Fun with status matches

[deva22]

Update- they need actual proof that you live there. In Germany you need to registerat the local office and are given a official registration paper. Just having arandom address is not enough unless you can prove registration actually livingthere

What counts as *actual* proof?

 

[williamsf1]

What counts as *actual* proof?

IDcard and- or registration papers (Anmeldung) from the burgeramt ( local town hall where all residents need to register)[h=2][/h][h=2]
[/h]

 

[theevilmuppet]

Hi all,

Apologies for not updating everyone earlier (I've been travelling). Here are some new results:

Delta:

There are some major operational issues within Delta. I was offered a Status Challenge initially and then told that matches against VA status were not possible. Mention of the other matches/challenges I've been offered resulted in blind quoting of policy, and questions regarding DL's want of my business (I've spent ~$15K with them in the last 2 years, credited to Velocity instead of SkyMiles) resulted in really awful lip service. Of all the airlines I have spoken to, DL have been the most formulaic in their responses, taken approximately 7 days to respond to all messages and provided no explanations beyond "we have a policy".

American:

Gold status challenge granted for a choice of a 125 USD fee or immediate Gold status + criteria for 175 USD (giving mileage earning benefits + OW Ruby immediately). I had a MEL-SYD-LAX return PNR booked that allowed me to wrangle a Platinum status challenge upgrade option after flying the full itinerary, resulting in QF and non-AA OneWorld lounge access. Interestingly, any OneWorld or AA partner PNRs qualify for this challenge. The criteria are as follows:

Gold: Either 7,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) + $1,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) OR 8 Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs) + $1,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs)
Platinum: Either 14,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) + $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) OR 16 Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs) + $3,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs)

A single SYD-LAX itinerary in J easily satisfied the Platinum challenge.


Virgin America:

"Come back and ask us again!" was the initial response. The next response was "Sorry, go ask Alaska" after the reveal of the death of the VX brand.

Qantas:

The conversation went thusly:

"Cool e-mail address! We can see that you've got some flights booked with us! We'll provide a Status Challenge opportunity for you - to complete the challenge and achieve Gold, you'll need to earn 200 Status Credits on QF ticketed flights, and yes QF codeshares qualify."

And, here are some new airlines:

JetBlue:

"Sorry, we don't do matches or challenges. That said, contact us on Twitter again when you fly with us and we'll upgrade you for free."

Emirates:

Not something we do. Go talk to Qantas. (!!!)

Next steps:

My issue with some programs is a requirement to fly a number of sectors with flights with a specific marketing carrier. QF and VA both have this requirement and this potentially restricts one's choices when choosing to fly internationally. My next targets will be in Europe, the rest of the ME3 and some of the carriers in Asia.

Suggestions and challenges welcome!

 

[casanovawa]

I signed up for a Virgin America Gold status for free last year, from memory i think it was only meant to last 4 months or something but I am still Gold I'm sure a year later, so not sure when that will run out but still getting me into Virgin Australia lounges...

When Alaska and VX recently merged they converted that free status to Alaska Gold MVP i think... Because in 2015 i signed up to an AA challenge (completed in early 2016) that seemed to originally only be offered to people in some company (forget the name of it Accenture maybe??) but it was posted on FT and so I signed up and only had to fly 25,000 miles to get AA Exec Plat instead of 100k miles, as it was also expiring earlier this year i asked Alaska if they could upgrade me from the status they had already given me to their top tier MVP GOLD 75k to match it which they did, so got that for a year now... Pity Alaska Mileage Plan is a points partner of Qantas but status carries no reciprocal benefits... I think if i do take a QF flight this year i will credit to Alaska as they have some good earning and burning rates...

Prior to the Exec Plat expiring I also applied to LATAM, sent all my details to them but hadn't taken a LATAM flight in the last 12 months, anyway i have two flights booked next month when i am visiting South America so they said to let them know when i had taken my first flight so I will see what they will upgrade me up to... Be night to get the equivalent of OW Emerald but we will see...

Have no Star Alliance status so that is a bit of a project...

