The Star Alliance is the world’s largest alliance. One of the key distinguishing features is the lack of first class lounge access.

What is the Star Alliance?

The Star Alliance is a collection of 25 airlines from around the world and is the current largest. The alliance was founded in 1997, making it the oldest airline alliance (before oneworld in 1999 and SkyTeam in 2000).

The founding members of the alliance are Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways, and United Airlines. However, SAS is no longer part of Star Alliance.

Additionally, note that some airlines have Low Cost Carrier (LCC) subsidiaries (for example, Singapore Airlines has Scoot). These separately-run LCCs do not count as Star Alliance. This distinction becomes important if you’re trying to maximize your benefits.

Alliances standardize benefits across member airlines

You can think of alliances as a bunch of airline partnerships that are intended to make travel and ticketing easier from origin to destination. Let’s say you’re looking to fly from Thailand to Brazil. You might not find many (or any) options exclusively on one airline. What becomes helpful, then, is the ability to book a ticket that makes this journey as painless as possible. Thankfully, alliances make several things easier:

• Optimized connections to reduce layover time.
• Baggage checked through to the final destination when booked as a single ticket, subject to local laws.
• Recognition of elite status with one airline across alliance airlines.
• Lounge access may be possible throughout your journey depending on your elite status.

However, one important thing should be noted. Not all alliances treat flying on separate tickets the same as flying on a single ticket. In particular, the oneworld alliance doesn’t extend through-checked baggage to itineraries booked on separate tickets.

However, in general you can expect Star Alliance to allow this, which is great. It’s also generally more acceptable with Star Alliance than it is with SkyTeam.

Star Alliance elite status levels

There are three different levels of elite status within Star Alliance: Silver and Gold. The benefits are broken out as follows by tier:

• Star Alliance Silver
  • Priority on waitlists and when on standby
    
• Star Alliance Gold
  • Access to business class lounges and priority check-in
  • Priority on waitlists and when on standby
  • Priority boarding
  • ‘Fast Track’ or ‘Gold track’ access when available
  • Receive an extra checked bag or 20 kg for free
  • Priority baggage handling
  • Upgrade to Business First on Heathrow Express for member + 1 guest by purchasing an Express Class ticket and showing your elite status

Most benefits only come when having Gold status. It’s also fair to say that the Star Alliance is by far the weakest alliance for their first elite status level. Earning Star Alliance status is as easy as just having the corresponding status at a member airline, as listed in the following chart:

Star Alliance lounge access

Star Alliance Gold members can visit eligible lounges when flying a member airline same-day. These lounges are typically business class lounges. Importantly, there are a few rules you’ll need to follow:

• The member (plus one guest) may visit an eligible lounge only when flying on a Star Alliance airline. An accompanying guest needs to fly on the same flight as the elite member.
• The flight must depart same-day unless it departs before 5AM. If it does, access is provided the day before departure.
• If your boarding pass does not display your Gold status, you will need to separately show your valid Gold status.
• If there is no Star Alliance lounge at the airport, elite members may receive access to the some contract lounges.
• International first class customers (plus one guest) have access to some first class lounges operated by Star Alliance member airlines.
• International business class customers have access to any designated Star Alliance business class lounge when flying a Star Alliance airline.
• It’s up to each member airline to set the access rules for non-rev customers.

Unlike the oneworld alliance, you won’t get access to first class lounges with status alone. First class lounges will require flying first class.

The oddities of Star Alliance lounge access rules

Glancing through the rules above, you’ll see that both business class customers and Star Gold customers get access to eligible lounges. However, there is no guarantee that these end up being the same lounges. Sometimes Star Gold customers get access to a lounge better than business class customers, and sometimes it’s a worse lounge.

Some examples:

• Lufthansa (and its affiliated airlines) have Senator lounges, which Star Gold members can access, that are better than the standard business class lounge.
• Singapore Airlines have KrisFlyer Gold lounges, which Star Gold members can access, that are worse than the standard business class lounge (SilverKris).
• United Airlines have United Clubs, which non-United Star Gold members can access, that are worse than the standard international business class lounge (Polaris).

Aside from these examples, you can generally expect business class customers and Star Gold members to have access to the same lounges.

Notable exceptions

There are several exceptions to note regarding lounge access:

• Elites with United’s MileagePlus do not get access to United Clubs when flying domestically in the United States.
• For international first class customers, the following lounges can only be accessed by customers flying that specific airline:
  • Lufthansa HON/First Class Lounges in Frankfurt and Munich
  • SWISS HON/First Class Lounges in Zurich and Geneva
  • Austrian HON/First Class Lounges in Vienna
  • Thai Airways Spa Lounge in Bangkok
  • Singapore Airlines The Private Room in Singapore

However, if you are an elite member of a program other than United MileagePlus, you do get lounge access to United Clubs regardless of itinerary. For that reason, having status with a foreign program (like Lufthansa) is superior to United MileagePlus from a lounge access standpoint.

Suggested reading:

• Review: EVA The Infinity & The Star Lounges
• Review: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge YYZ (Transborder / US Flights)
• Copa Club PTY Terminal 2 Review