Skyteam Elite Plus status match opportunity. Equivalent to Flying Blue Gold, Delta Gold
Just a couple of weeks ago I wrote about how to do “status matching“, whereby you ask a competing airline to one where you hold some elite membership to match your level across. This is a fantastic way to skip the time and effort required to build up your level, therefore allowing you to take full advantage the benefits immediately – things like lounge access, free seat selection, bonus air miles etc.
A few days ago, Theo from Ik Vlieg Veel pointed out a possibility with Alitalia, who are a member airline of the Skyteam Alliance. If you happen to hold British Airways Gold or Silver then you will should be able to match across to their Freccia Alata Plus or Freccia Alata tiers. Both are Skyteam Elite Plus! This would allow you free access to the fairly decent airline flagship lounges such as the Skyteam Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 4, or the Crown Lounge at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The process is the usual one. Take a photo of your card and a screenshot of your account activity, and then send to their customer services department. statusmatchmillemiglia@alitalia.com
There is a bit of inconsistency in that some are being matched with status until March 2016, while others are given until March 2017. It so far does not seem clear what is causing the discrepancies. However, you should have a fairly realistic hope that yours will go to 2017. [Edit: If the card you use to match shows an expiry on or before March 2016, then you will be matched to March 2016. If your card shows expiry after March 2016, then Alitalia will match you until March 2017]
I have BA Gold (Oneworld Emerald) and Aegean Gold (Star Alliance Gold) both with recent flights credited to them and have applied for this match. I will write of the outcome when I know it!
Update: I sent in my match on the evening of 6th July 2015, and it was approved by 14th July 2015. It did take longer than the advertised 5 working days on their website but now over the phone they are asking people to ignore the advice on the website and instead saying it can take up to 2 weeks!
Air Berlin Gold matched to FRECCIA ALATA CLUB (SkyTeam Elite Plus). Until 2017.
😀 And Air Berlin Gold is one of the easiest matches to do too! How long did the process take for you?
less than 2 days.
Delta.com does not recognize status with Alitlia, apparently. I just added my Alitalia status number to a reservation on Delta.com, and status is not shown. Any ideas?
This would require either tweeting them or calling up Delta’s customer service centre. If it’s not programmed correctly on their website there’s not much you can do there! Just ask for it to be added into the “FQTV” section of the reservation and that should sort it out.
Do you know if they would match AA status? I’m saphire with them.
Don’t know. Only one way to find out!
called in. neither delta nor korean can see my alitalia status even though it shows on alitalia.com. strange…. any ideas
Hmm. I don’t know I’m afraid. Sometimes it takes a bit of time for information to propagate through, could be a few days. Maybe call back then?
What do you write in the email requesting for status match?
Here is the wording of mine: “Hello,
I would like to request a status match for my Mille Miglia account: XXXXXXXXXXXX
I currently hold a British Airways Gold card (Oneworld Emerald) and I have attached a photo and screenshot of my card and account.
Best wishes,
Tim”
So what is the outcome of this?
Just updated the page – thanks for reminding me!
My sister just tried to status match with Marco Polo (AsiaMiles) and was rejected with reason given that it does not meet the requirements of the Status Match initiative. Does anyone have similar issue?