Tag Archives for status match.
The best benefit here is lounge access. oneworld sapphire members of frequent flyer programs other than American AAdvantage and Alaska’s Mileage Plan get access not just to American Airlines Admirals Clubs and Alaska Lounges but also to American Airlines Flagship lounges even when traveling domestically. That means nice bar setups and buffets at New York JFK, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and in a few weeks once again at Chicago O’Hare.
Last fall the ‘new Alitalia’ ITA Airways offered to give elite status to anyone with a pulse. Many may have skipped that at the time, since the new airline wasn’t yet a part of the SkyTeam (or any) alliance so it was still somewhat speculative what the benefit to do so would be.
Now they’re once again status matching through April 15. Status will be valid through April 15, 2023. There are 3 steps.
American Express is sending out targeted offers – at least to Platinum cardholders, although possibly to customers with other cards – encouraging them to status match to Delta SkyMiles.
Status will last through August 31 and they will give you a level higher than what you currently have with a competitor.
Hyatt and MGM have a partnership that dates back to 2013. They each offer members in the other program status matches – not one time matches, but rather status in one program ‘equals’ status in the other.
And the status year in each program ends at a different time. This creates an opportunity to still have status with one program, after your status has ended in the other, and to use that to ‘match back’ to regain status – in perpetuity, or as long as this tactic has continued to last (and it’s lasted for years).
On December 1 I covered an incredibly generous status match offer from Frontier Airlines. For $49 they’ll match against 15 different airlines and 15 different hotel programs. And they’ll even match up to top tier which basically waives all fees at this fee-based airline and makes tickets cancellable without penalty. This offer runs through December 31.
Two things have changed since the offer launched – including that they will now re-match folks who took advantage of this in 2020.
Do you have elite status with an airline – or even a hotel chain? You might even have this just from having a credit card. Frontier Airlines wants to match your status and depending on your current elite level will even give you top tier in their program.
Frontier offers super cheap airfare with a lot of add-on fees. But Frontier’s top level waives all fees and even makes tickets refundable. Basically their incredible 2020 offer is back but they’re willing to match against a lot more programs this time.
The new Alitalia is handing out elite status to most anyone that wants it. Meanwhile Emirates is aggressively status matching anyone who reports living in Italy, in their Skywards account and to StatusMatch.com in their latest promotion.
The ‘new Alitalia’ – ITA Airways – doesn’t have elite frequent flyers yet, and they’d like some. So they’re offering a status match to elites in most programs. So if you would like elite status you just need to e-mail them.
It seemed odd that Southwest Airlines Companion Pass members were being matched to Aeroplan 75K elite status. That’s being changed. Anyone with a Companion Pass has just two days to request a match and receive this level. After that they’ll be matching just to the 50K elite level.
Those of you with a Companion Pass should consider getting your match requests in now.
U.S. residents who are airline elite frequent flyers can get free Air Canada Aeroplan elite status for the rest of 2021, and keep that status for the 2022 program with by booking and flying just one roundtrip on Air Canada (or Air Canada Express or Rouge) by January 15, 2022.
This is huge for anyone with elite status and transferable credit card points, or anyone who also flies United.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
