Why airline alliances are important

I have an avid fan of my blog, my mom.  Last week she told me she tried following the link from my June 29, 2012 blog so she could get her free 500 Delta miles but she couldn’t get the link to work.   I remember the phone conversation.   It went something like this,

Me:            “Mom what do you mean the link didn’t work?”
Mom:         “I tried filling in the information but I got stuck.”
Me:            “Mom where did you get stuck?”
Mom:         “When it asked for my Delta mileage number.”
Me:             "Mom, you don’t have a Delta mileage number.”
Mom:          “Oh that must have been the problem.”

That got me to thinking about what to write in today’s post.   I want to explain the importance of signing up for airline mileage plans, even if you don’t fly a lot or rarely fly a particular airline.

It kills me when my friends tell me they travel without earning miles. They usually give the excuse that they are not loyal to a particular airline and just fly what ever airline is cheapest.  If this is also your thought process please keep reading.  There are three major airline alliances in the United States: Star, OneWorld and Skyteam. An airline alliance is an agreement between two or more airlines to cooperate on a substantial level.

The Star Alliance consists of some of the following airlines: United, US Airways, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Air China. 

The Oneworld Alliance includes some of the following airlines: American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific. Japan Airlines, Lan, and Quantas

Finally, the Skyteam Alliance contains some of the following: Delta, Air France, and KLM.

Click on the above links if you want to see all the airlines in each alliance.

So what does all this mean?  Lets say, I fly British Airways to London, and I don't have a British Airways frequent flyer number.  I can show British Airways my Alaska airlines frequent mileage card and earn miles with Alaska.  I may never fly British Airways again so knowing who is part of an alliance or who the partners are is very important.

My recommendation is to pick an alliance and try to stick to it.  At a minimum try and focus on one particular airline in each of the three alliances.

I have included the sign up links for some of the major U.S. airlines.  

American

United

Delta

Alaska

Sign up for all of them so when I post for free miles you already have an airline number and you are not like my mom, (sorry mom), trying to get free miles without an account.