Oneworld is the third largest Airline Alliance in the world after Star Alliance and SkyTeam. It has some great airline members with excellent connectivity across the globe. Let’s find out more about this Alliance and how Indian Travellers can make the most out of it.
Check here for the official website.
What is Oneworld Alliance?
The Oneworld Alliance was formed in 1999. It has 13 members, with Oman Air joining as the 14th in 2025. Other airlines like StarLux have also shown interest in Joining the alliance.
Direct Oneworld Alliance Airlines to India
In Oneworld Alliance, there are no Airlines from India. However, many of these Alliance airlines have direct flights to India. Nine Oneworld Airlines fly directly to India, and the number of destinations they fly to:
- American Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Finnair
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas
- Qatar Airways
- Srilankan Airlines
Oman Air also flies to India.
Related: Find Flights Based on Alliance with Google Flights.
What are Oneworld Alliance Statuses?
Oneworld Alliance has three statuses, the only one to have three statuses. Three OneWorld Alliance statuses are based on your elite status with the airlines.
- Ruby Status
- Sapphire Status
- Emerald Status
Benefits of Oneworld Alliance Status
The most significant benefit of having an alliance status is sharing benefits across alliance member airlines, such as earning miles, etc.
Ruby Status Benefits
This least elite status gets you benefits such as:
- Priority Airport Stand-by
- Priority Reservation Waitlist
- Preferred seating options
Sapphire Status Benefits
You usually want to be in this tier to maximise the benefits of the alliance. These benefits are:
- Priority Baggage Handling
- Extra Baggage Allowance
- Access to Business Class Lounges
- Priority Boarding
- Access to First Class or Business Class Priority Check-in
- All Ruby Status Benefits
These benefits, such as an extra baggage allowance, priority check-in, priority baggage handling, and access to the airport lounge, even if you travel in economy class, are substantial cost savers.
Emerald Status Benefits
Out of the three alliance statuses, Emerald is the highest status. However, the benefits are not too significant. With this status, you get the following additional benefits over Sapphire Status:
- Fast Track or Priority Lane at Select Airports
- Access to First Class & Business Class Lounges
- All Sapphire Status Benefits
Out of the above benefits, “Fast Track” is of great value since it allows you to save considerable time and relax more. Besides that, even having a “Sapphire Status” will work for most travellers.
How do you get an Oneworld Alliance Status in India?
The easiest way to earn a OneWorld Alliance status in India is by having an IndusInd Avios Credit Card (Qatar Airways Variant). This gives you Qatar Airways Gold status, equivalent to Sapphire status. However, this is only applicable in the first year. After that, you must spend INR 3 Lakhs on Qatar Airways with the card to retain the status. Occasionally, there could be exciting opportunities to earn OneWorld Elite Status like this. Also, some airlines offer Status Match offers like Royal Air Maroc did a few months ago.
Check here for the status you can get based on your Member Airline status.
Oneworld Lounge Access
With over 600+ lounges worldwide, you can relax at most international airports. As a Sapphire or Emerald member, you get free access to these lounges even if you are flying in economy class. If you don’t have these statuses, then the Business class or first class cabin tickets can get you access to these lounges.
However, there are some exceptions to access, for example, for Srilankan Airlines, Platinum or Gold members travelling in economy class to or from airports of Male, Gan, Trivandrum, Tiruchirappalli, Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore, Cochin, Coimbatore and Hyderabad.
You can find the Airport-Wise Oneworld Alliance lounges here.
List of Lounges excluded for Sapphire and Emerald members:
- American Airlines, British Airways Lounge at JFK Terminal 8
- British Airways Concorde Lounges
- Qatar Airways’ Al Safwa First and Al Mourjan Business Lounge, along with Premium lounges, are in Doha.
- Qatar Airways Business Class Lite Fare
- Finnair Business Class Lite Fare
American Airlines, Alaska Airlines & Qantas offer a paid lounge access program.
Which are the best Oneworld Alliance Airlines for Indian Travelers?
The best Oneworld Alliance Airlines for Indian flight travellers depends on the part of the world they frequently visit.
Best for Asia and Oceania: Malaysia Airlines
For Indian travellers, the best Oneworld airline member for travelling in Asia and Oceania is Malaysia Airlines. It has good connectivity in over 50% of Asian and Oceania countries. Also, you will most likely have the cheapest ticket to Australia from India. Cathay Pacific is also a good option. However, it flies from only three Indian cities, unlike Malaysian Airlines, which flies from multiple destinations.
Best Airways for America: Qatar Airways
While researching the best Oneworld alliance airlines to America, we found multiple airlines based on the destinations you want to fly to. Sometimes, Finnair or Cathay Pacific worked well at a very low cost. However, Qatar Airways made it to the list due to its connectivity to India. Interestingly, American Airlines was more expensive than most airlines at a few locations.
Bonus: British Airways is an underdog as it has excellent connectivity across all major countries of America. But Qatar has good cost options for the USA from India.
Best Airlines for Europe: Finnair
Our Pick for the best Oneworld Alliance Airlines for Europe is Finnair. This is due to the low ticket prices as compared to British Airways. Also, few European countries are best served by Qatar Airways due to proximity. However, Finnair’s cost will be mostly lower until you combine the Indigo tickets with Qatar Airways.
Best for Africa: Qatar Airways
So we have Qatar Airways again. It shows how important it is for the Oneworld Alliance. Qatar Airways has fantastic connectivity to Africa, especially to South Africa.
How to choose your best Oneworld Alliance Airlines?
The easiest way to determine your best Oneworld Alliance Airlines is to the destination you frequently travel to. At the same time, the Airlines should have better connectivity, points earning and redemption options. For Example, Qatar Airways works well if you frequently travel to Africa, some cities in America or even a few European cities. However, the best thing here is that you don’t have many airlines to choose from.
Reward Flight Search
The two best options for searching for Reward Flights for Star Alliance Airlines are:
- American Airlines
- Cathay Pacific: Asia Miles
- Qatar Airways/British Airways: Avios
However, the miles required for your destinations may vary when booking with these frequent flyer programs. You will most likely shell out huge fuel charges while booking with Avios, but Cathay Pacific charges a bit less than Avios. You can transfer your American Express Points to Asia Miles while there is a points transfer offer. Even though opportunities to earn AA miles are less, the miles requirement isn’t significant.
Bottomline
Oneworld Alliance is great for Indian Travellers only because of a few airlines. Apart from that, there is nothing a regular Indian traveller can get. Even sticking to Qatar Airways or Malaysia Airlines can work if you want to be out of Oneworld Alliance. So, this alliance is not for everyone out here in India.
