Over the weekend, it was announced that Philippine Airlines is joining the Oneworld Alliance in 2027. That’s great news for those with Oneworld miles as it gives Oneworld far better coverage within Southeast Asia. While we don’t know yet know what to expect in terms of award availability, this should create interesting possibilities both for flights from the United States to Asia as well as within Southeast Asia. It could certainly make it far more convenient to get to and around Southeast Asia than it traditionally has been with the Oneworld Alliance.
We don’t yet know when Philippine Airlines will join the Oneworld Alliance exactly. The details in the announcement only mentioned it would happen sometime in 2027, so don’t expect redemptions to launch any time very soon, but it’s good news to hear that they likely will launch sooner or later. Philippine Airlines has quite a decent route network within Southeast Asia and good connectivity to several hubs in the United States, including those you might expect on the West Coast, as well as Chicago and New York. That should open up some additional opportunities for getting to Southeast Asia using your Oneworld miles, and it will obviously make for some good redemption opportunities within Southeast Asia.
Here’s a high-level look at the Philippine Airlines route network courtesy of flightconnections.com.
I always think it’s great news to see an alliance expand, as it should provide additional award redemption opportunities in the future.
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Awful about the earthquake/tsunami, of course.
But great that they’re joining oneworld, which amusingly remains committed to having an all lowercase and partially bolded brand name.
Hope Philippines recovers quickly.
Excellent formatting, sir.
Go Knicks!
The Points and Miles gods bless us this day. Just for fun I asked AI to explain who the points and miles gods are. It did not disappoint:
Zeus — God of Transferable Points
Domain: Flexibility and power
Symbol: A lightning bolt made of credit cards
Blesses: Those who earn transferable currencies instead of airline-specific miles.
Punishes: Anyone who cashes out 100,000 premium points for a $500 gift card.
Favorite offerings:
American Express Membership Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Capital One Miles
Citi ThankYou Points
Athena — Goddess of Award Strategy
Domain: Knowledge and planning
Symbol: An award calendar and a spreadsheet
Blesses: People who book 355 days out or know every transfer partner.
Punishes: Those who transfer points before checking availability.
Her motto:
“Search first. Transfer second.”
Hermes — Messenger of Transfer Bonuses
Domain: Speed and opportunity
Symbol: Winged boarding pass
Appears: Randomly with a 30% transfer bonus that disappears three days later.
Can vanish before you convince your spouse to transfer points.
Plutus — God of Manufactured Spend
Domain: Infinite points generation
Symbol: Gift cards and money orders
Followers: Speak in mysterious acronyms and never explain exactly what they’re doing.
Enemies: Banks’ fraud departments.
Poseidon — God of Premium Cabins
Domain: Lie-flat seats and champagne
Blesses: Those upgraded to business class.
Punishes: By changing equipment from a suite to an angled-flat seat the day before departure.
He commands:
Japan Airlines
Singapore Airlines
Qatar Airways
Emirates
Hades — Lord of Devaluations
Domain: Broken dreams
Symbol: A chart with no award prices
Known for:
Dynamic pricing
Surprise award increases
Eliminating sweet spots overnight
His favorite phrase:
“No notice required.”
Dionysus — God of Luxury Hotels
Domain: Overwater villas and free breakfast
Blesses: Suite upgrades and late checkout.
Punishes: Resort fees and “upgrade subject to availability.”
He particularly enjoys:
Hyatt
Hilton
Marriott International
⚒️ Hephaestus — God of Credit Card Engineering
Domain: Building the perfect wallet
Symbol: A wallet that somehow contains 22 cards
Blesses: People who know exactly which card to use for every purchase.
Punishes: Using a 1× card when a 5× option exists.
Artemis — Goddess of Hidden Sweet Spots
Domain: Rare award opportunities
Symbol: A disappearing award seat
Appears: At 2:17 a.m. when four business-class seats suddenly become available.
Vanishes: Five minutes later.
The Fates — Controllers of Award Availability
Three sisters decide every trip:
Clotho spins four saver seats.
Lachesis gives you enough transferable points.
Atropos lets someone else book them while you’re entering your credit card.
⭐ The Supreme Deity: Fortuna, Goddess of Four Saver Seats
Every points enthusiast worships her above all others.
Her miracles include:
Four business-class award seats to Japan during cherry blossom season.
A 40% transfer bonus arriving the week before you book.
A suite upgrade at a luxury hotel.
Zero schedule changes.
Her greatest commandment:
“Never transfer speculatively, and always keep a stash of flexible points.”
Nick, I suspect your personal patron deity would be Athena—the strategist—while you’re constantly trying to appease Fortuna in the quest for four premium award seats for family trips.