Revisiting Airline Partnerships: The “Mistress” Partnerships

One of the most overlooked aspects of redeeming award tickets, is airline partnerships outside the general alliances.  It’s sort of like the mistresses…no one knows they exist, until someone uncovers them! Well that day has come…because I am going to uncover some of them in this post.  I’m going to use some of the major airlines.  Let’s look at United Airlines for example. United is a Star Alliance member, meaning you can redeem your United miles on flights on Lufthansa, Turkish, Thai, and the list goes on. Just look at the Star Alliance membership chart below.  However, what is overlooked at is you can also redeem your miles on the OTHER partners….EVA Air, Hawaiian Airlines, Aer Lingus, Jet Airways, and more.  It may be beneficial for you to book it on Hawaiian, rather than flying United  to Hawaii, because Hawaiian has non-stop flights from SEA, PDX, SJC, where United doesn’t.  You may want to consider flying EVA Air to Taipei, rather than United, simply because the time schedule and departure times are better.  You just have to look at your options, but know that the OTHER partners are there and should be looked at for award redemptions.

Here are some other charts for Delta, US Airways, American Airlines.  US Airways is a bit stingy though, as they wont let you redeem Dividend Miles on most of these partners below, but you may earn US Airways miles if you are flying them.

American Airlines chart is even better. You can use their miles to book award tickets to Tahiti and Fiji. You can also redeem AAdvantage miles on Alaska Airlines. Non-stop flights to Las Vegas from Seattle and Portland just got easier.

Delta Airlines lets you book awards on Malaysian Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Air Tahiti Nui, for those hard to get Tahiti flights.

When booking award tickets, always be aware of the other partner airlines and their routes. The agents don’t always tell you the best routing, as they themselves are human drones with a set of instructions.  Heck, they don’t even know their own routing rules, much less world geography.  Of course, you can always email me, and I can help you figure out the best options. Happy Travels!