Fiji Airways Adopts American AAdvantage As Loyalty Program

It’s an exciting day for Fiji Airways. The airline has just joined the oneworld alliance, as a full member, after previously being a “Connect” member of the alliance. That’s not the only development, though. Fiji Airways has also officially adopted American AAdvantage as its own loyalty program. We first learned about this in June 2024, but it’s now official.

Fiji Airways starts using American’s loyalty program

As of March 31, 2025, Fiji Airways has adopted American AAdvantage as its loyalty program. 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.

AAdvantage elite perks on Fiji Airways have been published, and they’re more or less what you’d expect, and in line with typical oneworld benefits. I don’t see anything too exciting or out of the ordinary yet. For example, there’s no indication that systemwide upgrades will be valid on Fiji Airways (though it sure would be nice!).

One unique twist of this development is that American AAdvantage now has dynamic award pricing on Fiji Airways, so you can redeem miles on the airline even if saver award space isn’t available. It’s not typically a great deal, but it’s at least an option…

In terms of branding, it doesn’t seem like there’s any white labeling of AAdvantage going on here, in the sense that there’s no “Fiji Airways AAdvantage” program, or anything. Instead, this just seems to be a straight referral to the standard AAdvantage program.

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

“We are delighted to join the American Airlines AAdvantage program, marking a new chapter for Fiji Airways and offering more opportunities for our loyal customers to experience the magic of Fiji. This partnership will provide a seamless travel experience, making it easier for travelers to reach Fiji’s tropical paradise while enjoying enhanced benefits. With our new membership in the oneworld alliance, we look forward to offering greater connectivity to destinations around the globe, including the U.S., and welcoming more visitors to experience the warmth, culture and beauty of Fiji.”

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

“The partnership between American and Fiji Airways is giving customers more ways to unlock new travel experiences. As part of the AAdvantage program, members flying on either airline can immediately enjoy an elevated travel experience. Travel is better as an AAdvantage member, and American extends a very warm welcome to Fiji Airways customers joining the program.”

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.

Historically, Fiji Airways had the Tabua Club, which was a guest recognition program that offered some perks. However, you had to pay to join, so it was more of a paid membership club than anything, and it didn’t offer the ability to redeem miles.

In the past, Fiji Airways executives explained that they didn’t have a loyalty program because most people flying with the airline are on vacation, and might only fly the carrier 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 approach 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 (there are a limited number of exceptions). 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.

Bottom line

Fiji Airways has started using American AAdvantage as its own loyalty program, coinciding with the airline joining oneworld. That means the airline is encouraging passengers to sign-up for the AAdvantage program.

The AAdvantage perks on Fiji Airways are more or less just the standard alliance benefits, in terms of lounge access, priority services, etc. AAdvantage members do get access to more award availability on Fiji Airways, but at higher costs.

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