Vietnam Airlines Status Match Opportunity: Unlock SkyTeam Perks

Thanks, Ben, for laying out the details transparently, and for not baiting us in the headline with some incredible sounding opportunity but burying the asterisk way down in the post.

You are a much better man than Gary Leff.

Elite status with VN does come with free upgrades, if only to premium economy and on a space-available basis. Gold also offers lounge access to any VN-operated lounges (not sure if they have any outside Vietnam, but I have used the one at HAN andfound it perfectly decent).

It's such a shame that neither VN nor any other Skyteam airlines are offering status matches to those of us holding AZ shiny cards. I currently have silver with two Skyteam carriers and, while it's my favourite mid-tier status, I will likely let it lapse because I can't see a sensible way of consolidating my Skyteam flying to a single programme (especially after the ridiculous Flying Blue devaluations) and I'll just stick to *A for the vast majority of my revenue flying.

@Ben, you forgot Canada. See here under 'other markets" https://vietnamairlines.statusmatch.com/terms/

Do they upgrade to PE on long-haul too? That would be quite valuable indeed.

That's what the website says, and it applies to both Gold and Platinum.

Not worth it with the fee you have to pay and not being able to get into delta lounges domestically

I'm not sure the domestic lounge situation on Delta really matters to me, the last time a domestic lounge saved me any grief rather than adding, it was USO lounges. USO lounges are actually much nicer than what the airlines offer, I still appreciate the people who volunteered back then.

It occurs to me that I have seen a number of dedicated Vietnam Airlines lounges in the international airports. I think that, depending on your specific route, Vietnam Airlines can probably save you a lot of headache over other carriers, but it's a question of the caliber of the tourism spot being served on the route.

Local people willing to pay a slight premium, versus international tourists booking award travel from partner airlines at no cost.

I'd have to look at how the points earn is accelerated, and how award flights from Skyteam partners contribute to qualifying flights and segments. The rail system in Vietnam is a much better experience traveling than elsewhere in Southeast Asia, but it is antiquated and low speed, there are a lot of reasons to fly around instead during a visit - most travelers will stay longer on single-entry visas because of a lack of visa-free entry, no last minute hastily planned border crossings.