ITA Airways Benefits, Earnings Continue With Some SkyTeam Airlines Past April 30

Updated: April 22, 2025, 1:04pm CDT

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Table of Contents

How Volare Benefits and Earnings Work on Partner Airlines
You Can Still Earn Delta SkyMiles and MQDs on ITA Airways
Final Thoughts

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Italian flag carrier ITA Airways is leaving the SkyTeam alliance on April 30 so it can join the competing Star Alliance. This is because Germany’s Lufthansa bought a large stake in ITA, brought it into its Lufthansa Group, and is in the process of moving the Italian airline into its own loyalty and alliance ecosystem.

Until this process concludes next year, when ITA will formally enter Star Alliance, the Italian carrier will remain in limbo between the 2 worlds.

Passengers on ITA flights can already earn Lufthansa’s Miles & More miles, but they also can still enjoy benefits and mileage earnings on some SkyTeam carriers — including Delta Air Lines, Air France, and KLM. And, according to communication from ITA, they will be able to even after April 30.

Let’s see where we stand with this transition.

How Volare Benefits and Earnings Work on Partner Airlines

Earlier this year, Lufthansa acquired 41% of ITA Airways, founded in 2021 as a successor to the bankrupt Alitalia, from the Italian state. Shortly after, ITA joined the Lufthansa Group and began the transition away from the alliance it had inherited from Alitalia.

ITA will leave the SkyTeam alliance, anchored by Delta Air Lines and Air France-KLM, on April 30. You might expect that reciprocal benefits between SkyTeam airlines and ITA, like priority boarding and lounge access, would go away on that date. The good news is that they won’t — at least with some airlines.

ITA sent an email to members of its Volare loyalty program on Tuesday alerting them to a welcome development: the continuation of benefits on some SkyTeam carriers.

ita airways skyteam exit email — ITA says it has entered into agreements with individual SkyTeam carriers. Image Credit: ITA Airways

The ITA Airways FAQ page specifies that Volare program members can continue earning award and elite-qualifying miles with 10 SkyTeam airlines past April 30, and Volare elite benefits, including lounge access, will also continue with some of them, as indicated:

Aerolineas Argentinas
Aeromexico
Air Europa
Air France (also including elite benefits and access to Air France lounges for Volare Premium Club status and above, no companions allowed)
Delta Air Lines (also including elite benefits)
KLM (also including elite benefits and access to KLM lounges for Volare Premium Club status and above, no companions allowed)
Korean Air
Middle East Airlines (also including elite benefits and access to MEA lounges for Volare Premium Club status and above, no companions allowed)
Saudia (also including elite benefits)
Virgin Atlantic (also including elite benefits and access to Virgin Atlantic lounges for Volare Premium Club status and above, no companions allowed)

As for whether members of those partner airlines’ loyalty programs can still earn award and elite-qualifying miles on ITA Airways flights, that’s an issue between each airline and ITA. There may be bilateral agreements letting passengers earn miles in those partner programs for ITA flights after April 30. (Delta is an outlier here, as we explain below.)

We recommend having boarding passes printed and keeping all receipts so you can request credit, just in case miles aren’t credited to your account automatically. Posts on FlyerTalk indicate that requesting credit manually has worked recently, at least for FlyingBlue members.

You Can Still Earn Delta SkyMiles and MQDs on ITA Airways

The big exception here is Delta, which says it will still be possible to earn its Skymiles on ITA Airways flights after the date when ITA leaves SkyTeam. This is very good news for SkyMiles members flying ITA. This favorable situation might last until ITA joins Star Alliance next year.

Commencing May 1, 2025 (based on boarding date), SkyMiles members flying with ITA Airways will earn miles and Medallion Qualification Dollars, but only on the following flights:

Sold and operated by ITA Airways
Sold by Delta and operated by ITA Airways
Sold by ITA Airways and operated by Delta

As with all flights marketed by partner airlines, flights sold by ITA earn miles and MQDs as a percentage of distance flown, according to the fare class paid.

Hot Tip:

You can expect any Volare points you might have to become Miles & More miles next year when the programs will merge (currently scheduled to happen on January 1).

Final Thoughts

The passage of ITA Airways from the world of Skyteam, dominated by Delta and Air France, to Star Alliance, anchored by Lufthansa and United, is proving to be a lengthy and complicated process in terms of mileage earnings and elite perks.

In any case, you will earn miles on all ITA flights — either with a partner program, such as Delta SkyMiles, or with ITA’s own program, Volare. And you can expect that Volare points will turn into Lufthansa Miles & More miles next year.