Airlines offer a variety of ways to help travelers make busy lounges and upgrade lists even busier.
Mostly gone are the days of racking up frequent flier miles and, therefore, higher airline status based on the metric of distance flown. Generally speaking, to obtain even the lowest rung of status with an airline’s frequent flier program – particularly those in the United States – it’s all about cracking open your wallet. For some of us, that courtesy might go to our employer’s coffers. But what about those of us who want a taste of an upgrade, a lounge, or best of all, a call to customer service that doesn’t take hours to connect? Essentially, what is a status match?
Status Match 101
In short, a status match refers to an airline providing a way for you to “match your status” that you hold with a competitor. Let’s say I have Premier Silver status with United (Premier Silver is their lowest rung of useful airline status). I would submit a screenshot or recent flight history to another airline of my choosing, like Delta. After a few days, I would then receive Delta’s equivalent to Premier Silver or Delta Silver status (their lowest beneficial status level). Some airlines give a few months’ trial period, others a year (or more). Sometimes, you’ll even get a bump up in airline status.
Some airlines charge for a status match. LATAM (based throughout South America) is an example of one, while Royal Air Maroc is another. These airlines might not want you to just coast in without ever intending to fly with them. Additionally, they might want you to fly a couple of legs on their metal. Lastly, we’ve got the Emirates status match category, which is more of a status challenge. No fee is charged, but Emirates takes something of an ironic speakeasy approach to this category. If you want to try out their challenge, sign up for their Skywards program, then talk with a live agent.
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Here’s the challenge that was emailed to me:
Option #1: Two round-trip Emirates flights in economy class (Flex or Flex Plus fare)
Option #2: One round-trip Emirates flight in business or first class.
As someone who seldom takes round-trip flights, I wanted to clarify something. Would this work in a hypothetical one-way Jeddah JED – Dubai DXB – Tokyo itinerary, wherein both legs are in business class?
Here was the mind-numbing response via e-mail.
“JED-DXB-HND is a one-way flight. This is not considered as two flights. Therefore, if you fly this route in business, you’ll need to make another trip, such as HND-DXB-JED in business, to qualify.”
Regardless of how you go for it, the reward would be 12 months of Emirates Silver; amazingly, that allows for access to one of my favorite lounges in the world.
ITA Airways’ Volare Program, the Gift That Keeps on Giving
Due to how long the gravy train lasted, I tend to believe that Aegean Airlines’ gold status during the 2010s was the greatest of all time or G.O.A.T. However, the COVID-19 era brought about a new competitor in the form of a generous status match.
In 2022, I maintained Platinum status with Delta. Whereas the churning and burning days of distance-based mileage accrual saw me hold airline status with all three U.S. carriers in the 2010s, I only regained Delta Platinum status due to the lower barriers of entry during part of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enter: ITA Airways. On October 15th, 2021, the same day Alitalia went kaput, its successor, ITA Airways, started flying. The following March, its Volare mileage program was introduced. Eager to entice travelers to Volare, ITA Airways offered to match to its equivalent status levels one’s current status with a select group of airlines (often competitors), including Delta. Even though they were both members of the same SkyTeam airline alliance at that time, ITA Airways was particularly enthusiastic about getting U.S. fliers – e.g. with Delta — onboard. A quick e-mail to Volare saw an even faster status match approval message hit my inbox.
As the end of 2022 drew near, and my usual destinations – Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, and Thailand – had all reopened, I started rethinking the airline(s) with which I wanted to hold status in 2023. As luck would have it, ITA Airways delivered an early Christmas gift, renewing my top-tier Volare status. Amazingly, the same thing happened again in 2024!
Plus, if you hold Volare Executive, their highest status level, you can gift Premium status (the next level down) to another Volare member. Some United States carriers have a relatively similar benefit.
Who Said You Had to Fly to Earn Airline Status Benefits?
Airlines are perfectly fine with us not flying in the back, just as long as we’re applying for their co-branded credit cards. After all, that’s their butter zone for revenue.
For those of us who infrequently travel yet still enjoy the perks of airline status, plenty of credit cards — often with annual fees — are available to try and help us check one bag free, select a seat closer to the front of the plane, line up earlier at the gate, and/or access an airport lounge.
However, as a frequent flier myself, I’m permanently on the fence about their existential threat to pleasant airport experiences. On the one hand, I absolutely relish the ability to grab a snack and a comfortable seat at worldwide lounges. Not to mention, with checked bag fees ever-increasing, I’m loath to pay no less than $40 per bag per itinerary. Then again, I’m just another sardine in the lounge can, and rarely have to check bags anyway (that’s mostly when I have souvenirs for family/friends).
I’ve scarcely encountered such crowding at lounges outside of North America, but that could easily be attributed to my usual fare of transiting airports with multiple options.
Did You Know That Status Matching Isn’t Limited to Airlines?
That’s right; the sideshow extends far beyond the skies.
As one example in the hotel industry, Hilton Honors lets you match from another hotel program to get Gold status for 90 days. If you stay 14 nights within those 90 days, you can be upgraded to Diamond status.
Enterprise is among a number of car rental agencies playing a hand in the status match game. Choose from roughly 40 hotel, airline, and competing car rental companies to see if you qualify.
Lastly, if cruising is to your liking, MSC Cruises extends the status match possibility to a number of airline, hotel, cruise, and tour operator programs. I’ve never taken a cruise, but if you are an MSC Cruises fan, the aforementioned options from which you can select to gain status are plentiful.
Indeed, opportunities to status match abound. But you first have to see if it’s worth the money and time, before you line up for 30 minutes to get a plastic-wrapped apple, or add your name to a list of 50 to sit up front for a glass of orange juice from concentrate.
