You may have noticed on the airport’s departure board a flight to a particular destination was listed multiple times with different flight numbers, but with the same departing time. These are not all separate flights leaving to the same place at the same time, rather one airline is operating the flight and several other airlines are marketing/selling the flight through codeshare agreements.
Operating vs. Marketing Airline
The operating airline is the airline that you actually fly on – on their aircraft with their crew. A flight’s primary flight number is that of the operating airline.
A marketing airline is the airline that actually sells you a seat on a particular flight – this can be the operating airline or another airline that isn’t actually operating a flight, known as the marketing airline. A single flight can be sold by several different marketing airlines and therefore have a bunch of different flight numbers.
What is a Codeshare Flight?
A codeshare flight is a flight that you book through one airline (the marketing airline), but the actual flight is operated by another airline.
For example:
- American Airlines SFO-LAX flight on 11 November 2023 at 08:35 is listed as…
- American Airlines 3179
- Japan Airlines 7555
- Qantas Airways 4367
- Qatar Airways 7910
This is an American Airlines flight and AA is both the operating and marketing airline. The additional marketing airlines are Japan Airlines, Qantas, and Qatar Airways. The marketing airlines are selling a codeshare flight, operated by their partner airline, American Airlines.
Why do Codeshare Flights Exist?
Codeshare flights exist so that one airline can increase the number of destinations it can sell you a ticket to. Usually when they sell you a codeshare flight, those airlines are cooperating on a further level – in this case, all of these airlines are oneworld members.
Codeshare flights exist so that, for example, Japan Airlines can sell you a ticket from Tokyo to Tulsa via Dallas all through their system and website even though JAL doesn’t fly to Tulsa. The first flight would be on Japan Airlines and the second on American Airlines. The same could be in reverse – American Airlines could sell you a ticket on their own flight from LAX to Tokyo, followed by a JAL-operated flight to Sapporo on an AA codeshare flight number.
Codeshare flights also exist between airlines that are not partners beyond the codeshare agreement – they could even be members of different alliances. In cases like this, what the airlines are looking to do is increase their global reach with the help of other airlines.
Frequent Flyer Benefits
If you are an elite member with one airline and book a codeshare flight through them, do your benefits apply on the codeshare flight booked? It depends on if the airlines have a frequent flyer partnership. In our example above when booking AA on JAL and JAL on AA, yes, you would get benefits on both airlines because they are members of oneworld.
However, if you are booking a flight through Lufthansa from New York to Frankfurt followed by a Lufthansa codeshare on Cathay from Frankfurt to Hong Kong and you’re a Lufthansa elite member, you may not receive any benefits on the Cathay flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong as the two airlines may not have an expanded frequent flyer agreement – perhaps earning miles may be possible but elite benefits might not be honored. Be sure to check the details carefully before booking.
One important thing to note is that some codeshare flights may not be upgradeable, if you’re looking for an upgrade. This may or may not apply on all codeshare flights – it depends on both the operating and marketing airline and what they allow. For example, a Lufthansa flight booked under a United codeshare flight number is not upgradeable using Lufthansa miles. There may be further restrictions on what can and can’t be done with codeshare flights, depending on the airlines.
All in All
Codeshare flights exist so that an airline can expand their global reach with the help of other airlines – both airlines can benefit from these agreements. This allows passengers to make a booking on a single ticket all the way to their final destination even if they’re flying on multiple airlines. In most cases, the airline that you check in with can tag your bag all the way to your final destination and perhaps also print your boarding passes. Codeshare agreements also exist between airlines that are not frequent flyer partners, in which case, your elite benefits would not apply and you probably won’t earn miles on the codeshare flight – be sure to carefully review the details before booking so you’re not disappointed when you fly.