When you book a flight directly through an airline’s website, you’re often shown a carefully curated selection of routes, usually tied to that airline’s partners. But did you know that this might actually be costing you more? Let’s break down what airline alliances are, how they work, and why booking through tools like Skiplagged can help you uncover cheaper, smarter travel options.
What are Airline Alliances?
An airline alliance is a partnership between multiple airlines that allows them to coordinate routes, share resources, and offer seamless travel experiences for passengers across their combined networks. The goal is simple: since no single airline can serve every destination in the world, alliances let them extend their global reach without physically flying to every corner of the planet.
For travelers, this means:
- Easier connections: Book one ticket for multi-leg journeys across alliance partners. It also protects you in the event of issues (delays, cancellations, etc) as your booking is honored by all partners through your itinerary (regardless of the exact airline you’re flying)
- Loyalty perks: Earn and redeem miles across member airlines.
- Shared lounges and services: Access to partner airlines’ lounges and priority services.
But there’s a catch.
When you book directly through an airline’s website, you’re only shown flights from that airline and its alliance partners—even if there are cheaper, non-alliance options available. This is why using a platform like Skiplagged gives you an edge by surfacing hidden deals and routes, including those not tied to any major alliance.
How Do Airline Alliances Work?
One of the key mechanics of airline alliances is something called codesharing.
Codesharing is when one airline sells seats on a flight operated by a partner airline. For example:
- You book a flight on Delta’s website flying from Los Angeles (LAX) to Paris (CDG) with a stop in Atlanta (ATL).
- The LAX to ATL leg of your trip is flown by Delta.
- The leg of your trip from ATL to CDG is actually flown by Air France (a SkyTeam partner).
The problem?
- You only see what their alliance wants you to see.
- Discount airlines—like Southwest, Ryanair, or Spirit—don’t belong to these alliances.
That means the most budget-friendly routes, often involving low-cost carriers or creative combinations of airlines, are left out of the picture entirely.
Skiplagged exposes these hidden flights—showing you not just the “alliance-approved” options, but all possible ways to get to your destination, often saving you money.
The Major Airline Alliances
Let’s break down the big three global airline alliances, who their members are, and why they matter:
1. Star Alliance
The largest airline alliance in the world, with a heavy focus on international routes.
Members:
- United Airlines (USA).
- Aegean Airlines.
- Air Canada.
- Air China.
- Air India.
- Air New Zealand.
- All Nippon Airways (ANA).
- Asiana Airlines.
- Austrian Airlines.
- Avianca.
- Brussels Airlines.
- Copa Airlines.
- Croatia Airlines.
- EgyptAir.
- Ethiopian Airlines.
- Eva Air.
- Lot Polish Airlines.
- Lufthansa.
- Scandinavian Airlines (leaving alliance Aug. 31, 2024).
- Shenzhen Airlines.
- Singapore Airlines.
- South African Airways.
- Swiss.
- TAP Air Portugal.
- Thai Airways.
- Turkish Airlines.
2. Oneworld
Known for premium partnerships and strong transatlantic coverage.
Members:
- Alaska Airlines (USA).
- American Airlines (USA).
- British Airways.
- Cathay Pacific.
- Finnair.
- Iberia.
- Japan Airlines.
- Malaysia Airlines.
- Qantas.
- Qatar Airways.
- Royal Air Maroc.
- Royal Jordanian.
- Sri Lankan Airlines.
3. SkyTeam
Popular for European and Asian routes, with strong support for business travelers.
Members:
- Delta Air Lines (USA).
- Aerolineas Argentinas.
- AeroMexico.
- Air Europa.
- Air France.
- China Airlines.
- China Eastern.
- Garuda Indonesia.
- ITA Airways.
- Kenya AIrways.
- KLM.
- Korean Air.
- MEA (Middle East Airlines).
- Saudia.
- Scandinavian Airlines.
- TAROM.
- Vietnam Airlines.
- Virgin Atlantic.
- Xiamen Air.
Why Booking Within Airline Alliances Isn’t Always the Cheapest Option
While alliances offer perks like lounge access and mileage pooling, they come with a major downside: limited visibility into cheaper, non-alliance flights.
Since low-cost carriers (like Frontier, Ryanair, or JetBlue) aren’t part of these global alliances, their flights rarely show up when you book through an airline’s site. That’s why you might see a $600 round-trip on United’s site, while Skiplagged finds you a $300 combination of a budget carrier plus a hidden-city fare.
Bottom line: Airline alliances are great for perks—but if you’re chasing the cheapest fares or unique routing options, don’t rely solely on airline websites.
Fly Smarter with Skiplagged
At Skiplagged, we pull back the curtain on airline pricing strategies. Our platform finds the hidden routes, unbundled fares, and budget airline combos that alliances don’t want you to see.
So next time you’re searching for a flight, remember: alliances work for airlines—but Skiplagged works for you.
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