About alliances
alliances is a reference skill for award travel planning, covering Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam membership and common mileage-booking relationships. It also highlights cross-alliance options and directs users to check the data files for current status.
Key features
- 01Reference three major airline alliances
- 02Review common mileage-booking relationships
- 03Note recent alliance membership changes
- 04Find cross-alliance booking leads
Use cases
- 01Check whether an airline and booking program share an alliance
- 02Plan award bookings across alliances or bilateral partners
- 03Verify recent changes to alliance membership
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
npx skills add https:/ / github.com/ borski/ travel-hacking-toolkit --skill alliancesAfter installing, type/alliancesin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Details
From the project READMEAlliance Awareness
Reference data: data/alliances.json
Star Alliance, oneworld, and SkyTeam determine which loyalty programs can book which airlines. This is fundamental to award travel. When recommending an award booking, always verify the airline and the booking program are in the same alliance (or have a bilateral partnership).
Key Booking Relationships
- United MileagePlus books Star Alliance (ANA, Lufthansa, Singapore, Turkish, etc.)
- Aeroplan books Star Alliance plus extended partners (including Etihad, Emirates on some routes)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club books ANA, Delta, Air France, KLM (cross-alliance)
- AAdvantage books oneworld (Cathay, JAL, Qantas, Qatar, BA, etc.)
- Flying Blue books SkyTeam (Air France, KLM, Delta, Korean Air, etc.)
- Korean Air SKYPASS books SkyTeam
- Avianca LifeMiles books Star Alliance (often cheaper than United/Aeroplan)
Recent Alliance Changes
Verify against data/alliances.json for current state. These have shifted recently:
- SAS moved from Star Alliance to SkyTeam (September 2024)
- ITA Airways left SkyTeam (early 2025), joining Star Alliance (first half 2026)
- Fiji Airways upgraded to full oneworld member (2025)
- Hawaiian Airlines joining oneworld (April 2026)
Cross-Alliance Bookings Are Where Real Value Hides
The best redemptions often involve booking an airline through a program in a DIFFERENT alliance (or no alliance at all). Always check the cross_alliance_highlights section of data/alliances.json and data/partner-awards.json.
Examples of cross-alliance plays:
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club books ANA First Class (legendary sweet spot)
- Etihad Guest books AAdvantage routes
- Alaska Mileage Plan books Starlux (independent airline)
Partner Awards Reference
For the full picture of which programs ticket which airlines, plus bilateral partnerships outside alliances, load the partner-awards skill or read data/partner-awards.json directly.