Airline loyalty programs are certainly not what they used to be. Between devaluations and attractive deals on other carriers, it’s hard not to imagine life as a free agent, free to book any ticket while enjoying all the same loyalty perks, with any airline. Thanks to status matching, you can have your free champagne, lounge access, fast track on other airlines too, just by sending an email. If you’ve been looking to enjoy major perks on the OneWorld alliance, we’ve got just the thing…
The Status Match…
OneWorld Alliance member airline LATAM (after the merger of LAN + TAM) is offering an extremely generous status match, even seemingly matching airlines from it’s own alliance. If you currently have elite status with SkyTeam, OneWorld or Star Alliance, you can very likely have your status match, gratis, by sending them your details…
*We’re hearing very conflicting reports about the match. Some have been told they are only matching OneWorld status, which would make zero sense. Others are getting matched from all alliances, and some are being told they need a LAN flight. If at first you don’t succeed try again, or use a different form of communication*
Why You Should Match…
If you’re a member of Star Alliance or SkyTeam this is a no brainer. You’ll pick up all the benefits you’ve fought so hard to achieve with an entire separate alliance, giving you lounge access, priority check in, security and other perks on 15 new airlines. For nothing but an email. If you’re an AMERICAN AIRLINES flyer, this is also an incredible deal. American excludes it’s own members from lounge access on domestic tickets, but with this match, you’d be able to show your LATAM card at the lounge to get in, even when flying economy and still credit the flight to your American frequent flyer account…
How To Match…
StatusMatcher.com, an excellent resource for finding loyalty match opportunities is referencing a fairly straight forward process for matching your status to LAN. First, sign up for an account with LATAM and including your new LATAM FF# when you initiate your match request. You can reach the airline and request your match by online form, via Twitter, over the phone or even on Facebook. They will give you a case # and ask that you send a copy (ideally front and back) of your current loyalty card, and at least one statement of flying activity. It never hurts to mention interest in flying with them and increased travel to the region, if that’s true of course. Be polite as well, as you should always be.
Any Downsides To Matching?
Remember, you WILL retain your current status with current airline when you match. You lose nothing, you just gain a whole new alliance of airlines where you have frequent flyer privileges. Status matches to any one airline are generally granted only once, so if you don’t need the match now, it may not be worth it. These matches do often disappear, so there’s no guarantee an opportunity would exist down the line. Be sure you can get use out of the status while it lasts.
