Loyalty Register glossary
SkyTeam
A global airline alliance founded in 2000 whose member airlines connect networks and recognize each other's frequent flyers, including Elite Plus members.
SkyTeam is one of the three global airline alliances. It was founded on June 22, 2000, by Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and Korean Air, and according to member airline SAS it had 19 full members in 2024, serving more than 1,050 destinations in 166 countries. Like the other alliances, SkyTeam connects its members’ networks and lets frequent flyers earn, redeem and use status benefits across them. It does not run a points currency of its own.
Updated · By Loyalty Register Editorial TeamRelated terms
How does SkyTeam status work?
Alliance status is a layer on top of each member airline’s program. A traveler earns status in one airline’s frequent flyer program, and that status is recognized across the alliance at a matching level. SkyTeam Elite Plus is one such alliance level: Elite Plus members, along with passengers in premium cabins, receive SkyTeam’s SkyPriority airport services, such as priority check-in, boarding and baggage handling, on member airlines.
Who pays for alliance benefits?
The airline that delivers a benefit bears the cost of it at the time: the partner that opens its lounge or gives priority boarding to another airline’s elite member. Alliances and their members agree rules and, where needed, payments for these services. Miles work similarly. When a member earns on a partner flight, the miles land in the home program, which generally pays the operating airline for that activity under their bilateral terms. When a member redeems on a partner, the home program pays for the seat.
Is SkyTeam status equally hard to earn everywhere?
No. Each member airline sets its own qualification rules and thresholds, and some use spend, others distance, segments or a combination. The same alliance status can therefore take very different amounts of travel depending on the program a traveler chooses. Experienced travelers often credit their flights to whichever member program gives them the alliance status they want at the lowest cost.
What does this mean for program design?
For an airline inside SkyTeam, its tier thresholds decide who receives benefits that partners provide, so tier changes have effects beyond its own network. For any business running a partner network, alliances show both the appeal and the difficulty of shared status: members value recognition across many brands, but the label only holds its value if the paths to it are broadly comparable and the costs of honoring it are shared fairly.