United Launches New Partnership With ITA Airways
There's a new way to fly to Italy from the United States using transferrable points and miles. United Airlines and Italian flagship carrier ITA Airways launched a new partnership over the last week, allowing travelers to book ITA flights with United MileagePlus miles and vice versa.
How The United And ITA Airways Partnership Came About
The codeshare agreement between United and ITA comes ahead of ITA's upcoming move to the Star Alliance in early 2026, the same airline alliance to which United belongs. ITA Airways previously part of SkyTeam, but ended its membership in that alliance back in February 2025. That also ended the option of booking ITA flights with Virgin Atlantic miles, which had previously been one of the best ways to book ITA flights, although award availability had virtually dried up, especially for business class.
Book ITA Flights With United Miles
Under their new partnership, United and ITA flyers will be able to earn and redeem miles on either airline and travelers with elite status will have access to both carriers lounges.
As of Monday, ITA flights now bookable through United. ITA flies nonstop between its hub in Rome (FCO) and the following U.S. and Canadian gateways:
- Boston (BOS)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Miami (MIA)
- New York (JFK)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington, D.C. (IAD)
- Toronto (YYZ)
Nonstop ITA economy flights are bookable for just 44,000 United miles each way and $5.60 in taxes and fees.
That may seem steep, but you'll pay that same rate flying all the way from the West Coast, which could make that a better deal.
Connecting itineraries on ITA are also just 44,000 miles each way, like this flight from Portland (PDX) to Rome with a stop in San Francisco.
While we could find some award availability for economy flights, we could not find any award availability in ITA business class. While we don't officially know the business class award rates, business class flights to Europe for most partner airlines price out at 88,000 United miles each way for saver awards. But if business class award availability does pop up, it's worth comparing the rates. I flew ITA Airways business class to Rome back in 2024 and it was a luxurious experience!
How To Earn United Miles
United miles are fairly easy to get if you have transferrable points. Both Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt Rewards transfer to United at a 1:1 ratio. So if you're earning Chase points on a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, for example, you can turn them into United miles to book ITA flights.
You can also earn United miles by flying United or its airline partners, or with one of United's co-branded credit cards.
United ITA Airways New Partnership: ToP Thoughts
United and ITA Airways new codeshare agreement is finally live. We're starting to see ITA award flights bookable through United. More options for booking award flights are always welcome, and this partnership has created a new way to book flights to Italy with points and miles since United is a partner of both Chase and Bilt. Sadly, we haven't found any business class award availability yet, but this could be a great way to fly ITA business class — at least until the airline fully joins the Star Alliance next year. Let us know what you think of this new booking option over in the ToP Facebook Group.
