<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by gogoflyer:
[B]So, partners are all the airlines in the alliance of the major airline?
/B]</font>
Close. There are three major alliances: Star, Oneworld, and Skyteam. Yes, each of the airlines within each alliance are partners with eachother.
However, airlines also have partnerships with other airlines outside their alliances.
Take United for example: they are "partners' with those airlines that are members of the Star Alliance.
In addition, they have several other airline partners. This includes airlines like Emirates (not a member of any alliance currently) and even Delta (members of Skyteam).
Sorry if I confused you. I was just trying to point out that the airlines you are looking at (United and American) have partnerships beyond their respective alliances. Basically, just something else to compare as it can open up other mileage earning possibilities.
Happy travels!
[This message has been edited by StudentExplorer (edited 07-20-2003).]