Fiji Airways Adopts American AAdvantage As Loyalty Program

This is fascinating. We know that Fiji Airways will be joining the oneworld alliance soon, as a full member. That’s not all — it has now been announced that Fiji Airways will actually adopt American AAdvantage as its loyalty program, as flagged by Ramsey Qubein.

Fiji Airways will use American’s loyalty program

Fiji Airways has announced that it will use the American AAdvantage loyalty program as of some point in 2025. This means that American AAdvantage members will have a more seamless experience on Fiji Airways, with elite members being able to take advantage of oneworld Sapphire and oneworld Emerald perks, including reciprocal oneworld lounge access.

It remains to be seen how much closer the integration will be between the two airlines in terms of perks. For example, could we eventually see American systemwide upgrades valid on Fiji Airways? That hasn’t been announced one way or another.

Here’s how Fiji Airways CEO Andrew Viljoen describes this development:

“This loyalty partnership marks a significant milestone, bringing together two renowned carriers to offer new benefits to millions of travelers. We are excited about the positive impact this collaboration will have on both our airlines and our guests who will benefit from the exclusive perks.”

“With this partnership, Fiji Airways is set to gain access to a vast network of American travelers, potentially increasing visitor arrivals to the enchanting destination of Fiji. The allure of Fiji’s pristine beaches, vibrant culture, and warm hospitality is expected to attract a growing number of American tourists, contributing to the nation’s thriving tourism industry.”

Meanwhile here’s how American’s VP of Partnerships, Anmol Bhargava, describes this development:

“We are taking our partnership with Fiji Airways one step further by offering our mutual customers the opportunity to unlock more destinations and travel experiences through the AAdvantage program. We look forward to welcoming Fiji Airways customers into the AAdvantage program so they can experience all the ways we deliver on our commitment that travel is better as an AAdvantage member.”

Why doesn’t Fiji Airways have its own loyalty program?

Loyalty programs can be big business for airlines, so logically some people might be confused by Fiji Airways’ decision not to have its own program.

Fiji Airways does have Tabua Club, which is a guest recognition program that offers some perks. However, you have to pay to join, so it’s more of a paid membership club than anything. It doesn’t offer the ability to earn miles.

In the past, Fiji Airways executives have explained that they don’t have a loyalty program because most people flying with the airline are on vacation, and might only fly with the airline once a year or so. A loyalty program can be lucrative for an airline if they can get consumers to engage with the company in all kinds of non-flying ways, and that’s tricky when you’re an airline based on a remote holiday island.

So Fiji Airways has encouraged passengers to credit flights to partner airlines, so that they can be rewarded in a relevant way. Honestly, that seems like a realistic stance to take.

Presumably Fiji Airways sees some upside to partnering more closely with American AAdvantage. I’m not sure what the financial arrangement is here, but it would make sense that Fiji Airways has opportunities to generate revenue for referring people to AAdvantage.

The United States, Australia, and New Zealand, are Fiji Airways’ biggest foreign markets. So I can see the logic for Fiji Airways using AAdvantage, especially since American doesn’t compete directly with Fiji Airways in any markets. It is a bit surprising, I suppose, that Fiji Airways wouldn’t use Qantas’ loyalty program, given that Qantas actually owns a stake in Fiji Airways.

This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen an airline adopt another carrier’s frequent flyer program. However, in the past it has typically been in situations where airlines either have a joint venture, or there’s some equity investment involved. Given that American and Fiji Airways have nothing more than a basic codeshare agreement, this is one of the more unusual ways we’ve seen one airline adopt another’s program.

I’m curious if there will be some rebranding here, like “Fiji Airways AAdvantage,” or if Fiji Airways is just going to redirect people to American’s website for anything related to loyalty.

Bottom line

As of some point in 2025, Fiji Airways will start using American AAdvantage as its own loyalty program, coinciding with the airline joining oneworld. That means the airline will encourage passengers to sign-up for the program. It remains to be seen how extensive the benefits will be for AAdvantage members when flying with Fiji Airways, beyond just typical oneworld reciprocity.

What do you make of Fiji Airways using AAdvantage as its loyalty program?