Air France-KLM Flying Blue is currently offering a paid status match promotion, as flagged by Frequent Flyer Bonuses. The catch is that there are geographic restrictions, and also limits on which programs can be matched. Still, some people will no doubt find this to be worthwhile, so let’s go over all the details.
In this post:
Basics of Flying Blue’s status match promo
The website statusmatch.com is currently partnering with Air France-KLM Flying Blue to offer a status match promotion, with the option to earn Silver, Gold, or Platinum status. This offer is available to residents of 18 countries, at different price points. Specifically:
- For residents of the United Kingdom, you’ll pay €79 for a Silver match, €199 for a Gold match, or €399 for a Platinum match
- For residents of Canada, you’ll pay CAD 79 for a Silver match, CAD 199 for a Gold match, or CAD 399 for a Platinum match
- For residents of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, you’ll pay €59 for a Silver match, €199 for a Gold match, or €399 for a Platinum match
The status match request should take just a minute to complete, though it can take up to five business days for the request to be approved. Matched status is valid for a period of 12 months from when the match is approved. There’s no published end date for this promotion, though it can be pulled at any time.
Which airline status is Flying Blue matching?
According to the FAQs, Flying Blue is matching status from the following 16 programs:
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- American AAdvantage
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Finnair Plus
- Iberia Plus
- Lufthansa Miles & More
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Singapore KrisFlyer
- TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Turkish Miles&Smiles
- United MileagePlus
- WestJet Rewards
As you can see, this includes many non-SkyTeam airlines, in particular airlines with a big presence in Europe or across the Atlantic. Status maps over roughly as you’d expect, with top tier status generally mapping to Flying Blue Platinum, entry level status generally mapping to Flying Blue Silver, etc.
How this status match opportunity could be useful
Flying Blue is generally a valuable program for award redemptions, and I redeem miles through Flying Blue all the time. Even beyond the redemption opportunities, there’s value to having status with Flying Blue. Status really gets valuable with Flying Blue Gold and Platinum.
Flying Blue Gold status offers:
- The ability to earn 7x miles per € spent on airfare
- SkyTeam Elite Plus status, which offers priority check-in, priority security, priority boarding, extra baggage, lounge access, and much more, whether flying with Air France, KLM, or a SkyTeam partner
- Some free premium seat options 72 hours before departure
Flying Blue Platinum status incrementally offers:
- The ability to earn 8x miles per € spent on airfare
- The ability to redeem Flying Blue miles for Air France first class (La Premiere)
- Free premium seat options at the time of booking; you can even pre-reserve the bulkhead seats in Air France’s new Airbus A350 and Boeing 777 business class, which I’d consider to be the world’s best business class seats
- Access to a dedicated Platinum phone service line
- Waived change & cancelation fees on Flying Blue awards
In general, this status match opportunity is an easy way to unlock SkyTeam Elite Plus perks, regardless of which airline you may fly. On top of that, many may value Flying Blue Platinum status for the ability to redeem miles for Air France first class. This offer won’t be for everyone, though if you’re in an eligible region and could get value from this, it’s definitely worth considering.
Bottom line
The Air France-KLM Flying Blue program is currently offering a status match promotion, whereby you can pay for a 12-month status match all the way up to Flying Blue Platinum status. The major restriction is the residency requirements, as this is primarily available to those in Europe and Canada. If you would value SkyTeam Elite Plus status, or want to redeem miles for Air France first class, this is well worth it.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this Flying Blue status match opportunity?
When a non-US airline flies into the US, they must follow all US laws.
There may be a reason to file a complaint with the US DOT over preferential treatment of non US citizens with this sales promo.
https://secure.dot.gov/air-travel-complaint
@engel, Foreign airlines are subject to US laws regarding operations of their flights to/from the US and for sales and communications to US residents who are customers of that said airline. That said, any foreign airline is free to target any market of their choosing for special promotions. The DOT has no legal ground to object to a French airline offering a promotion to say UK residents, it would be as if the EU objected...
@engel, Foreign airlines are subject to US laws regarding operations of their flights to/from the US and for sales and communications to US residents who are customers of that said airline. That said, any foreign airline is free to target any market of their choosing for special promotions. The DOT has no legal ground to object to a French airline offering a promotion to say UK residents, it would be as if the EU objected to AA offering a promotion to Canadian or UK residents. That makes no sense.
What a shame that US residents are excluded. They should have at least considered including US customers who hold status with one of their EU competitor airlines. I would have jumped on this , even at a higher price point for US customers .
I love how all promotions via this provider (so it doesn't seem to have anything with airlines) completely ignore geography. AFKL serves exactly one destination in Austria - Vienna (besides seasonal Salzburg) so I assume the offer is targeted to people flying from there. Yet, the promo is not available for people living less than an hour from that airport, while someone from Graz can apply without a problem.
I can't find any logic behind...
I love how all promotions via this provider (so it doesn't seem to have anything with airlines) completely ignore geography. AFKL serves exactly one destination in Austria - Vienna (besides seasonal Salzburg) so I assume the offer is targeted to people flying from there. Yet, the promo is not available for people living less than an hour from that airport, while someone from Graz can apply without a problem.
I can't find any logic behind these decisions so I can only assume this is done by some American with no geography skills at all.
So why are they leaving us US peeps out of the promotion??
For 399 CAD for Platinum status, how exactly are you getting your money's worth ?
This was originally just open to the UK, but with the extension to Canada I bit - thank you!
Moving to TLV and BA downgraded to shorthaul. So in my case I expect this will be sticky. Already impressed with AF.
If the matched status is subject to the usual soft landing, a Platinum match would be 2 years of Elite Plus benefits, as the second year would be at least Gold.
One wonders how sticky such matches are, e.g., if someone who matches from LH or UA or SQ actually starts flying AF or KL and actually stays with them, or if this is an attempt to goose revenue and/or engagement in the short term.