Choose to be a member of the right alliance for more comfortable business travel

Frequent travellers have it all sorted out. Arrive at the airport before the check-in window closes, use the preferred access to get ahead in the queue and board the plane first. At the other end, their bags arrive on priority and the miles are credited into their account.

People assume that the only way to earn tons of air miles is to stick to flying one airline. But, that is not entirely possible if you travel internationally and go places your usual airline does not go. So, while you should have a primary airline, a domestic carrier which helps you commute between your usual ports, you should stay within the same airline’s partner set every time you fly.

Various airlines come together time and time again to create partnerships. These partnerships could be one-on-one, for instance, between Singapore Airlines and Vistara (where Singapore Airlines is a shareholder) or KLM/Air France and Jet Airways, who entered an enhanced cooperation agreement a year ago. Here, the airlines collaborate on schedules and hand-off their passengers to the other for the last mile.

When multiple airlines became partners on a many-many basis, these partnerships came to be known as airline alliances such as the Star Alliance. For instance, if you are loyal to Star Alliance and want to fly from Mumbai to Brazil, you can choose to fly Air India to New York JFK, and then fly Copa Airlines to Panama and eventually to Brasilia on one ticket. Flying inside the alliance has a lot of benefits for members. For one, the tickets are joined and facilities are shared. If you missed your Copa flight due to the delayed arrival of Air India, you would be automatically rebooked on another flight to get you to your destination. Star Alliance and the member airlines offer access to a more than 1,000 lounges worldwide. In London Heathrow, they share a terminal—all Star Alliance members operate from Terminal 2, including Air India.

Second, you can now consolidate points across any of the partner airlines. For instance, you can earn miles for your Star Alliance flights on United’s Mileage Plus, or Avianca’s LifeMiles, while flying any Star Alliance member carrier including Air India and Singapore Airlines. Pro Tip: See if you would be interested in Asiana’s Asiana Club as your primary Star Alliance programme. You have to credit 40,000 miles worth of flights within two years to get Gold Status, and your status lasts for two years when it arrives. It is one of the lowest milestones to qualify for Star Alliance Gold.

Third, and the most important one, common treatment across the board. Figure this: You are an Air India Maharajah Club member, which makes you a Star Alliance Gold member. Star Alliance Gold members are offered Priority Check-in, Priority Boarding and Business Class lounge access across all member carriers.

You could be flying Air Canada to Toronto from India, since Air India doesn’t operate a direct flight . Even when flying Economy, you’d get to be invited to the lounge by Air Canada for a meal before your flight, and they would deliver your bag first on the other side, 15 hours later.

A lesser known benefit—Star Alliance miles from one programme can be used for upgrades on the other airlines as well.

You could book flights with your home airline, and when you need to fly to a destination not covered by your primary airline, you choose another airline from the alliance. Make sure you use the same membership number as your primary membership to get your benefits on the other carriers. SkyTeam and oneworld Alliance are the other alliances of note. Oneworld is the smallest collection of airlines, but it has some marquee names on the list and benefits better than Star Alliance.

The additional benefits that accrue to oneworld top-tier members include access to the First Class facilities of the airlines. Once you reach oneworld Emerald equivalent status, British Airways’ Executive Club’s Gold status or American Airlines’ AAdvantage Executive Platinum status, for instance, you can walk up to the airlines’ First Class counters to check-in and access the First Class lounge.

Alliances are not going to go away anytime soon, and if you go far and wide for business or leisure, it is a good idea to pick the right alliance for yourself so you can optimize the benefits.

Elevate Your Travel is a column for the business travellers by a business traveller. Ajay Awtaney is the founder and editor of LiveFromALounge.com, a frequent-flyer website.