Starlux Just Became American Airlines’ Side Door to Taiwan

American Airlines and Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines started codesharing on September 30, a week after the first tickets went on sale. American now places its AA flight number on Starlux’s nonstop flights between Taipei and four West Coast gateways: Los Angeles, Ontario, San Francisco and Seattle. Starlux, in turn, adds its own code to 26 domestic American routes, 10 of them out of Los Angeles and 16 out of Phoenix. The practical result is that a traveller starting in a city Starlux never serves can now buy one ticket through to Taiwan, with the airline links stitched together behind the scenes.

That single ticket is the part that matters most. Checked bags can be sent through to the final destination, subject to the usual US customs rules when entering the country, and a missed connection becomes the airlines’ problem to fix rather than the passenger’s. The two carriers say a Phoenix–Taipei codeshare is also planned, though it still needs regulatory approval before it can be sold. For now, the partnership is built around Starlux’s four West Coast gateways and American’s domestic feed into them.

The loyalty side is only half finished. AAdvantage members who buy one of the codeshare tickets start earning miles and Loyalty Points immediately, and those points count toward elite status. What they cannot yet do is spend AAdvantage miles on a Starlux seat. American has said a fuller frequent-flyer agreement is in the works, and both airlines describe award redemption as a later step rather than something available now. Anyone hoping to use a stash of miles for a Taipei trip will have to wait.

For travellers, the change mostly widens choice. Before booking, check which airline actually operates each flight, since that determines baggage rules, seat selection and where to go for help on the day. It is also worth comparing a Starlux codeshare itinerary against connections on other carriers, because the cheapest route to Asia from much of the US will not always be the new one. Starlux has grown quickly as a premium-focused long-haul airline, and this deal plugs it into a far larger domestic network than it could build alone.

Sources: InsideFlyer, Points Miles and Bling