Growing up between Tokyo, New Zealand, and Canada, Star Alliance was simply the default. Air New Zealand, Air Canada, ANA — that was the world I knew. It wasn't until I returned to Japan and started working that I began thinking about building my own status, and discovered what was waiting on the other side with JAL and oneworld. This is the full story of my airline loyalty journey, from the status run year of 2018 through COVID extensions, re-qualifications, and a world tour built around oneworld emerald. Where it stands today, and where it's headed.

A slightly late but factual recap of my 2025 flying, pulled from my Flighty year review. The year totals: 48 flights, 157,505 km (3.9x around Earth), and 225 hours 47 minutes in the air across 25 airports, 12 airlines, and 20 countries and territories. I break down the longest sectors by distance and time, then look at which aircraft types defined the year, from an A330-300 workhorse year to an unexpectedly high amount of 777-200ER time. I also include a few flights that stood out: Emirates First Class (DXB–CAI), Qantas A380 (JNB–SYD), British Airways’ fifth freedom hop (EZE–GIG), and Cathay’s HKG–JFK, my longest flight of 2025.

What started as a simple family trip turned into a fully-built round-the-world itinerary across five regions—South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. This post unpacks how I designed the entire route using miles, premium cabin deals, oneworld lounges, and a series of perfectly timed connections.

Ever wondered how much flying it actually takes to earn oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status? In this post, I compare how the same London–Sydney trip earns across eight oneworld airlines — from American to Qatar — to see which program gets you there fastest and what it really costs in 2026.

No single airline can reach every corner of the globe — that’s where airline alliances come in. From Star Alliance to oneworld and SkyTeam, here’s how these global networks connect travelers — and which one I find the most rewarding to fly with.