Status matches are the greatest surprise bonus in travel. Not only are you important with one airline or alliance, you can receive meaningful benefits and savings on another, just for being elite somewhere. Many status match doors have closed, but there’s a brand new one, and they seem to be matching rampantly….
The Match
Air Europa, an airline you may or may not ever fly, is offering status matches to elite members of all other programs currently. It’s even been said that they’ve matched a competing SkyTeam Alitalia status. If you hold elite status in OneWorld or Star Alliance, this is a golden opportunity to secure yourself SkyTeam Elite Plus, offering fast track, priority check in, baggage waivers, lounges on international itineraries and more.
UPDATE: It’s still worth trying, but they seem to be focusing on FlyingBlue+Other SkyTeam members. Very strange in frequent flyer world, as generally matches are to snag other alliance card holders..
As always, you don’t forgo your current status when matching, you retain it, and just pick up status on a new alliance…
The Benefits
SkyTeam Elite Plus is a great status. You’ll receive access to some excellent lounges around the world on international itineraries, enjoy the streamlined Sky Priority experience on all flights, including dedicated check in, extra baggage allowance, fast track security, and priority boarding. I personally love the SkyTeam lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4. Yes, the benefits apply for flights on all SkyTeam airlines, not just Air Europa, who you may never actually fly.
To Match
First, sign up for Air Europa’s SUMA frequent flyer program. It’s free, and should only take seconds. Next, write your new frequent flyer number down. Finally, take a picture or scan of your existing, non expired frequent flyer card (the highest you hold), and email the scan or picture, your SUMA frequent flyer number and a brief message about your intent to match. Send the email to: levelsuma@air-europa.com. Quite often it takes more than a week for a response. Be patient and for the love of god, don’t complain to me.
HT: ViewFromTheWing / LoyaltyLobby
