Since the Star Alliance flies to 1,160 destinations in 181 countries, you can take a "Round the World" trip using the member airlines. The Star Alliance members are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue 1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Continental Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Thai, Turkish Airlines, United and US Airways.
The 20 separate frequent flier programs in the Star Alliance all operate independently. You only need to join one program, but miles you get on other airlines can help you gain elite status on your preferred airline. Go to the website of an individual airline to join its frequent flier program. If a new airline joins the alliance, the miles you have on that airline can be transferred to the frequent flier program of another airline.
You can use your miles or points to upgrade to the next class of service on many of the Star Alliance member airlines. Currently, members of 13 of the frequent flier plans in the Star Alliance can upgrade on 16 member airlines. Check with your airline's frequent flier program for more information about upgrades.
When you reach an elite status on an individual airline within the Star Alliance, you can reach Star Alliance Silver and Star Alliance Gold status. Silver gives you priority wait listing and priority airport standby. Gold includes those benefits, plus priority check-in, priority boarding, extra baggage allowance and worldwide lounge access. With Gold status, you can use either First Class or Star Alliance Gold lounges and bring a guest.
