Italy’s national airline Alitalia has been put out to pasture and replaced with ITA Airways. This new European airline is now offering frequent flyers from other airlines a status match.
For those unaware, a status match is exactly that, where one airline matches your frequent flyer level with an existing programme. That means you get all the perks on a new airline before you’ve even stepped on board one of their flights.
ITA Airways Status Match
The new ITA frequent flyer programme is called Volare and they are offering a status match with 25 airlines from around the world. Is your preferred carrier on the list?
Aeroflot, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Europa, Alitalia, Air France, American Airlines, ANA, British Airways, Czech Airlines, Delta, Emirates, Iberia, KLM, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Middle East Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Saudia, Singapore Airlines, SWISS, TAP, Tarom, Turkish Airlines and United frequent flyers are all welcome.
Details on how to apply are on the ITA Airways website right here. The very top of the page outlines precisely what you need to do to avail of this opportunity.
Overall Thoughts
Getting a status match with a brand new airline is something I’ve seen before, as STARLUX in Taiwan did something similar. ITA Airways is backed by the Italian government and therefore it is probably guaranteed that the airline will be around for a long time.
Regardless, there is nothing to lose by applying, so you should do just that. It is especially beneficial if you travel to or from Italy on a regular basis. Personally I am trying to work out why the airline is “itaspa.com” as it makes no sense whatsoever to me.
Will you be going for a status match with ITA Airways? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Alessandro Ambrosetti via Wikimedia Commons.
Do you have any idea about what is acceptable for the status match? I’ve sent in a pdf of my Aadvantage card and of my driver’s license, but the reply I get from ITA is thew following:
We are sorry to inform you that your request was not successful since your documentation is incomplete.
Therefore, we invite you:
– to verify that your attached loyalty card is valid, legible and in pdf or jpg format
– to verify that your identity card is valid, legible and in pdf or jpg format
– to send your request again to statusmatch@itaspa.com
Any ideas?
Hi James! I’m not sure… does your card have a valid expiry date on it? Perhaps they couldn’t see it properly. Maybe try taking a photo of it with your phone and sending over the jpg image file instead? Looks like you just need to try again. Perhaps they didn’t get it or only saw the licence. Doesn’t look like anything is actually wrong, so I guess try again! Good luck!
ita is an abbreviation of “Italia” and spa is usually written “Spa” which is the Italian equivalent of Inc. in English (meaning, incorporated.)
Thank you for that! I knew the “ita” part, but the “spa” – I had no idea at all. Appreciate it, always like learning something new.