Frequent flyers really enjoy an airline status match. You have reached an elite level in one airline’s programme and another airline entices you over to them by offering to match that level for little or no work. What’s not to love?
While these kinds of things look good on the outside, I personally think they’re a bit of a waste of time. Sacrilege, I know, but here’s my reasoning behind it.
Is an airline status match worth it?
The short answer to the question is, it depends. Recently Italy’s new Alitalia replacement, ITA Airways, was offering a status match (now closed) to a wide variety of other frequent flyer programmes. Plenty of people jumped in to that, figuring “why not!” as it would give SkyTeam status for a year.
Overall Thoughts
I can completely understand the allure of an airline status match. You are getting something for free, however to get the benefits of it, you need to redirect your spending to a company you usually wouldn’t use.
Maybe I’m mad, but loyalty is a bit of a two way street. I am very sticky to my British Airways Executive Club card and the oneworld alliance. Of course I fly other airlines when warranted, which does result in memorable experiences such as this flight on SWISS, but I almost exclusively stay within my alliance.
Having a shiny card in an unrelated frequent flyer programme is useless to me for the odd flight I might take. Nor do I get any satisfaction from having the card there just because. I’d rather use my time finding flight deals in my current ecosystem than doing this.
Have you ever taken advantage of a status match? Did it make you switch airlines? Did you use it at all, or just a couple of times? I’d be curious to hear your experiences. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Etienne Jong on Unsplash.
ITA Airways render from ITA Airways.
Virgin Atlantic image by Anna Zvereva via Wikimedia Commons.
Personal details? Interesting. I’d think people in the miles and points game long ago gave up their personal details to so many websites and companies it’d be nbd.
That’s fair enough actually!!
Agree it is strategic. Only one I got that I likely won’t use is Air Canada matched from my AA status (almost certainly won’t fly them). But I did 2 status matches I actually plan to use (or have used). First of all I am lifetime elite on both AA and DL so don’t need to chase miles on those to retain status with them or their alliance.
First one I did (which many will laugh at) was last year with Frontier for $49 to get to 50K. I had miles on them from the credit card (10,000 miles east cost to west coast is still one of the best mileage values out there) so had to make about 4-5 long flights. 50K gets you free seat selection at time of booking (even extra space seats in front) and a free carry on plus can board first. This easily exceeded $49 for my situation.
The other one I did this year was United. I had Silver through my Marriott Titanium status but matched to Platinum based on my AA status. It is good for either 90 or 120 days and requires 4 one-way trips (non-stop or connection) to extend through 2022. I have trips booked in Jan and Feb to meet this requirement (even though I spend a little extra time connecting). My thought is I MIGHT fly UA later this year (possible international by transferring Chase points) and would prefer to fly them as Platinum. No real heavy lift for me connecting on 2 trips I had already planned so figured it was worth it
Lifetime status is something I would really love, but I am only one fifth of the way there with British Airways and unless I win the lottery or get a job that requires me to fly all the time, there is little chance of me hitting that. I’m very envious!
Good move on the Frontier – not having to pay for seats, carry-on and boarding saves a lot of money if you use them regularly. It’s one benefit I like of being Silver and above on BA – no seat selection fees. Those are hefty, so I actually save plenty by maintaining status, so good move there.
I like your reasoning when it comes to UA, and you’re right, it’s better to do longer trips with some status. It does protect you a bit and since it fit in with travel you had planned anyway, even better. Very nice all round! Thanks for taking the time to write all that and provide examples. I find it fascinating to see other people’s thoughts, so I appreciate that!
Never had status so matching means nothing to me. I don’t really travel enough to be loyal to anyone so it does give some freedom to pick and choose. I get the whole loyalty thing though, pick the right Alliance/Airline for you and reap the rewards. I’m not the guy the airlines are fighting over anyway.
I remember those days with no status, it’s actually kinda nice – find the cheapest fare and go. No worrying about points and so on. I think there are advantages both ways, especially if you don’t travel much.
There are a lot of variables to consider. On this one, I’m with you. I have somewhere between little and no plan to fly any Skyteam airline in the next year so the challenge serves no purpose. I’ve gotten one or two nice hotel program challenges though.
I hear you on that!
Agreed. 100%. It just means I’ll start getting more junk email from an airline I care little-to-nothing about. And for what? To tell people I have status on such-and-such airline? And this is especially true of me for ITA – an airline we’re just waiting to see fail. I’m an Italian citizen yet have no problem discussing the country’s inability to govern…anything…well. Alitalia, included. So I’ve rarely flown with them save short intra-Italy hops and *some* regional flights. I’m not about to give Alitalia 2.0 (really 4.0 at this point, I think) a shot, let alone any information on me.
I’d completely forgotten about the junk e-mail aspect of it! I joined the LAN programme many years ago for some bizarre reason and I received marketing shots for ages until I unsubscribed. I hear you on Alitalia/ITA, the story just goes on and on and on. Thanks for the the comment, and I agree, DCA will always be National to me too!
Took me the same amount of time reading this article and applying for the match. I could’ve said this article is just a waste of time but here i am
Glad to hear you found it useful, Frank. Thanks for the comment!