Travel guides6 min read
What an alliance actually gives you
Past the brochure, an alliance gives four concrete things:
- Earning and spending miles across carriers. Fly airline A, credit the miles to airline B's programme, and spend them on airline C.
- Status recognised everywhere in it. Priority check-in, extra baggage, lounges — on any member, not only the one you collect with.
- Baggage through-checked. On a single ticket your bags go to the final destination even when you change carrier on the way.
- Something to fall back on when it goes wrong. A delay or a missed connection on an alliance itinerary is usually easier to rebook than two unrelated tickets on two unrelated airlines.
What it does not give you: a lower fare. An alliance is not a discount scheme — two members still compete on price on the same route.
SkyTeam members selling on Vietnamese routes
Six SkyTeam carriers appear in the fare data we record:
| Airline | Code | Country | City pairs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam Airlines | VN | Vietnam | 147 |
| China Eastern Airlines | MU | China | 23 |
| China Airlines | CI | Taiwan | 13 |
| Xiamen Airlines | MF | China | 12 |
| Korean Air | KE | South Korea | 10 |
| Delta Air Lines | DL | United States | 2 |
Air France and KLM are also in SkyTeam but fly no route to Vietnam — travellers meet them on connections and codeshares.
The number worth looking at twice: 149, of which 147 is one airline
Together, SkyTeam carriers appear on 149 of the 163 city pairs TripWise.vn sells, reaching 35 of the 40 international destinations. Comfortably more than Star Alliance's 49 or Oneworld's 36.
Vietnam Airlines alone accounts for 147. Take it out and SkyTeam is left with 41 city pairs, fewer than Star Alliance. SkyTeam's reach in Vietnam is, almost entirely, the national carrier's reach.
That does not make SkyTeam less useful, but it changes how to read the number: choosing SkyTeam here is really choosing Vietnam Airlines. If you fly them often, Lotusmiles and SkyTeam fit together well. If you do not, that 149 is not yours.
The real advantage is domestic
This is where SkyTeam leaves the other two behind, and it is the part rarely mentioned: of the 71 domestic city pairs we sell, Vietnam Airlines is on 70. No Star Alliance or Oneworld carrier flies within Vietnam at all.
So nearly every domestic flight has an option that earns SkyTeam miles. For somebody travelling around Vietnam for work each week, that matters far more than a handful of international trips a year.
The other side of it: Vietjet is on 97 city pairs — the second-widest network in the country — and is in no alliance. Nor are Bamboo Airways, Sun PhuQuoc Airways or Vietravel Airlines. Flying them is cheap, but earns nothing in any alliance.
From 17 December 2026, SkyTeam gains Asiana
Asiana Airlines leaves Star Alliance on 16 December 2026 and joins SkyTeam on 17 December 2026, following its merger into Korean Air. For travellers from Vietnam, Asiana's Seoul routes move from the Star Alliance column to the SkyTeam one.
Worth noting: per the airline's own notice, earning Star Alliance programme miles on Asiana flights applies only to travel departing up to 15 October 2026. If you collect in Star Alliance and plan to fly Asiana, that date is close.
Where SkyTeam takes you from Vietnam
35 international destinations, among them Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney, Melbourne, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow and Los Angeles.
How we counted
The figures here are TripWise.vn's own fare data: 163 city pairs touching Vietnam that we sell on (each counted once, regardless of direction), reaching 40 international destinations. A city pair counts for an alliance if at least one member airline sells on it.
Common questions
Is Vietnam Airlines in SkyTeam?
Yes, and its frequent-flyer programme is Lotusmiles.
Can a Korean Air flight earn Lotusmiles?
Both are in SkyTeam, so cross-crediting works. What you earn depends on the booking class, so check against the actual fare.
Are Vietjet or Bamboo in SkyTeam?
No. Of the Vietnamese carriers only Vietnam Airlines is in an alliance; Vietjet, Bamboo, Sun PhuQuoc Airways and Vietravel Airlines are in none.
Is China Southern still in SkyTeam?
No. China Southern has left SkyTeam and belongs to no alliance, though it still flies plenty of routes to Vietnam.
Does an alliance make fares cheaper?
No. An alliance affects miles, status, through-checked baggage and what happens when a connection fails — not the price.
Read on
What Star Alliance is · What Oneworld is · Every airline selling on TripWise.vn
Need help choosing an airline?
Call +84 37 463 9192 and TripWise.vn will compare every carrier on your route and build the itinerary around the programme you collect in. For companies needing VAT invoices and credit terms, see corporate travel.
Network figures are recorded at the time of publication and change with the airlines' schedules. Alliance membership and member benefits follow each airline's own terms.
