What is the Oneworld Alliance?
Douglas21 Jul 2025
Last Updated: 26 Oct 2026
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DouglasLast Updated: 26 Oct 2026
At Reward Flight Finder (RFF) we frequently write articles, to provide help and advice, for people collecting British Airways Avios with the aim of redeeming them for reward flights.
Often we refer to the Oneworld alliance, a partnership between a number of international airlines, including British Airways (BA). Today, we are going to explain in more detail what the Oneworld alliance is and its relevance for British Airways Avios collectors.
An airline alliance is a formal agreement, made between two or more airlines, to cooperate on a substantial level.
Participating airlines, within an alliance, can share the burden of operational costs and access the benefits which come with greater economies of scale. For example, they can share access to terminals, pool baggage handling operations and provide ground staff support for each other, at their respective hubs.
Alliances also help airlines to retain high value, loyal customers: Providing them with access to more flights, to more places whilst retaining perks such as priority check-in and lounge access. If a passenger is a member of an airline loyalty programme, typically they will still earn points when they fly with another airline within the same alliance.
Oneworld is one of the three largest international airline alliances, along with Star Alliance and SkyTeam.
Airline alliances are not new, the first formal airline alliance started in the 1930s when PanAm, a North American airline, agreed to share routes with Panair do Brasil, which was then the largest airline in Latin America.
However, in the late 1980s, a chain of events started, which led to the creation of three rival, global airline alliances, including Oneworld. In 1989, the largest Dutch airline, KLM and US-based Northwest Airlines announced an agreement to codeshare extensively. Named the “Wings Alliance”, the agreement made sense for both parties since both airlines were struggling to compete independently on routes between Europe and the US.
Then, in 1992, The Netherlands and the USA reached a bilateral OpenSkies agreement (ahead of the collective agreement between the USA and the wider European Union). This made it easier for airlines from countries to fly to and from each other’s airports. KLM was the dominant airline at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and over the subsequent years, it progressively grew its share of the lucrative transatlantic market.
Whilst there were many twists and turns along the way, with both KLM and Northwest undergoing mergers with other airlines, the Wings Alliance was the genesis of the far larger SkyTeam alliance which was formalised in 2000.
Naturally, other airlines had been having alliance conversations of their own and were watching the Wings Alliance with interest. For example, British Airways and American Airlines had been flirting with each other for some time. But in 1997 it was a group of their largest rivals who formalised an alliance of their own. On 14 May 1997, an agreement was announced forming Star Alliance from five airlines based across three continents: United Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways, Air Canada, and Lufthansa. By far the largest airlines within this partnership were United of the USA and Lufthansa of Germany.
United was American Airlines’ largest US-based competitor and Lufthansa was a major European rival for BA. So, it came as no major surprise when, on 21 September 1998 a press conference was called in London to announce that BA and AA were joining forces to create the Oneworld airline alliance, along with Cathay Pacific, Qantas and (the now defunct) Canadian Airlines. Soon afterwards Finnair became the sixth airline to join the group.
By the end of 1999 Iberia, LAN Chile and Aer Lingus had also joined Oneworld. LAN added its subsidiaries LAN Express and LAN Perú to the alliance. Air Nostrum also became a member through its status as a subsidiary of Iberia.
In the years since several airlines have either joined or left Oneworld. Canadian Airlines was the first to go after it was bought by Air Canada, a Star Alliance member. In 2007 Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian Airlines joined Oneworld, but Aer Lingus left (largely influenced by its rival Ryanair becoming a major shareholder). 2009 saw Latin American operator Mexicana join.
In 2010 Russian airline S7 joined Oneworld but Mexicana exited less than a year after joining, following its financial collapse. A similar fate befell Malev, a Hungarian airline that was another short-lived alliance partner.
Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways joined Oneworld in 2013 and Sri Lankan Airlines became members in 2014. These were significant additions to the alliance, vastly increasing its footprint in the Middle East and South-East Asia.
More recently, Royal Air Maroc joined the Oneworld alliance in 2020, however, LATAM, which had rebranded from LAN Airlines, left in the same year after Delta acquired a significant stake. Finally, in 2021 Alaska Airlines became a member, after signing an agreement to coordinate operations more closely with American Airlines. This took the number of airlines within Oneworld to 14.
Members of the British Airways Club earn Avios and Tier Points when they fly with BA. Avios can be redeemed for awards such as reward flights and the number of Tier Points you collect in a year determines your status with the BA Club. But BA doesn’t always fly the route you want to fly.
