The ultimate guide (and shortcuts) to taking advantage of all the benefits when flying Star Alliance

Star Alliance is the oldest of the Atlantic alliances, established in 1997 it encompasses more than 20 airlines from around the world.

Compared to the other two major alliances, Star Alliance has more partners and flies to more locations. With more than 19 thousand flights to over 1,300 destinations in 194 countries, it is virtually impossible for there not to be a destination that is not reached by any member of this alliance.

In Europe, it is a very strong alliance since it includes all Lufthansa Group companies, as well as Aegean, Tap and Turkish.

Here are all the companies in detail:

• Aegean Airlines
• Air Canada
• Air China
• Air India
• Air New Zealand
• All Nippon Airways
• Asiana Airlines
• Austrian Airlines
• Avianca
• Brussels Airlines
• Copa Airlines
• Croatia Airlines
• EgyptAir
• Ethiopian Airlines
• Eva Air
• Lot Polish Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Scandinavian Airlines
• Shenzhen Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• Swiss
• TAP Air Portugal
• Thai
• Turkish Airlines
• United Airlines

The statuses

Once you achieve elite status in one of these companies you can get benefits that are also recognized when you fly with an alliance company. The same applies to qualifying points and miles.

There are two elite statuses: Silver and Gold. When you earn the level with an affiliated airline, you will receive the corresponding status through Star Alliance.

Star Alliance Silver

Star Alliance Silver members enjoy the following benefits:

• Priority reservation waiting list. You will have a higher priority on the waiting list if seats are not available in the class of service you wish to reserve (paid tickets only).
• Priority waiting at the airport. If your flight is canceled or your travel plans change, you will have priority on the wait list. This benefit does not apply to award tickets.

Star Alliance Gold

For Elite Star Alliance Gold members, Elite Silver benefits are added to:

• Priority check-in at the airport.
• Priority in baggage return.
• Priority boarding.
• Access to more than 1,000 Star Alliance airport lounges worldwide (when traveling on an alliance airline flight).
• Extra baggage allowance. There are some restrictions on basic-economy fares, so check in advance.
• Access to Gold Track priority safety lanes where available.

A ploy to obtain gold status "quickly"

Statuses can only be obtained by flying, but sometimes there are opportunities that can ease the way, you just have to know how to make good use of the opportunities.

If you are american express platinum cardholder, among the many benefits there is an opportunity to obtain the Jade level in Shangri-Là's Golden Circle loyalty program.

The luxury hotel chain with iconic facilities such as the hotel inside the Shard, Renzo Piano's skyscraper in London, has an interesting partnership with Singapore Airlines.

WARNING. Currently, this strategy is no longer viable for new customers since Shangri-Là is no longer an Amex partner.

Through this partnership, both loyalty programs mutually recognize each other's "status." This means that Amex holders can, once they obtain the hotel chain's Jade level, apply to Singapore Airlines for Silver level in the Krysflier program, which is also equivalent to Star Alliance's Silver.

The Silver level does not bring many benefits, however, if you plan your strategies well you will have the opportunity to take advantage of a fast track to the Gold level and, in this case, take advantage of the many benefits such as lounge access, bonus points and more.

The trick is simple. If you plan to fly with Singapore, in any eligible flight class, you only need to complete 3 flights with the airline within 4 months of match status to achieve fast track to gold, a level you can maintain for 18 months.

Lounges

They are over 1,000 lounges available for travelers around the world, at major stopovers you will be able to choose from more than one lounge or visit them all. When you have status, or travel in a class that provides access among the benefits, it is good to remember that you can access that company's class and others participating in the alliance, at no cost.

The alliance also has lounges at some major airports, usually the hubs of "competitors," where passengers from the various airlines can relax before takeoff.

You can find these lounges in: Buenos Aires (EZE), Los Angeles (LAX), Nagoya (NGO), Paris (CDG), Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Rome (FCO), Amsterdam (AMS), and São Paulo (GRU).

Prize tickets

With Star Alliance you can redeem your miles across airlines, for example if I earned them flying with Tap Portugal I can use them to fly with Singapore Airlines or United. To find out the availability of award tickets simply go to your airline's website (n.b. rules vary from carrier to carrier). Each member can decide the cost of the ticket, taxes, surcharges and most importantly seat availability.

Here are the gems of the Star Alliance program

First Class with Lufthansa

The German company's first class is one of the best first class products on the planet, with first-class service.

Being able to travel "in front of the pilot" on the iconic 747/800 is a privilege for few, not to mention the entire first-class terminal in Frankfurt (FRA) from which one reaches the plane in a Porsche.

Unfortunately, however, the airline only releases first-class award seats to Star Alliance partners 14 days before departure. Those who wish to book further in advance must use Lufthansa Miles & More miles. Considering that in Italy you can accumulate points in various ways, but not convert membership rewards, this is definitely one of the things to try at least once in a lifetime.

Even more complicated to book first class seats on Swiss, also of the Lufthansa group, in this case no hope for members of other airlines, only Miles & More Senator and HON Circle members can redeem miles to book Swiss First Class.

Singapore Airlines' bridal suite

Singapore Airlines also only allows the most exclusive seats on board its Airbus A380s to be booked through the KrisFlyer loyalty program.

If accumulating, not flying, from Italy is virtually impossible in this case we can take advantage of converting American Express points into Krisflyer points.

The happy note, TAP Portugal

In recent years this company has risen again and often presents very convenient promotions, both when it comes to flying using miles and when we talk about obtaining status. In fact, it recently launched a campaign of status match that allows you to obtain the gold level, virtually no flying.

Have you flown with these companies? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

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