No more Avios or tier points from LATAM as it resigns from oneworld

The oneworld airline alliance, of which British Airways is a key member, took a major blow last night.  LATAM, the airline which dominates flights in Latin America, announced its resignation.

The reason is that Delta Air Lines is spending $1.9 billion to acquire a 20% stake in LATAM.  It has also agreed to take 14 A350 aircraft, ten of which are yet to be delivered, off LATAM, and to pay $350m towards covering the exit costs from oneworld.

The roots of the resignation lie in the refusal by the Chilean Government to allow American Airlines, currently the US airline with the biggest operation in Latin America, and LATAM to form a revenue sharing joint venture.

As well acquiring 20% of the airline, Delta will form a revenue-sharing joint venture with LATAM to operate flights between North America and Latin America.  This will require full regulatory approval, which is expected to take 1-2 years, although the airlines are expected to agree a codeshare deal in the short term.  Delta will sell its minority stake in Brazil’s GOL as part of the deal.

Delta / LATAM will become the largest airline on five of the six largest routes between North and Latin America.

Interestingly, there is no word on LATAM joining the SkyTeam alliance.  Delta Air Lines has publicly stated that it sees little benefit in SkyTeam these days, although this does not fit with the strong rumours that Virgin Atlantic (49% shareholder Delta Air Lines) will soon announce that it is joining.

Another interesting question is whether Virgin’s new Heathrow to Sao Paulo route will last long, given that LATAM flies the same route.  The two airlines could also codeshare, effectively making it a ‘two daily’ service.  The new Virgin Atlantic codeshare with GOL for connections inside Brazil, which we covered here, could be at risk, replaced with a LATAM deal.

The official Delta press release is here.  Note that it does not explicitly mention leaving oneworld, but it is happening according to US media reports.

oneworld has not made an announcement yet (EDIT – it has now, see here, it seems they didn’t get any advance notice) but this will clearly be a substantial blow.  We may now see Iberia extending its already impressive coverage in Latin America.

LATAM cannot leave oneworld overnight, however, so you can continue to spend Avios, and earn Avios and British Airways tier points, for some time yet.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)