American Airlines and STARLUX Launch a Codeshare — Earning Only, No Redemption Yet

American Airlines and Taiwan’s STARLUX Airlines announced a codeshare partnership on September 23, 2026, upgrading a prior interline agreement into something AAdvantage members can actually earn on. The catch: this is an earning-only launch. American’s own newsroom release is explicit that mileage redemption on STARLUX is a future item, with no announced timeline. If you’re hoping to book a STARLUX award seat with AAdvantage miles today, you can’t — not yet, anyway.

What’s Actually Changing

Effective for travel starting September 30, 2026 (tickets went on sale immediately), American is placing its own flight code on STARLUX-operated flights between the western US and Taipei:

• Los Angeles (LAX) – Taipei Taoyuan (TPE)
• Ontario, California (ONT) – TPE
• San Francisco (SFO) – TPE
• Seattle (SEA) – TPE
• Phoenix (PHX) – TPE, pending regulatory approval

On the other end, passengers connecting through Taipei onto STARLUX’s own network, or arriving from Taipei into one of American’s gateway cities, can continue on an American-coded connection to other North American cities on a single ticket, with baggage checked through.

Earning, Yes — Redeeming, Not Yet

AAdvantage members who purchase a codeshare ticket under this partnership earn miles and Loyalty Points starting immediately, per American’s release. That’s a real, usable benefit today if you’re already planning a paid trip to Taiwan — it’s simply another way to add to your AAdvantage balance and progress toward status on a route American doesn’t fly itself.

What you can’t do yet is spend AAdvantage miles on a STARLUX seat. American and STARLUX say they’re working toward mileage redemption as a future step, but neither airline has published a date. Treat that as genuinely open-ended — don’t plan a trip around redeeming AAdvantage miles on STARLUX until that’s formally announced.

Why STARLUX Is Worth Paying Attention To

STARLUX isn’t a budget codeshare filler. It’s a Taiwan-based carrier that launched during the pandemic, holds a Skytrax 5-star rating, and has built a reputation as a genuine premium product — business class with lie-flat seats and privacy doors, and a premium economy cabin with retractable leg rests, flown on new Airbus A350s. It’s the kind of airline that makes a codeshare partnership meaningfully more useful than a typical interline arrangement, since American passengers are now booking (and eventually may redeem for) a genuinely well-regarded product, not just a connection of convenience.

What This Means for American’s Trans-Pacific Network

American doesn’t fly its own metal to Taipei, so a codeshare with a well-regarded local carrier fills a real gap in its Asia network — especially from West Coast gateways where American already has a strong domestic feed. It’s a meaningfully deeper move than a typical interline agreement (which mostly just lets you buy a connecting itinerary on two airlines’ tickets without codeshare or reciprocal earning), and it signals the relationship is likely to keep expanding.

Bottom Line

If you’re already booking a trip to Taiwan, buying the STARLUX-operated, American-coded flight is a straightforward way to add AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points to a route American doesn’t otherwise serve directly. But this is an earning partnership only — don’t go looking for STARLUX award space on AA.com, and don’t bank on a redemption date until American or STARLUX actually announces one.

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