Airline Route Maps & Flights

Star Alliance is the largest by a wide margin — 26 member airlines flying to 1,300+ destinations across 195 countries. SkyTeam is second (19 members, 1,036 destinations) and Oneworld third (14 members, 900+). For business travellers chasing status, Star Alliance Gold (via Lufthansa Senator, ANA Diamond, United 1K) generally unlocks more lounges. For award-flight value, Oneworld via American Airlines AAdvantage often gives the cheapest premium-cabin redemptions on partner carriers.

For sub-2-hour intra-Europe or intra-Asia hops with hand luggage only, almost always yes — Ryanair, AirAsia, IndiGo, Wizz Air and Jet2 routinely beat full-service fares by 40-70% even after seat selection and small bag fees. For long-haul or family travel with checked bags, the gap closes fast. Spirit, Frontier, Allegiant, Norse Atlantic and Scoot are competitive on the headline fare but charge USD 35-65 each way for checked bags, USD 15-25 for seat selection, and sometimes USD 5 for printed boarding passes at the airport.

Five carriers actively reward layovers in their hubs with free or near-free hotel + city tours: Qatar Airways (free Discover Qatar city tour with 5h+ layover at Doha + heavily discounted +1 night stopover hotels), Emirates (USD 75 4★ stopover hotels in Dubai), Turkish Airlines (Stopover in Istanbul — free 1 or 2 nights at 4★/5★ hotels for premium-cabin pax), Singapore Airlines (free Changi heritage tour with 5.5h+ layover), Korean Air (free Incheon transit tour 1-5 hours). Book direct via the airline website; OTAs almost never surface these.

A codeshare is one airline selling seats on another airline's flight under its own flight number — your ticket says BA1700, but the metal is operated by Iberia. An interline is a baggage / through-checking agreement without selling each other's seats — useful when you're booking two separate tickets and need bags through-checked. Codeshare matters when you're using miles or chasing alliance status; interline matters when you're flying separate tickets and want luggage handled.

Regional carriers (Breeze Airways, Avelo, Allegiant in US; PAL Express, AirAsia in Asia; Volotea, SkyUp in Europe) make sense for non-hub city pairs the majors won't fly — Akron to Charleston, Krakow to Tallinn, Cebu to Kalibo. They usually beat majors by 30-50% on those routes. But baggage policy is strict (often 7kg cabin limit with weighing) and disruption recovery is weaker (smaller fleet, fewer alternate flights). For multi-leg journeys, stay on a major.