Jet fuel prices have roughly doubled since the Middle East conflict began in February 2026, and airlines are passing those costs along.
For planners trying to hold 2027 budgets, airline group and meeting perks are one way to offset rising fares. Most offer attendee discounts in the 2% to 15% range. A handful also give the planner something back, usually reward tickets or travel credits rather than cash.
Here is what major carriers and alliances are offering for 2027 events, based on the airlines’ own program pages and existing 2027 conference offers.
U.S. Airlines
United Airlines: United Meetings
United’s meetings product is built for 10 or more attendees flying from different cities to the same destination, and it is one of the few that rewards the organizer as well as the traveler.
- Attendee discount: Typically 2%, 5% or 7% off published fares, depending on fare class. Basic Economy is excluded. 2027 offers are already live, including up to 5% for Winter Guard International’s spring 2027 championships and up to 7% for SLAS2027 in San Diego.
- Planner rewards: Organizers earn rewards based on meeting size, can accrue them across multiple meetings, and redeem them for travel certificates, United Club memberships and passes.
- Extras: Booking fees are waived on United Meetings reservations, and attendees still earn MileagePlus miles.
- Who qualifies: 10+ attendees from two or more cities. Groups of 10+ on the same itinerary go through United’s separate Groups & Sports desk.
- How to enroll: Through United for Business. Existing customers can find United Meetings in the United Jetstream portal.
- United Meetings, Meeting and Group Options
Delta Air Lines: Conferences & Events and Corporate Meetings
Delta offers two options: Conferences & Events for associations and public events, and Corporate Meetings for companies with a Delta corporate agreement.
- Attendee discount: Delta does not publish percentages. 2027 event offers show up to 8% off published fares, depending on booking class.
- Who qualifies: Both products require 50 or more travelers. Conferences & Events attendees must fly from two or more cities to a common destination.
- Planner value: Corporate Meetings with 50+ attendees on Delta or Delta codeshare flights are eligible for a backend incentive. Delta does not publish the amount. Multi-meeting agreements are available for conferences and events.
- Corporate perk: Corporate Meetings automatically prices at the better of the company’s corporate agreement or the meetings discount, and the travel counts toward corporate share goals.
- Booking: Attendees book online with a meeting event code or through Delta’s Conferences and Events desk (800-328-1111), with no service fee for phone bookings. Codes are already active for 2027 events including CES, the NADA Show and the AHA Annual Membership Meeting.
- Delta Meetings and Events; Program Requirements
American Airlines: Group & Meeting Travel
American’s published program is built around group space and contract flexibility rather than a public discount code.
- Who qualifies: Groups of 10 or more, from one or more departure airports, in any cabin, to any American or oneworld destination.
- Benefits: Special group pricing on fares and amenities, a flexible ticketing schedule, one free name change per ticket, a flexible commitment timeline, and space blocked up to 11 months ahead.
- Group & Meeting Travel
Southwest Airlines: Meetings and Group Travel
Southwest’s meetings product runs through its business booking tools.
- Attendee discount: Southwest lists “incentives and discounted fares” but publishes no percentages. One 2027 offer lists 1% to 2% depending on fare class, and another adds 25% more Rapid Rewards points for attendees.
- Planner tools: Self-service name changes and corrections, the ability to give third-party planners booking permissions, proposal tracking, and reporting built for meetings.
- Booking: Business customers request group quotes through Southwest Business Assist. Attendees book discounted meeting fares through SWABIZ.
- Meetings and Groups
JetBlue: Group Travel
JetBlue does not discount group fares, and it says group bookings won’t be repriced to lower fares. Its value for groups is seat holds and service.
- Who qualifies: 10 or more on the same flights.
- Deposits: $50 per seat, nonrefundable ($150 transatlantic), applied toward final payment.
- Deadlines: Traveler names are due 30 days before departure. Canceling seats after the deposit forfeits all money paid.
- Group Bookings
International Airlines and Alliances
SkyTeam Global Meetings (Delta, Air France-KLM, Korean Air + other members)
This is considered the most clearly defined planner reward among the major alliances.
- Attendee discount: Up to 15% in Economy and Business on member airlines, or promotional fares when lower.
- Planner reward: One free ticket for every 50 tickets flown by participants.
- Who qualifies: At least 50 attendees traveling by air, from at least two countries other than the host country.
- Lead time: Register two months to five years in advance.
- SkyTeam Global Meetings
Air France-KLM Global Meetings & Events
- Attendee discount: Up to 15% on flights to a registered event. CES 2027 attendees, for example, get a 10% online discount code.
- Planner reward: Organizers automatically earn reward tickets based on the number of flights used to the event.
- Attendee perk: Travelers still earn Flying Blue miles.
- Global Meetings & Events
Oneworld Meetings & Events (American, British Airways, Qantas + others)
Oneworld relaunched its meetings product in October 2026 after a 6-year hiatus, giving American-aligned events an alliance-wide option for 2027.
- Attendee discount: Alliance-wide discounts through a unique booking link. No percentage is published.
- Who qualifies: At least 50 travelers booking through the link. Oneworld must be the event’s exclusive airline alliance.
- Travel window: Inbound from seven days before the event through its last day; outbound from the first day through seven days after.
- Planner tools: A portal to manage multiple events and track bookings.
