The Alitalia successor ITA Airways left the SkyTeam alliance in spring 2025 and is expected to join the Star Alliance next year. A partnership with Miles&More already exists.
Now, a cooperation between ITA Airways and United Airlines has also been announced. Effective immediately, mutual mileage accrual is possible. In addition, ITA status customers may access United lounges on United flights, and vice versa.
Further benefits, such as free baggage and priority check-in, are expected to follow once ITA officially becomes a Star Alliance member (likely in 2026).
Mutual mileage accrual
When flying with ITA Airways, the following mileage credits apply starting yesterday (September 9), depending on booking class:
In addition to award miles, status miles (PQP) are also credited, which is rather unusual for a non-alliance partner. For tickets booked through United, the crediting of award and status miles is revenue-based as usual.
When flying with United, passengers can collect miles with ITA Volare. However, this is hardly worth mentioning since the program will be discontinued at the end of 2025, and it remains unclear what will happen with existing miles. Those interested in the accrual details can find the table on the ITA website.
Feel free to use our miles calculator to see how many miles you’d get for any route:
Lounge access
The following rules apply for lounge access:
- ITA Volare members with Premium or Executive status can access United Clubs on United Airlines flights (location overview). One guest is also allowed.
- United MileagePlus members with Gold, Platinum, 1K, or GS status may access ITA Airways lounges on all ITA flights (location overview). Presumably, one guest is allowed here as well.
More information is available in the ITA Airways FAQ or at United Airlines.
Source: LoyaltyLobby
Cover Picture: Photo by Aron Marinelli on Unsplash