There are 3 major airline alliances: Oneworld, Star Alliance and Skyteam. So please read my article on the best airline alliance and why you should care to find out more! With all three alliances elite status will give you free lounge access, fast track security, priority boarding and much more. However, unless you’re spending most of your time travelling for business or trying to game the system with points, it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to get status on all of these airlines. Therefore you’ll want to choose an alliance to focus on to earn status quickly. I will make a future post about which airlines under each alliance are best for earning elite status.
Oneworld
The Oneworld Alliance is a very strong choice for North America, Western/Northern Europe, Asia and Australia. Recently overtaking Skyteam to become the 2nd largest Alliance. Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines are regularly rated among the top 10 airlines in the world. And being British I am certainly partial to flying British Airways.
Having flown 12 hour+ flights on Cathay Pacific business class and Japan Airlines economy, I can say they have an amazing product. And with Qatar, British Airways, Qantas and more they have a very strong offering. Oman Air are also soon to join, for another Middle East hub.
One downside is their limited presence in South America and Africa. European citizens may also be dissapointed by Oneworld’s presence as only British Airways, Finnair and Iberia are based here.
Star Alliance
Star Alliance is the oldest of the big 3 and has both the largest number of airline members and the most Skytrax 5 Star rated airlines. With four Skytrax 5 Star rates airlines (Singapore Airlines, Eva Air, ANA and Asiana) as of October 2022. This just beats Oneworld’s three 5 Star airlines (Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways) and Skyteam with just two (Korean Air and Garuda Indonesia).
Star Alliance is also a brilliant choice wherever you live in the world. With major hubs in every inhabited continent on earth, you’re likely to be within easy reach of their global network.
Unlike Oneworld however, none of the Star Alliance partner airlines offer a credit card to spend and earn miles in the UK. And with Virgin Atlantic joining Skyteam in the future, this will mean Star Alliance will be the only alliance with no UK credit card. You can of course still convert Amex Membership Reward Points to air miles (something I do with Singapore Airlines, see my guide to airline rewards coming soon).
Skyteam
Founded in 2000, Skyteam is the newest airline alliance on the bloc offering over 1,000 destinations in 170+ countries. Some of the largest global airlines are members such as Delta, KLM/Air France, China Eastern and Korean. So you should have a good selection of flights in most parts of the world with the exception of the Australian continent which has no hub.
Skyteam recently announced Virgin Atlantic as the newest member of the alliance so they are actively expanding. This will become the alliances’ first UK-based airline, making them more appealing to UK & European residents. You can also earn points with the Virgin Atlantic Credit Card, points for which will become transferrable with Skyteam airlines. For my full guide on earning air miles with credit cards, check out my article here!
I haven’t actually flown on any Skteam airlines, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I think they have the weakest offering. Options are relatively limited if you’re UK based and will require connections.
The Best Airline Alliance
Overall I would say that Star Alliance is the best globally, but for UK residents you can’t beat Oneworld. Brirish Airways has so many ways to earn Avios in the UK and these can be transferred for rewards on world-beating airlines. As the second largest of the alliances you can also fly pretty much anywhere with Oneworld. Living in London I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to flights and can fly with pretty much any global airline. But if you live in a less well-connected area you’ll need to pay close attention to which airlines actually fly out of your local airport.
Due to the competitive nature of the market, membership benefits are pretty much the same accross the board. So at the end of the day I would recommend basing your decision of airline alliance on two things:
- Which alliance has the most flights out of you’re home airport? For me that would be Oneworld with British Airways out of London, but Star Alliance also has many flights from London and Skyteam still has a presence.
- Which alliance has you’re favourite airline? All three alliances have good airlines, but as an avgeek, I want to fly on my favourite airlines. For me this would be Star Alliance, but you may have your own favourites.