How to book Star Alliance flights using PayRewards Points 

With 25 airlines under its wing, Star Alliance holds the title of the world’s largest airline alliance. Its members can take you to a staggering 1,160 airports worldwide – with over 50 of those serving as major hubs for Star Alliance’s carriers.

Although no Australian carrier participates in Star Alliance, it’s a breeze to secure reward flights across the Star Alliance network using PayRewards Points. You can directly convert your PayRewards Points over to four key Star Alliance frequent flyer programs. And for that matter, another four of our transfer partners can also get you aboard a Star Alliance flight.

With so much flexibility, it pays to consider several options when planning and booking a Star Alliance adventure. Taking advantage of PayRewards’ flexibility could see you securing the same seat on the same flight, but using fewer points than you were expecting.

Which airlines belong to Star Alliance?

Star Alliance has members spread across New Zealand, North America, South America and Africa, for starters. It also has a significant presence across Asia and Europe. More than half of all Star Alliance carriers globally will fly to Australia by the end of 2025.

Currently in Australian skies, there’s Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand and All Nippon Airways (ANA), to start. The list continues with Asiana Airlines, EVA Air, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines. China’s Shenzhen Airlines will make its debut Down Under from late December with a new Melbourne route.

Elsewhere, Star Alliance also counts Greece’s Aegean Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Avianca, Brussels Airlines and Copa Airlines as members. The same is true of Croatia Airlines, Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, and TAP Air Portugal.

The best thing about Star Alliance is that you can use points or miles from one Star Alliance frequent flyer program to book reward flights with that not only with that ‘home’ airline, but with every other Star Alliance carrier as well.

PayRewards’ direct Star Alliance airline transfer partners

We’re excited to have four of the leading Star Alliance frequent flyer programs as direct transfer partners from PayRewards. By converting your PayRewards Points to any of these partners, you could ultimately book reward seats, subject to availability, for travel to 192 countries worldwide.

But which program is best to help get you there? Each program has its own strengths and sweet spots – here’s the inside scoop.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Your PayRewards Points can become Air Canada Aeroplan points by converting from PayRewards at a 2.5:1 rate. Aeroplan is one of Star Alliance’s stronger options for booking partner airline reward flights using points. Here’s why.

Best for:

• Great online booking experience with almost every partner airline reward flight searchable and bookable through Air Canada’s website.

• Advantageous redemption rates on journeys from Australia to Asia, and within Europe. Book Sydney-Singapore for 45,000 Aeroplan points in business class, or business class flights within Europe from just 15,000 Aeroplan points.
• No carrier charges are levied in cash on any airline reward booking through Aeroplan. This can slash the co-payment amount by hundreds of dollars per person per flight on some routes, compared to other programs.

Keep in mind:

• On Air Canada itself, reward rates are based on dynamic pricing. This can sometimes make it more appealing to book Air Canada flights through other airline programs instead.

• Selected partner airline flights are also beginning to adopt dynamic pricing, so keep an eye on redemption rates and check what’s available before transferring PayRewards Points.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Another Star Alliance option at your fingertips is Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. You can convert your PayRewards Points into KrisFlyer miles at a 2.5:1 rate.

Best for:

• Greatest access to premium cabin reward seats on Singapore Airlines, especially on long-haul flights and premium-heavy routes.

• One of the only frequent flyer programs through which you can book Singapore Airlines Suites and First Class.

• No carrier charges on Singapore Airlines reward flights.

• The ability to add a stopover in Singapore at no extra mileage cost on eligible reward bookings.

Keep in mind:

• Singapore Airlines rarely releases ‘Saver’ reward seats in First Class to Australia. And it’s been a long time since we’ve seen ‘Saver’ rewards in Suites on Australian A380 routes. Instead, these are often charged at the higher ‘Advantage’ rates.

• Carrier charges on partner airline flights are payable, where applicable. In markets like Europe, this can represent a significant portion of what would otherwise be a paid airfare, which can make other booking strategies more appealing in that market.