Would like to try Air Berlin sometime in the future if i can work around this residence thing...

 

[WethereX]

VA WP / TC, I used a mail redirection service in Germany to Status match to Airberlin Gold, also got Alitalia Plat, Turkish Air Gold, and just for fun Oman Air Sindbad Gold. Challanges for QF, AA, Denied for EK, EY and QR.

 

[llamaesque]

Qantas:

The conversation went thusly:

"Cool e-mail address! We can see that you've got some flights booked with us! We'll provide a Status Challenge opportunity for you - to complete the challenge and achieve Gold, you'll need to earn 200 Status Credits on QF ticketed flights, and yes QF codeshares qualify."

Did you call or email?

 

[theevilmuppet]

Did you call or email?

The process with Qantas went thusly:

1. Initial contact via social media.
2. QF called me and advised me to send various details to a specific e-mail address.
3. QF called me again after I provided the information and laid out the details of the status challenge. They noticed that I had an upcoming flight on QF metal and scheduled to the challenge to start on the day that flight occurred.

 

[Spacetravel]

A year ago I wanted to see how many airlines I could have status with so I did the following:
I matched VA Platinum with Air Alitalia which gave my Skyteam Elite Plus
I next matched Air Alitalia with Avianca which gave me Star Alliance Gold
I matched this with Air Berlin to give me One World Sapphire

While I hardly used the status match it did help me out a couple times, I was left stranded in the US after a Virgin America cancellation. I was able to book a last minute flight on AA and looked after with my Air Berlin Status. Also I was able to use the 4x business class upgrades on Alitalia for a trip in Europe who were the only airline on the route I needed.

 

[Dannyism]

VA WP / TC, I used a mail redirection service in Germany to Status match to Airberlin Gold, also got Alitalia Plat, Turkish Air Gold, and just for fun Oman Air Sindbad Gold. Challanges for QF, AA, Denied for EK, EY and QR.

Impressive

Was this recently or last couple of years ? Turkish Air is pretty valuable IMHO.

 

[malmacdowall]

The process with Qantas went thusly:

1. Initial contact via social media.
2. QF called me and advised me to send various details to a specific e-mail address.
3. QF called me again after I provided the information and laid out the details of the status challenge. They noticed that I had an upcoming flight on QF metal and scheduled to the challenge to start on the day that flight occurred.

Very interested in the result of this....
Im also VA PLAT and looking at significant number of flights on SWISS.... BUT not sure if these count to status and points on QF..... Any advice??

 

[williamsf1]

Very interested in the result of this....
Im also VA PLAT and looking at significant number of flights on SWISS.... BUT not sure if these count to status and points on QF..... Any advice??

SWISS are StarAlliance and do not partner with QFF ....

 

[thompo]

A year ago I wanted to see how many airlines I could have status with so I did the following:
I matched VA Platinum with Air Alitalia which gave my Skyteam Elite Plus
I next matched Air Alitalia with Avianca which gave me Star Alliance Gold
I matched this with Air Berlin to give me One World Sapphire.

I did exactly this last year too albeit starting as a VA Gold. I fly VA 90% domestically for work and leisure so AB came in handy.

As for proof of address with AB I'm based in SYD but our company HQ is in ZRH so when I emailed in the scan of my Avianca I just changed the address in my email signature.

AB got a bit of use on QF domestic - mostly FNQ that VA simply didn't fly/bad timing or occasional cheaper fares in the triangle. The QF lounge staff were always obliging as I departed to change the FF# to my QF so points went to something useful. Also 1x ZRH-DOH-SYD on QR but couldn't change FF# before takeoff so bought a socket set with the points! Hopefully CEO will bring me a gift next visit as shipping to AU wasn't allowed.

Expires in 12 days so will be sad to see it go as it was the most valuable "free" status I've ever obtained! Back to sitting with the commonfolk when occasionally flying QF

I never flew Skyteam before the card expired so the only use was onward status matching.

Avianca got used once or twice TT on NZ only because I had already retained VA Gold for the year hence crediting to VA worthless.