyer agreements with certain airlines. (Similarly, airlines in one alliance may codeshare with those in different alliances or with no alliance at all.)
Many low-cost and regional airlines – such as Southwest and JetBlue in North America and Easyjet and Ryanair in Europe – also don't join these alliances, yet may have their own codeshare agreements.
Advantages of joining forces with airline alliances
One big perk of airline alliances is that they offer more route choices and a smooth travel experience between airlines. For instance, if you want to fly from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Nairobi, Kenya, no U.S. airline flies this route non-stop, and none even serves Kenya directly.
Rather than booking legs with different airlines, an alliance lets you create one itinerary with a single airline. For example, you can fly with Delta Air Lines from Raleigh to New York's JFK Airport. Then, you can connect to Kenya Airways, a Skyteam partner, for the flight from JFK to Nairobi.
The teamwork among alliance members means you can check your bags all the way to your destination and earn frequent flyer miles with your chosen member airline. When you're ready to plan your next trip, you can use those miles or points with a bigger selection of airlines.
Frequent flyer perks are another great benefit of alliances. If you fly enough to earn elite status on American Airlines, your status will also work with other Oneworld carriers. This gives you access to special check-in, fast security, airport lounges, priority boarding, preferred seats, and more.
Now, let's dive into the 3 major global alliances below.
Star Alliance
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The original alliance is also the largest in the world: Star Alliance provides over 17,500 daily flights to more than 1,150 places across 189 countries worldwide. Its base is in Frankfurt, Germany, with 727 million people flying with Star Alliance member airlines every year. Regular flyers can earn Star Alliance Silver or Gold status, which grants access to over 1,000 lounges plus other perks.
As of early 2025, Star Alliance includes 25 airlines: Aegean Airlines (Greece), Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA (Japan), Asiana Airlines (South Korea), Austrian Airlines, Avianca (Colombia), Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines (Panama), Croatia Airlines, Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines, Eva Air (Taiwan), LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa (Germany), Shenzhen Airlines (China), Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines.
SkyTeam
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SkyTeam, the second-largest global airline alliance, offers flights to over 1,000 destinations in more than 160 countries, serving more than 624 million travelers annually. Its home base is in Amsterdam, Netherlands. There are 2 levels for frequent flyers: SkyTeam Elite and SkyTeam Elite Plus, the latter granting access to over 750 lounges.
SkyTeam's member airlines are Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Europa (Spain), Air France, China Airlines, China Eastern, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, ITA Airways (Italy), Kenya Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, Middle East Airlines (MEA), SAS (Scandinavia), Saudia, Tarom (Romania), Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic (U.K.), and XiamenAir (China). After a recent acquisition by Lufthansa, ITA Airways plans to depart from SkyTeam in 2025 and will join Star Alliance.
Oneworld
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Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Oneworld is the smallest of the 3 major airline alliances, yet its numbers are impressive: member airlines handle over 4.5 million flights annually to more than 900 destinations with a fleet of over 3,400 aircraft. On average, a Oneworld flight takes off or lands every 6 seconds.
There are 212 million members in the frequent flyer programs of member airlines. Frequent travelers can earn Oneworld Priority perks with 3 levels: Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby.
By 2025, Oneworld will include 13 member airlines: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong), Finnair, Iberia (Spain), Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas (Australia), Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines. Oman Air and Fiji Airways are also set to join the alliance soon.
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Have you ever heard something about off-site parking? If not, we recommend you take a closer look at this part of the article, as this information will be handy for those who prefer to travel by air and get to the airport by their own car.
Most people suppose that parking at the airport is the fastest and most convenient option for them. However, it's not actually true. We'll explain to you why.
To be true, being in a terminal parking lot isn't convenient at all. Although on-site airport parking is the nearest place where you can leave your vehicle for the period of a trip, you can face the following difficulties:
- You will need to find a spot in a crowded lot,
- You will need to carry the luggage all the way through the parking lot,
- You must pay expensive fees without great service.
Sounds not good, right? However, we found an excellent solution for you – in this case, off-site parking can become a savior for you. So if you're trying to find a parking spot with great service nearby the airport you're flying from and don't want to leave there the most significant part of your budget, pay attention to this option.
How does it work?
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Obviously, people who chose a car as a way to get to the airport want to leave their vehicle safely while traveling and not to face the problems we described above. So what can off-site airport parking offer its customers?
Although a few miles usually separate such parking from the airport, you shouldn't worry about this. Off-site parking provides free shuttles going back and forth between the parking lot and the airport. Thanks to this, it removes any worries about getting stuck in traffic on the way to the airport during peak times. So all you need to do is choose the best time for you and inform the parking lot staff.
How does it work? Actually, everything is straightforward: when you come to the entrance, the staff will remove your luggage from your car and load it onto the shuttle, which will take you and your bags to the terminal. Then, the vehicle will be parked securely.
In addition, this type of parking is much cheaper, and this is good news, as nobody wants to waste money. Therefore, off-site parking is the perfect option to receive excellent service and save money at the same time.
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Our platform allows you to reserve a parking spot through a few clicks within the application. As a result, customers receive a booking confirmation and a guaranteed parking spot upon arrival at the off-airport lot. Besides, if plans change, you can cancel hassle-free and receive a refund.
To understand it better, we would like to give you an example. Let's imagine that you live in NYC, New York. If you're planning a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, you can use the services of cheap parking around JFK Airport. If you're coming from Fort Worth, the situation is the same – you can choose affordable DFW valet parking. So it just depends on the place you're flying from.
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