ITA Airways Is Joining Star Alliance, But I Still Got Air France Miles and SkyTeam Perks

New Italian flag carrier ITA Airways has made headlines for the last few years.

One reason is that ITA is transitioning to Star Alliance after leaving the SkyTeam alliance on April 30, 2025.

The move has considerable implications for passengers accustomed to crediting ITA Airways flights to Delta SkyMiles or another SkyTeam carrier’s program — what does it mean for them going forward?

Thankfully, for now, crediting flights to SkyTeam carriers is still possible. I easily credited a recent ITA flight to my Air France Flying Blue account, and the same applies to anyone wishing to credit ITA flights to a Delta SkyMiles account.

Travelers flying with ITA may also see Sky Priority signs at airports and enjoy SkyTeam airline benefits when flying the Italian flag carrier.

Let’s take a look in more detail.

Crediting Miles to SkyTeam Airlines Before ITA Moves To Star Alliance

Italy’s ITA Airways was bought by European giant Lufthansa Group, which also owns Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa, and SWISS. The conglomerate now owns a 41% stake in ITA, the airline that replaced the now-defunct Alitalia.

As Lufthansa is a founding member of Star Alliance (and an airline cannot be a member of 2 airline alliances), ITA was forced to leave the SkyTeam alliance and become a full Star Alliance member.

ITA cut all ties with SkyTeam on April 30 but won’t complete its transition to Star Alliance fully until 2026.

Until then, ITA is in an unusual limbo situation, as it no longer officially belongs to any airline alliance.

However, as I recently discovered, it’s still possible to credit ITA flights to SkyTeam carrier loyalty programs, such as Delta SkyMiles.

In my case, I could credit my recent premium economy flight from Barcelona (BCN) to São Paulo (GRU) to my Air France Flying Blue account.

In the past, getting Alitalia or ITA flights credited to anything but its Volare program was known to cause issues for savvy frequent flyers who credit every flight they take.

I expected a lengthy process of back-and-forth emails. To my surprise, the experience was the complete opposite. The miles and XP points (Flying Blue’s name for its elite-qualifying miles, equivalent to Delta MQMs) were credited to my account within 15 minutes of completing the form.

All I needed was my ticket number and the flight details, such as the flight number, departure date, and the route I wanted to claim. I then went to my Flying Blue account and filled in the required form.

The process appears just as easy for Delta SkyMiles members. I logged into my account after ITA left SkyTeam on April 30 to find that it’s still possible to credit ITA flights.

I received incredible customer service from the Flying Blue team. Within an hour of completing the claim, I had received a personal email from the Flying Blue Team which read as follows:

Dear Mr ROSS,
Thank you for your message regarding your missing Miles.
I am delighted to inform you that I have credited your Flying Blue space. You can now see this credit displayed on your Miles and XP counter.
For any further information, feel free to contact me by replying to this e-mail, or by visiting the homepage of our site flyingblue.com.
Enjoy your day!
Best regards,
Sophia Nicole from your Flying Blue team

What It’s Like Flying ITA Airways With SkyTeam Status

When I booked and took my flight with ITA, I had high levels of elite status with Star Alliance and SkyTeam, both of which ITA was a member of to some degree.

I could have used my Lufthansa Senator status (Star Alliance Gold equivalent) or Air France-KLM Flying Blue Platinum status (SkyTeam Elite Plus equivalent) to get perks and benefits when flying ITA.

However, I’m more inclined to keep my Flying Blue Platinum status, as Air France and Delta are the airlines I currently fly with most often, so I added my Flying Blue membership number to the booking.

Since this trip, ITA has officially left SkyTeam, but with some caveats, as detailed here.

It’s unclear how similar your next experience flying ITA as a SkyTeam elite would be, but here’s how mine went, so you can get an idea of what you might expect.

Booking a Flight With ITA Airways and SkyTeam Elite Status

Before paying for my flight, I made a dummy booking to check how much seat selection would have been without adding my Flying Blue number.

In my book, 71€ (about $82) is pretty steep for an economy seat.

After adding my Flying Blue number, I was indeed able to choose a seat for free.

Once I confirmed that I could still get free seat selection with my Sky Team status, I thought I’d try my Lufthansa Senator/Star Alliance status.

It turns out that it also gave me the option to choose a seat for free. Talk about the best of both worlds!

After the experiment, I had a small moment of worry when I couldn’t remove my Lufthansa Miles & More number from the booking.

This was the first time I’d take a flight with 2 frequent flyer numbers in the booking.

I wasn’t sure what effect (if any) this would have on my experience, but I’d soon find out.

At the Airport

I started my journey on March 8, 2025, at Barcelona’s El Prat (BCN) airport, which I’ve become very familiar with after living in Barcelona for a time.

I wasn’t surprised to see Sky Priority on the check-in screens.

After waiting a while for check-in to open, using the Sky Priority line meant I quickly received my 2 boarding passes — the first for the flight to Rome and the second for the long-haul leg to São Paulo. I was pleased to see that my Flying Blue number, a reference to my Platinum status, and Sky Priority were printed on each card. It seems like my SkyTeam status prevailed over my Star Alliance status.

SkyTeam signage was also in place at the boarding gates in Barcelona and Rome. Sky Priority passengers were invited to board ahead of non-elite status holding passengers.

Premium economy fares with ITA (and most airlines) don’t include lounge access. However, thanks to my SkyTeam elite status, I could enjoy breakfast in one of ITA’s lounges in Rome before my long-haul flight.

After a very early start, my first port of call was, you guessed it, coffee. I was overjoyed (genuinely) to see an Illy barista station in the lounge. Illy coffee is by far some of the best in the world. How the Italians do coffee so well when they don’t even grow the beans is beyond me.

I was equally impressed with the food, too.

If you have an eligible elite status with Delta or another SkyTeam airline and find yourself on a flight departing Rome anytime soon, you’ll likely still be able to enjoy this lounge until at least 2026.

I didn’t have long before boarding started at 9:30 a.m., so I headed to the gate. My boarding pass in the ITA app was also marked with Sky Priority branding.

Boarding and Onboard

Boarding was a bit of a mess. Gate staff called for Sky Priority zone 1 to board the aircraft first, but it was more of an every-man-for-himself situation. I noticed passengers who had zones 2 and 3 marked on their boarding passes were allowed to board with zone 1.

My SkyTeam status was not acknowledged at any point during the flight. This is in stark contrast to when I fly with Air France, when almost every time, a member of the crew has thanked me for my loyalty.

Final Thoughts

ITA’s transition from SkyTeam to Star Alliance is interesting. It’s unclear exactly to what extent SkyTeam and Star Alliance elite passengers traveling with ITA will experience perks and benefits.

Despite officially leaving SkyTeam behind, we expect this crossover era to continue until ITA transitions to Star Alliance completely in 2026.

At least we know for certain that it’s still possible to credit ITA flights to your Delta or your preferred SkyTeam carrier for the time being!