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus

Sticking with Asia, you can also convert your PayRewards Points into Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus miles at a 3:1 rate.

Best for:

• Access to reward seats on Thai Airways’ own flights, especially in business class.

• Can be advantageous for domestic flights within Thailand.

Keep in mind:

• Traditionally, most partner airline reward bookings required a phone call – especially if the origin was anywhere other than Bangkok. Thai Airways has improved its website this year and online bookings are becoming more achievable. But understand that you may still need to call.

• Thai Airways’ frequent flyer members generally aren’t able to book Singapore Airlines reward flights in business class on premium aircraft types like the Airbus A380, Boeing 777 and Airbus A350. This is a restriction placed by Singapore Airlines on many partner frequent flyer programs – not just Royal Orchid Plus.

United MileagePlus

Our most recent addition to PayRewards’ Star Alliance lineup is the MileagePlus program of United Airlines. You can transfer your PayRewards Points to MileagePlus at a 3:1 rate.

Best for:

• Premium cabin reward seat access on United Airlines’ own flights – especially United premium economy, which isn’t bookable through the other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs above.

• The ability to weave Virgin Australia domestic connections into international Star Alliance reward bookings. For instance, flying Virgin Australia from Brisbane to Sydney and Air China from Sydney to Beijing all on the one ticket. Even though Virgin Australia and Air China don’t have their own bilateral partnership.

• Online reward seat search is easy to browse on calendar view, to help uncover all options.

Keep in mind:

• Reward travel on United flights often comes at a premium. For instance, Sydney-Los Angeles in United Polaris (business class) usually starts at 100,000 United miles. But on many dates, the rate can be 2-3x that amount to secure a seat. It’s the opportunity to pay more miles to travel, where through other programs, you’d just see no availability.

• The same restriction on Singapore Airlines premium cabin flights as Royal Orchid Plus.

Other ways your PayRewards Points can get you flying with Star Alliance

Quite often, airlines forge partnerships outside of their core alliance family. This provides even greater opportunities for securing reward flights using points – as you don’t necessarily need to have miles in a Star Alliance program to fly with Star Alliance.

For instance, you can use Qantas Points to book Air New Zealand domestic flights. And you can convert your PayRewards Points into Qantas Points at a 2:1 rate via Qantas Business Rewards.

Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer program can also get you flying with five Star Alliance airlines. Via the Virgin Australia website, you can redeem Velocity Points with Air Canada, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Singapore Airlines, and United Airlines. You can also book South African Airways flights by calling Velocity.

For all those partners, you can convert your PayRewards Points to Virgin Australia Business Flyer at a 2:1 rate, and then onwards to any personal Velocity account at parity. Just note, you can’t book Singapore Airlines First Class or Suites using Velocity Points. But if you’re in a bind and already have Velocity Points, you can convert them into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles at a 1.55:1 rate.

There are two other PayRewards partners that you might not have considered for Star Alliance flights. One is Cathay: a 3:1 conversion from PayRewards. Through Cathay, you can spend Asia Miles on Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, and SWISS. You’ll just have to call Cathay to secure flights on most of those partners.

SkyTeam’s Vietnam Airlines can also be your ticket to travelling with ANA. It’s an option worth considering if you’ve already converted your PayRewards Points into Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles (a 3:1 conversion) and you’re looking for something to spend them on. But programs like Velocity and Aeroplan are generally better for ANA if your points are still with PayRewards.

Wherever you’re headed, PayRewards Points can likely take you there with Star Alliance. By learning more about our Star Alliance partners and those other conversion options, you can scope out the best mileage deal every time you travel. And it all starts with PayRewards.

Written by Chris Chamberlin

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About the author

Chris enjoys making the most of frequent flyer points, which have taken him around the world – usually, at the front of the plane. He’s travelled over 1.5 million miles sampling the best in Business Class and First Class. That’s further than three return trips to the moon! Chris is based at Point Hacks' Melbourne office as News Editor, and shares his experiences via @chris_chamberlin on Instagram. When he’s not travelling, he enjoys tennis, keeping fit, and discovering new gins.