Delta partner Kenya Airways will status match anyone with a heartbeat (well, anyone with a credit card) and they have a separate promotion that lets you claim triple status miles to keep what you’ve matched.

Kenya Airways is currently offering to match up to their top tier elite status. Both Gold and Platinum status are ‘SkyTeam Elite Plus’ which gets you priorty check-in and boarding on Delta; free checked bags; and preferred seats including exit row.

And they’ll match just about anyone or anything. Even a Hilton Gold, IHG Gold, or Marriott Gold gets Kenya Airways Gold and thus status that’s helpful with Delta.

What’s more they have a very interesting (separate) path to keeping this status. They will sell you your choice of double and triple status qualifying credits which you can earn even on partner flights (like Delta).

In other words, you can easily get status with Kenya Airways quickly, and you can pay to keep the status with as little as one-third the usualy flying.

Both the status match offer and the ‘status boost’ offer are paid promotions through StatusMatch.com. The status match costs are:

• Silver: US$99 (meh)
  
• Gold & Platinum: US$299

For residents of many countries, though, it’s $80 and $175 if matching from an airline. Status is valid for 12 months.

Then once you match, you can buy ‘tier booster’ to retain status more easily. They let you subscribe for 90 days or a full year (these autorenew so you’ll want to cancel to avoid continuing).

2x Status Booster – Double Tier Points for USD $200 for 90 days or USD $600 for the full year.
3x Status Booster – Triple Tier Points for USD $250 for 90 days or USD $800 for the full year.

All SkyTeam partner airline flights are eligible, this is not just for Kenya Airways flights. And it doesn’t just apply to new bookings. Double or triple credit is based on whether you’re subscribed when you take the flight. You do need to register in advance, though, because this takes up to 48 hours to reflect on your account.

This is a pretty good offer to paying for status and keeping it, but not one I’ll pursue because (1) I’m not a regular with SkyTeam, just a few Delta flights a year and a few Air France KLM awards, and (2) because I’m an Air France KLM Fly Blue Gold member already (SkyTeam Elite Plus) via Bilt Platinum.