Thankfully, members of the British Airways Club can also earn Avios and Tier Points when they fly with any other Oneworld alliance member, simply by linking their BA Club number to the reservation. Normally this can be done online at the time of booking. Most Oneworld airlines also let you add a BA Club number to your reservation via their website until 24 hours before departure. Alternatively, you call the airline’s customer services or show your BA Club card at a check-in or customer services desk.
The number of Avios earned when flying on other Oneworld airlines, is likely to be different from BA flights and also depends on the fare class booked. However, if you buy a ticket with a BA flight number, even if it is operated by another airline, you will earn Avios in the same way as on BA.
If you travel on another Oneworld alliance airline, BA should credit the Avios you earn to your account automatically, within 30 days of your flight. If you don’t see the points in your account after 30 days, you can claim them via the claim missing Avios form. Curious about how British Airways Tier Points work? You can find a full breakdown on our dedicated page here.
A key benefit of most airline alliances is the ability for frequent flyers to benefit from reciprocal agreements between member airlines, to provide travel perks to each other’s premium members.
The various Oneworld alliance airlines operate quite different loyalty schemes so, to simplify things, the alliance operates a three-tier system called Oneworld Priority. In simple terms, the higher tiers of each airline loyalty scheme within Oneworld, are matched to one of three tiers common to all Oneworld airlines.
The lowest tier is Ruby, which allows members to use business class check-in, access preferred seating, and have priority for waiting lists and standby seats. As an example, British Airways Club Bronze and American Airlines AAdvantage Gold are both matched to Oneworld Ruby.
The middle tier, Sapphire, also allows members to use business class lounges, and benefit from other perks like priority boarding and extra baggage. For example, BA Club Silver and Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold are both matched to Oneworld Sapphire. Meanwhile, top-tier Emerald members can use first-class lounges and check-in desks, as well as fast-track security lanes. Oneworld airlines will generally offer travellers, participating in partner airline programmes, the same travel benefits they provide to their own members on the equivalent tier. These perks could include a higher baggage allowance or priority boarding.
In 2018 the Oneworld alliance introduced a new concept called Oneworld Connect. The idea was to allow smaller airlines to become partners of the alliance without having to take on the commitment of becoming a fully-fledged Oneworld member.
However, Fiji Airways is the only airline that has joined the scheme to date.
Oneworld Connect airlines offer priority check-in desks (when available) and priority boarding to passengers that hold Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby status with any Oneworld member airline’s frequent flyer programme.
Oneworld Connect airlines can then work with a subset of alliance members called “sponsor airlines” to offer reciprocal benefits such as: Through ticketing/check-in, loyalty point earning/redemption and lounge access for qualifying passengers.
A common misconception is that the Oneworld alliance is part of the International Airlines Group (IAG), the owners of BA. In fact, they are two very different and separate entities.
Oneworld is an alliance of 14 airlines that have agreed to collaborate, for more efficient operations and to offer consistent travel benefits for frequent fliers.
IAG is a holding company that owns the Avios loyalty scheme and a number of airlines including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Level and Vueling. Of these, only British Airways and Iberia are Oneworld members whose loyalty scheme members directly benefit from reciprocal agreements with other Oneworld airlines.
However, because IAG also owns Avios, you can also earn and redeem Avios with both Aer Lingus and Vueling. (There are some opportunities to earn and redeem Avios with Level too, but it’s a little more complicated.)
In order to get as many frequent flyer points as you possibly can, if you travel with different airlines, you don’t have to enrol in every single airline loyalty scheme. At RFF we generally recommend that very frequent travellers consider enrolling with one scheme per airline alliance. Generally, you’ll get the most benefit by joining the scheme of the airline that has the most flights from the airports you are likely to depart from most frequently, is the largest in your country or which operates a route that you know you will regularly fly. This handy Wikipedia page can help you find out which airlines operate where and their affiliation to a major airline alliance.
If you become a member of one Oneworld airline’s loyalty programme then you’ll earn points and receive benefits with every other Oneworld airline too. By keeping all your points in one account you’ll be on the way to earning a reward flight faster too.
There are some exceptions to choosing the “local” Oneworld airline. For example, if you regularly fly BA or AA from Hong Kong it's likely you will get greater benefits joining either BA Club or AAdvantage than you will from Cathay’s Marco Polo Club.
For UK based travellers, the British Airways Club is one of the best Oneworld loyalty schemes and is likely to be your first choice. Aside from Avios for flights, you’ll be able to boost your balance when you shop at Sainsbury’s, put fuel in your car at BP or use one of the many UK based Avios partners which work with BA. Then, once you’ve got enough points in your account, check out RFF to see where they could take you!