- Oneworld Meetings & Events
Air Canada Meetings and Events
- Attendee discount: In North America, 5% on standard fares and 10% on flex fares and up. Internationally, 10% on standard fares and up. Business class gets 12%, or 5% on the lowest business fare. Some large 2027 conventions have negotiated more, up to 15%.
- Who qualifies: 10 or more delegates from multiple origins. Events cannot be combined to reach the minimum.
- Travel window: Seven days before through seven days after the event.
- Meetings and Events
Lufthansa Group Meetings & Events
- Coverage: Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Edelweiss and Discover, plus United and Air Canada on transatlantic flights.
- Attendee discount: Discounted fares quoted per event (no percentage published), valid seven days before through seven days after the event.
- Planner value: Promotional materials, a choice of booking link or a dedicated travel agency, and an annual agreement for organizers running three or more events a year.
- Requirement: Lufthansa Group is named the event’s “Official Airline Network.” Submit the request at least one month before the event.
- Meetings & Events
Emirates M.I.C.E.
Emirates is strong on incentive groups, with onboard and airport extras most carriers don’t offer.
- Who qualifies: 40+ participants for meetings and incentives (45 days’ lead time), or 300+ for conferences and exhibitions (90 days). Attendees must come from at least two countries other than the host country.
- Planner value: Bonus credits when attendees use the agreement, and reduced-rate tickets for site inspections.
- Groups of 50+ on one flight: Dedicated check-in, group seating, priority boarding, on-board welcome announcements, branded headrest covers, custom cake or chocolate packages and extra baggage, subject to availability.
- Emirates M.I.C.E.; Emirates
Charters for Incentive Groups
For incentive trips moving a large group of winners to the same destination, chartering a whole aircraft is worth pricing against group fares, especially as seats get harder to find.
In the 2026 Incentive Travel Index from the Incentive Research Foundation and SITE, 40% of U.S. incentive buyers named securing airlift and airline capacity as a near-term challenge, up from 12% the year before. A charter costs more than buying seats on scheduled flights, but it gives the planner control over the schedule, the catering and the onboard experience, which can become part of the reward itself.
Delta Charters
- For: Sports teams, business groups and VIP tours, booked as a single-entity private charter.
- Service: A dedicated charter sales representative and planner, a personal onboard coordinator, and a 24/7 charter desk monitoring every flight.
- Pricing: Every quote includes a catering budget. Price depends on dates, aircraft type, fuel burn, block hours, repositioning, ground handling and catering.
- Delta Charters
United Charters
- For: Sports teams, corporate travelers and government groups, with private use of the entire plane.
- Fleet: More than 1,200 mainline aircraft, each seating 100+ passengers. United Express regional aircraft are usually not available.
- Pricing: All-inclusive per trip, based on flight length, aircraft size and availability, and options such as catering and private-terminal operations.
- United Charters
American Airlines Charters
- Aircraft: Full use of any plane from 50 to 304 seats, flying as many passengers as the client chooses.
- Customization: Origin, destination, departure and arrival times, catering, and, depending on needs, private handling and screening.
- Pricing: All-inclusive, with a dedicated charter representative before, during and after the trip.
- American Airlines Charters
Southwest Airlines Charters
- Group size: 137 to 175 passengers on a Boeing 737.
- Destinations: Any airport in the continental U.S. that can handle a commercial 737. Southwest does not operate international charters, which rules it out for Caribbean and overseas incentive trips.
- Options: Single-entity private charters paid by one company, or public charters paid by individual passengers under DOT rules.
- Southwest Charters
Lufthansa Charter
- For: Custom flights for companies, clubs and events. Lufthansa publishes no specific terms and quotes each request individually.
- Group Travel and Lufthansa Charter
For international incentive groups that don’t need a whole plane, Emirates’ perks for 50+ passengers on one scheduled flight (group check-in, branded headrest covers, onboard welcome announcements) deliver some of the same feel without charter pricing. See the Emirates entry above.
Business Travel Programs
For corporate clients with ongoing travel, airline business loyalty programs let the company, not just the traveler, bank rewards that offset future airfare.
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Business: The company earns 2 to 4 points per dollar on Choice fares (Basic fares don’t earn), on top of travelers’ personal points. Points don’t expire. A 25,000-point bonus for new companies requires applying by Dec. 31, 2026.
- AAdvantage Business (American): Free to join, and the company earns miles on employee travel. After $250,000 in annual spend, the Business Select tier adds 2% to 10% off flights and Group 5 boarding.
- Delta SkyMiles for Business: Free for small and mid-sized companies, with no minimum spend or traveler count.
- United PassPlus: A prepaid program for companies, with percentage discounts and traveler perks such as Premier status, United Club access and Wi-Fi. A minimum initial investment is required.
What Planners Should Know
- Discounts come off the published fare, so they don’t protect a budget from fuel-driven fare increases. Block or ticket early where contracts allow.
- Planner rewards are travel, not cash. United, SkyTeam, Air France-KLM and Emirates return value to the organizer as reward tickets, certificates or credits, never a rebate to the master account.
- Terms are negotiated per event. Published percentages are typical, not guaranteed, and larger events often secure better terms. Confirm the discount, travel window and reward terms in the signed agreement.
