5 Things Star Alliance Is Doing Right

Amanda Johnson
By Amanda Johnson 
Published
Edited by Mary M. Flory
5 Things Star Alliance is Doing Right

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

MORE LIKE THISTravel

Star Alliance took home the award for the World’s Best Airline Alliance at the 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards earlier this summer.

Airline alliances are industry agreements among airlines that increase the range of their networks and expand frequent flyer benefits. The three main airline alliances are Oneworld, Star Alliance and SkyTeam. Star Alliance, which includes United, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and roughly two dozen others, is the oldest and largest of the three.

While this is the 10th time Star Alliance won the award since it was announced in 2005, the alliance isn’t resting on its laurels. Here are five things Star Alliance is doing right.

1. More destinations

Compared to the other two major airline alliances, Star Alliance has more partners and flies to more locations.

Star Alliance advertises 28 partners and flights to over 1,300 destinations, compared to Oneworld’s 13 airlines and 1,000+ destinations and SkyTeam’s 19 airlines and 1,150 destinations. With 19,000 daily flights to over 194 countries, there's a good chance Star Alliance can get you where you're going.

2. Good partnerships

Along with expanding the network geographically, Star Alliance strategically seeks out partnerships that maximize the overall quality of their alliance. In the latest 2019 World Airline Awards by Skytrax, Star Alliance airlines won 46 total awards, ranging from World’s Best Cabin Crew to World’s Best First Class Seat.

3. Great lounges

Star Alliance also won the Skytrax World Airline Award for World’s Best Airline Alliance Lounge. Star Alliance operates eight branded lounges for elite members of the Star Alliance loyalty program and provides access to over 1,000 lounges through its members. At the 2019 Skytrax airline awards, Star Alliance airlines took home a number of other lounge-related awards:

  • World’s Best Business Class Lounge Dining, Air Canada.

  • Best Business Class Lounge in the USA and the World’s Best Business Class Lounge, United Airlines.

  • World’s Best First Class Lounge, Swiss Air Lines.

  • Best First Class Lounge in Asia and Best Business Class Lounge in Asia, Singapore Airlines.

4. Technological advancements

Star Alliance CEO Jeffrey Goh expressed his commitment to simplifying the traveler experience through the use of technology in a recent interview with Skift. When you’re flying multiple airlines on one ticket there can be hiccups, and technology disguises the massive behind-the-scenes effort to make that process as seamless as possible to travelers.

Some things Star Alliance envisions for the future are integrated mobile apps — use your United app to track all legs of a multi-carrier journey — and expansion of how you can use reward points. Imagine using your United frequent flyer miles not just to travel anywhere in the world with Star Alliance, but also to purchase duty-free items in the air or to invest in seat or baggage upgrades with other Star Alliance carriers.

5. Simplicity of redeeming miles and gaining status

Star Alliance airlines like United, Air Canada and Avianca make it easy to search and book award travel online. As with other alliances, you may not get a full picture of partner award availability when you use just one site — you may have to use several — but the United site in particular is user-friendly and offers a pretty complete picture of what's available.

Looking to gain frequent flyer miles fast for a Star Alliance flight? United’s MileagePlus credit cards might be an option. Alternately, the Citi Premier® Card, which has an annual fee of $95, has the following sign-up bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spend on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024. These points can be transferred to Avianca, a Star Alliance carrier.

Travel Cards from Our Partners
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-5x

5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

60,000

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Points
Chase Freedom Unlimited Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Freedom Unlimited®
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1.5%-6.5%

Enjoy 6.5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel; 4.5% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and 3% on all other purchases (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year). After your first year or $20,000 spent, enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Cashback

Intro offer

$300

Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

on Capital One's website

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
4.7
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

2x-5x

Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

Miles

Intro offer

75,000

Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

Miles
See more travel cards
Get more smart money moves – straight to your inbox
Sign up and we’ll send you Nerdy articles about the money topics that matter most to you along with other ways to help you get more from your money.