Booking a flight can occasionally produce something that looks a little strange.
The ticket might have an American Airlines or Delta flight number, even though the flight is operated by another airline. Or the same flight might appear in a search twice, each time with a different airline and flight number.
That’s usually a codeshare partnership at work.
The basic idea is pretty simple: one airline operates the flight, while another can sell seats on that flight under its own flight number. That lets airlines sell trips to places they don’t actually fly themselves and makes it easier to combine flights from different airlines.
How a Codeshare Works
Say American Airlines sells a ticket from Fort Lauderdale to London via Philadelphia.
American can operate the first flight to Philadelphia, while a partner airline handles the flight to London. Thanks to a codeshare agreement, American can sell both flights together as one itinerary.
That partner flight can even carry an American flight number when it appears on AA.com. Look a little closer, though, and there should be language such as “Operated by British Airways.”
That’s the important distinction.
The operating airline is the airline whose plane and crew are actually flying the flight. The marketing airline is the airline selling that flight under its own flight number. One airplane can therefore show up under multiple flight numbers.
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Why Codeshares Matter
For airlines, codeshares expand the destinations they can sell without adding more planes or routes.
For passengers, the useful part is being able to combine flights from different airlines into one booking. That can mean checking in with the airline operating the first flight and having checked bags transferred between airlines rather than collecting and rechecking them along the way.
There are still a few things worth knowing about. The operating airline determines things such as the aircraft, seats, and onboard service, while baggage rules, mileage earning, and elite-status benefits can vary depending on which airline sold and operated the flight.
At the airport, check in with the airline operating the first flight, not necessarily the airline whose flight number is printed most prominently on the ticket.
Codeshare flight numbers are also primarily for cash tickets. When booking with miles, the award will typically use the flight number of the airline actually operating the flight rather than a partner’s codeshare number.
That distinction can matter when comparing cash and award options. PointsYeah’s Miles Fare Search maps available codeshare flights when there’s a corresponding cash fare, making it easier to recognize when two differently numbered results are actually the same flight.
So when another airline’s name appears underneath the flight number, don’t ignore it.
American and Starlux Are the Latest Example
American Airlines and Starlux Airlines announced a new codeshare partnership effective September 30.
The arrangement lets the airlines sell certain flights operated by the other under their own flight numbers. For American, that can connect its U.S. network with Starlux flights across the Pacific and beyond Taipei. Starlux can similarly sell connections onto American flights in the U.S.
It doesn’t mean American is suddenly flying its own planes to all of those destinations. The plane might belong to Starlux and the flight attendants might work for Starlux, but the flight can still show up as part of an American itinerary.
That little “operated by” line tells the story.
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