How to Book Partner Awards

Airlines belong to one of three alliances or to none. Membership in Star Alliance, oneworld or SkyTeam means every member program can, in principle, book award seats on every other member. Star Alliance has 26 airlines, oneworld 16 and SkyTeam 18 as of September 2026.

On top of alliance partnerships, most programs sign bilateral deals: Virgin Atlantic with ANA and Delta, Alaska with Singapore and Starlux, Aeroplan with Emirates and Etihad, Etihad with American. Emirates and Etihad belong to no alliance and are reached only through these deals. Every program's partner list is on its own site, and the program pages on this site link to it.

Partner award space is a subset of what the operating airline releases. Airlines open "saver" or "partner" inventory in each cabin in small numbers, often one or two seats per flight, and any partner program can see and book that inventory. Seats the airline sells for miles only to its own members (United's extra availability for cardholders, Lufthansa first class until close to departure, Delta's dynamic seats) are never visible to partners.

The practical search tools are the partner programs' own sites. Aeroplan, United and Air Canada show most Star Alliance space; British Airways and Qantas show oneworld space; Flying Blue and Virgin Atlantic show SkyTeam and their bilateral partners. Alaska Atmos Rewards displays its partners in one search, and Etihad and Aeroplan show each other. Some carriers, ANA in particular, release partner space that only appears on certain programs' sites.

• Search one way, one passenger first; multi-passenger searches hide flights with a single seat.
• Check the calendar view where a program offers one, since partner space clusters on off-peak dates and about 330 days out.
• Note the exact flight number, date and cabin; you will need them if the booking is made by phone.

The same seat costs a different number of miles in every program, and the gaps are large. The award chart references list the current prices side by side; the patterns that repeat:

• Fixed charts beat dynamic pricing for premium cabins. Virgin Atlantic prices a Delta One seat from the UK at 47,500 points off-peak; Delta charges 170,000 or more for the same seat.
• Distance charts favour short and medium routes. British Airways Avios on American under 650 miles, Etihad miles on American under 500 miles at 6,000 in economy, and Aeroplan under 500 miles at 6,000 points are the cheapest published prices on those carriers.
• Programs without surcharges save real money. Aeroplan, United, Alaska and American add no fuel surcharges on partners; British Airways, Miles & More, Flying Blue and KrisFlyer pass them through, which can add several hundred dollars to a transatlantic business award.
• Foreign programs often price their own alliance best. Turkish charges 22,500 miles for domestic United business class; Qantas and Cathay price Japan Airlines and Qatar below what American does.

If you hold transferable bank points, the choice of program is yours: the transfer guide explains which issuers reach which programs and how long the move takes.

Most programs book most partners online. The exceptions are stable enough to plan around: Virgin Atlantic books ANA by phone; Alaska books some partners by phone; Turkish books a few Star Alliance carriers by email or phone; Korean Air and JAL require calls for many partner awards; Etihad books partner awards by phone.

When you call, have the flight numbers, dates and cabin ready and ask the agent to search for "partner award space" on those flights. If the agent cannot see a seat that the operating airline's site shows as available, ask them to check again or call back; partner inventory is shared, but agent tools lag.

Taxes and surcharges are quoted at the end of the booking. Compare them with the program's stated policy on the chart page before confirming; a surprise surcharge usually means the program passes on the operating carrier's charges, and another program may not.

• Award tickets must be booked by the member. Every program lets the member book for someone else, but the miles cannot be moved into a stranger's account first, and several programs (JAL, Qantas, Cathay, Korean Air, British Airways) restrict who the passenger can be. See pooling and transferring miles.
• Cancellation fees differ by program, not by airline. Delta, United (mostly) and Alaska redeposit partner awards free for US members; Virgin Atlantic charges $100, Aeroplan $150, KrisFlyer $75 and Miles & More at least EUR 50.
• Stopovers are program-specific. Aeroplan sells them for 5,000 points, Alaska and KrisFlyer allow them on some awards, and most others do not. Biirdee's guide to free airline stopovers lists the programs that allow them.
• Mixed-cabin itineraries are priced by the highest cabin flown in most programs, so a business class long-haul with an economy connection often costs the full business price.