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You may be familiar with the Star Alliance because of its well-known U.S. member, United Airlines. What you may not know is that it’s also the largest airline alliance in the world and is highly celebrated, having won the World's Best Airline Alliance award from SkyTrax four years in a row.
Here's your guide to the Star Alliance, from its member airlines to its elite status program.
Airlines in the Star Alliance
There are currently more than two dozen airlines in the Star Alliance, flying to over 1,000 destinations in nearly 200 countries around the world:
Star Alliance member airlines
- 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.
- ITA Airways.
- Lot Polish Airlines.
- Lufthansa.
- Shenzhen Airlines.
- Singapore Airlines.
- South African Airways.
- Swiss.
- TAP Air Portugal.
- Thai Airways.
- Turkish Airlines.
- United Airlines.
With such a vast network of strategic partners, the Star Alliance provides ample opportunity for travelers to explore the world while earning (and burning) frequent flyer miles. If you're a globetrotter racking up a lot of miles, you’ll be glad to know that the Star Alliance has its own elite status levels that come with some pretty cool perks to save time and money.
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Elite status
Flying with Star Alliance member airlines can pay off, with two different elite status levels: Silver and Gold. When you earn status with an affiliated airline, you’ll get a corresponding status through Star Alliance. Star Alliance has a handy tool that checks which level your airline elite status translates to. For example, if you have United Premier Silver status, that translates to Star Alliance Silver, while United Premier Gold and above gets you Star Alliance Gold status.
Below is a breakdown of what these status levels gets you.
Star Alliance Silver
Star Alliance Silver members earn the following perks:
- Priority reservations waitlist. You’ll have a higher waitlist priority if seats are not available in the class of service you want to book (paid tickets only).
- Priority airport stand-by. If your flight is canceled or your travel plans change, you’ll be ahead of non-status flyers on the waitlist. This benefit does not apply to award tickets.
Star Alliance Gold
Star Alliance Gold elite members receive all the same benefits as Silver elites, plus several more:
- Priority airport check-in.
- Priority baggage handling.
- Priority boarding. You’ll board with first and business class if available.
- Access to Star Alliance’s 1,000+ airport lounges around the world (when you’re traveling on a member airline flight).
- Extra baggage allowance (up to 44 lbs or an extra bag). There are restrictions on basic economy fares, so check in advance.
- Access to Gold Track priority security lanes where available.
Star Alliance lounges
With over 1,000 airport lounges around the world, the Star Alliance network has you covered on your most far-flung travels. In addition to partner airline-branded lounges, there are also six dedicated Star Alliance airport lounges in the following cities:
- Amsterdam.
- Buenos Aires.
- Guangzhou.
- Los Angeles.
- Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
- Rio de Janeiro.
At these lounges, you can find complimentary food and drinks, a comfortable environment to relax and even showers. You can get free access to Star Alliance lounges if you’re a Star Alliance Gold elite and/or traveling in international premium cabins on a partner airline.
Redeeming points for Star Alliance awards
If you’re looking to redeem miles for a flight on a Star Alliance carrier, there are many options. Several Star Alliance partner airlines have sweet spot redemptions that can make reward travel much more attainable. Here is a breakdown by region.
North America (domestic flights)
If you’re looking for domestic award flights, the main domestic Star Alliance airline — United — might be your best bet. On a sample route from Los Angeles to Houston, we checked Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca Lifemiles and United MileagePlus. All three were roughly the same price, but United had many more award flights, plus a discount for being a United credit cardholder. With that in mind, all these programs allow access to domestic award flights.
Depending on which credit cards you have, you can transfer rewards from their loyalty programs to the airline programs. Here’s a breakdown:
- Air Canada Aeroplan partners with AmEx Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
- Avianca Lifemiles partners with AmEx Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Rewards, Citi ThankYou and Wells Fargo Rewards.
- United MileagePlus partners with Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards®.
» Learn more: Find the best airline credit card for you
Central America
Want to head to Costa Rica for sun and adventure? United offers surprisingly reasonable redemption rates to Liberia, in the western part of the country, at just 40,000 miles round-trip in economy class or 36,000 miles for United cardholders.
The airline has several co-branded credit cards as well as a partnership with Bilt Rewards and the Chase Ultimate Rewards® program. Below are some credit cards that can give your MileagePlus balance a boost, either directly or with transferable points:
South America
If you want to fly to South America, look no further than Avianca, a Star Alliance member based in Colombia. Award prices are variable, but Avianca makes its own award flights more readily available to Lifemiles members than partners, which means many more choices for you.
We found flights to “northern” South America, including Colombia, for around 15,000 miles each way in economy, which is a stunningly good deal. And if you want to go further, flights to “southern” South America, including Argentina and Chile, can be found for only 30,000 miles each way (or less).
You may have luck checking other Star Alliance partners, such as Air Canada or United, but the best prices we found were found through Avianca.
» Learn more: How to find the best travel insurance
Europe
Air Canada’s Aeroplan program is a great way to visit Europe, with award flights starting around 140,000 miles for a round-trip business class award. Aeroplan is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Capital One Rewards and Bilt Rewards. You can transfer those points to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio.
ANA also offers terrific value to Europe, but doesn’t offer the same availability as other Star Alliance members. If you can find a flight on ANA, you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards to the airline. To get more of these points in your account, check out the following cards:
Africa
Air Canada comes in for the win again, with excellent award redemption rates to Africa. For about 54,000 miles in economy or 92,000 miles in business class one way, you can fly to Central and North Africa from the U.S. You also could go all the way to Southern Africa for 70,000 miles. Flying business class will cost you more, but you may be able to find a deal depending on your exact dates.
Middle East
If you want to travel to the Middle East on points and miles, Star Alliance offers a lot of opportunities to do so. The best deal is once again from Air Canada Aeroplan, which requires just 55,000 miles one-way in economy class and 90,000 miles in business on a trip from Chicago to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Asia
ANA’s zone-based awards offer terrific value if you’re traveling to Asia on points. Round-trip economy class to South Korea will cost you just 60,000 miles, and business class is just 135,000 round-trip.
Looking for a ticket to Japan? Time it during the low season, and you’ll redeem just 50,000 miles round-trip in economy class or 105,000 in business. That’s an incredible deal, especially considering how easy it is to accrue ANA miles via the airline’s sole transfer partner, AmEx Membership Rewards.
Oceania
If you want to visit Australia, you’re in luck because Star Alliance partner ANA again offers excellent value with its award chart. You can book an economy class ticket for 75,000 miles or business class for around 150,000 miles round-trip.
To view rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, see this page.
To view rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, see this page.
To view rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, see this page.
To view rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, see this page.
To view rates and fees of the American Express Platinum Card®, see this page.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2026:
- Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph® Card
- Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Luxury perks: American Express Platinum Card®
- Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
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