This week's addition of Avianca, TACA Airlines, and Copa Airlines to the Star Alliance gave the Star group a much-needed coverage boost in Latin America.

As a result, members of United and US Airways' programs can now earn and redeem miles for flights on those airlines.

The three new airlines add around 50 new airports to the Star network and five new hubs: Panama City, Panama; Bogota, Colombia; San Salvador, El Salvador; Lima, Peru; and San Jose, Costa Rica.

For U.S. travelers who fly regularly to Latin America, the move makes Star the go-to alliance, and the programs of United and US Airways the logical choice in mileage programs. SkyTeam has only Aeromexico for a Latin American partner, and oneworld has only LAN, plus American's own considerable Latin American network.

More: http://blog.frequentflier.com/2012/06/s ... tners.html

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Tim Winship
Publisher - FrequentFlier.com
"May Your Miles Never Expire"
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The gloves are off - will make the fight for South American travel interesting....

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