The Lufthansa Group announced last week that ITA Airways will officially join the Miles&More program as of April 1. What is being described as a “major milestone” will not change much in practice for now, as all parties have been working toward this for some time. Miles&More miles have already been awarded for ITA flights since February 2025, and reciprocal status benefits are also already in place.
A different step is far more significant. ITA is set to finally become an official member of the Star Alliance on April 1, 2026. This has not been officially announced by either ITA or Lufthansa, but LoyaltyLobby uncovered the following statement on the Air China website:
ITA Airways (AZ) will officially join Star Alliance on April 1, 2026, and will begin a frequent flyer program partnership with Air China effective that date.
Starting April 1, 2026, you can earn tier-qualifying miles and segments when traveling on flights operated by ITA Airways. If you are a PhoenixMiles elite member, you will also be eligible for corresponding Star Alliance elite benefits. Additionally, you can use your miles to redeem award tickets and upgrades on flights operated by ITA Airways and bearing ITA Airways flight numbers.
Announcement on AirChina.com.cn from March 17, 2026 – translated with DeepL
From April onwards, it should therefore be possible to earn miles for ITA flights with all Star Alliance frequent flyer programs. In addition, the usual alliance-wide status benefits such as lounge access, additional baggage allowance (except Light fares), etc. will apply. Redeeming miles should also be possible across all programs. However, it may take some time beyond April 1 for all systems to be fully updated.
As already announced last year, ITA Airways’ own loyalty program, ITA Volare, will be discontinued as part of this transition. A transfer of miles to Miles&More is not planned. Only a few redemption partners will remain, which are likely to be even less attractive than the previous award flight options.
In addition to Miles&More, there are already partnerships with two other Star Alliance frequent flyer programs: United MileagePlus and Aeroplan. Both airlines are close partners of Lufthansa within the AA+ joint venture, and ITA is expected to be integrated there as well in the future.
Sources: Air China | via LoyaltyLobby