Royal Jordanian, which is a oneworld member, has an interesting new status match promotion.
Royal Jordanian’s status match promotion
Let’s look at how Royal Jordanian describes the promotion:
Top Tier Status Match offered by Royal Jordanian, for Gold and platinum members and it is based on the following conditions:
- The frequent flyer member must be a current Elite member with the one world carriers valid for 12 months from the airline.
- A recent boarding pass that shows your current status must be provided.
- Provides a copy of the card and a statement of account for the past 12 months.
- Should register in the Royal plus program.
- Provides a booking and a ticket on Royal Jordanian; noting that the card upgrade and benefits would only be activated after the first trip with RJ.
- Status match will be granted once only for the same member.
- Member must achieve 20,000 miles within the first 12 months to keep the matched status, otherwise the card level will be demoted.
- To maintain the card level the member should accumulate the needed miles for the tier level according to RJ program rules.
- The processing and approval of each status match request is left at the sole discretion and judgment of Royal Jordanian Airlines.
Interested customers should contact RJ Frequent Flyer section at [email protected]
The first thing that’s interesting here is that Royal Jordanian seems to be matching status from other oneworld member airlines. Typically airlines will status match from non-partner airlines rather than from partners, so this is interesting on Royal Jordanian’s part. While we’ve seen some other airlines offer status matches to airberlin elite members (given that they’re going out of business), there’s nothing here that suggests that you need to be an airberlin elite member.
They’re also adding a few hurdles here:
- You need to be an elite member with another airline (as you’d expect), and need a boarding pass that shows your current status, as well as 12 months of account statements
- You need to provide a ticket on Royal Jordanian, and the card upgrade will only be honored after the first trip with Royal Jordanian is completed
- The terms suggest you can maintain status by achieving 20,000 elite qualifying miles within the first 12 months
So as of now the details are limited, though what’s interesting is that it seems you can match to their Gold or Platinum tiers, which correspond to oneworld Sapphire and Emerald, respectively.
There is a requirement to take a flight on Royal Jordanian, though they have tons of super cheap fares.
Royal Jordanian 787 business class
How this could be useful for American flyers
If you’re an American flyer, there’s a lot of value to be had by having status with another oneworld airline:
- If you have oneworld Sapphire status through a program other than AAdvantage, you can access American Flagship Lounges, even when just traveling domestically
- If you have oneworld Emerald status through a program other than AAdvantage, you can access the Qantas First Class Lounge LAX when traveling domestically, as well as use American’s Flagship First check-in; I was thinking of going for BA Gold status just for this benefit
American Flagship Lounge Chicago
I’m still working on exploring Royal Jordanian’s Royal Plus program, but the other thing that makes the program interesting is that status seems to be valid for 36 months after it’s earned, at least per the Platinum status page on Royal Jordanian’s website:
Qualify for Platinum Tier
To qualify for Platinum Plus, you must achieve one of the following within a period of 24 consecutive months:
- Earn 100,000 tier miles.
- Travel a minimum of 80 Segments (at least 20 Segments must be flown on Royal Jordanian flights).
Maintain Your Platinum Status
To maintain your Platinum Plus membership, you must achieve one of the following within the 36 month period immediately following your promotion to Platinum Plus:
- Earn 120,000 tier miles.
- Travel a minimum of 110 Segments.
So getting a one year status match to oneworld Emerald, plus being able to renew it for another year for 20,000 elite qualifying miles, plus then getting it for another two years, potentially sounds pretty great to me. It’s possible I’m reading that wrong, though.
Bottom line
I haven’t heard any anecdotal experiences about this yet, but this status match seems compelling enough that I plan on reaching out and seeing how exactly it works. If I can get oneworld Emerald with Royal Jordanian by taking one flight with them, and then if I can renew it for another year with 20,000 elite qualifying miles, that sounds like a potentially awesome opportunity.
But I guess we’ll have to see if it actually works the way they’re describing this, as I think airlines often don’t think through the promotions they offer.
Anyone else intrigued by Royal Jordanian’s status match promotion, or have any experience with their program?
(Tip of the hat to YHBU)
Can I status match from AA Plat to RJ Gold?
I am flying in March to AMM on RJ, if I am matched, will it valid just for 2018 or up to 2019.
Thanks!
Has anyone successfully done this status match? Looking to try and get my documents together before a flight Tuesday but don't want to go through all the trouble if it's for sure closed.
@MichaelM @Lucky I had the same experience. I sent them everything. An RJ booking, a copy of my AA OWE card, 12 months of statements of my flying, a boarding pass (Iberia) with my OWE status clearly listed, and my RJ number.
I got an email back that said:
"Thank you for your email below and for your interest in our Frequent Flyer Program -Royal Plus
Please note that Top Tier Status Match offered by...
@MichaelM @Lucky I had the same experience. I sent them everything. An RJ booking, a copy of my AA OWE card, 12 months of statements of my flying, a boarding pass (Iberia) with my OWE status clearly listed, and my RJ number.
I got an email back that said:
"Thank you for your email below and for your interest in our Frequent Flyer Program -Royal Plus
Please note that Top Tier Status Match offered by Royal Jordanian for members holding a top tier status from a major competing airline, equivalent to Royal Plus Platinum or Gold only, and holding a valid loyalty card from the airline, and it is based on the following conditions:"
Then it listed the 8 points above verbatim. And then said...
"Upon the advised you must choose only one program and send its documents, and once all conditions are achieved , offer will be studied and proceeded ."
I'm left here like, that's LITERALLY what I just sent you. Your response is to an email that contained LITERALLY all of that information.
Very confusing.
Since the Qantas First Class lounge LAX is operated by, well, Qantas (and not AA), wouldn't you be able to access it while flying domestically as a Oneworld Emerald even if that status was earned through American?
@ Weymar M Osborne -- Nope, because American won't pay Qantas for access, which is why it's not granted. Per the oneworld rules:
"American Airlines AAdvantage® members, regardless of their tier status or class of travel, are not eligible for lounge access when travelling solely on North American flights within or between the U.S., Canada, Mexico (except Mexico City), the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean."
This is different than the Star Alliance policy, as...
@ Weymar M Osborne -- Nope, because American won't pay Qantas for access, which is why it's not granted. Per the oneworld rules:
"American Airlines AAdvantage® members, regardless of their tier status or class of travel, are not eligible for lounge access when travelling solely on North American flights within or between the U.S., Canada, Mexico (except Mexico City), the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean."
This is different than the Star Alliance policy, as they allow access as long as you're not trying to get into a United Club.
So that's not limited to the Qantas LAX lounge and would also apply to an AA elite flying domestically out of JFK trying to access the BA Galleries lounge for example? That is indeed different from the Star Alliance policy. I was under the impression that the Star Alliance and Oneworld policies were identical whereas with Skyteam the no domestic lounge access applies to every airline in every country.
Ironic, Jordanian CEO Seftan Pichler, the failed CEO of AirBerlin.. he did the same at AirBerlin. Pichler's same old playbook with a different cover.. Recently Pichler using his recycled statements at conventions the usual distribution options senergies, the usual clap trap.. the road circus continues.
Thank you for your interest in our Program.
While we do appreciate your business, unfortunately, we are not accepting anymore applications for Royal Plus tier match.
???
@Lucky, when I emailed them I actually went a little overboard in proving it was worthwhile to them, and was lucky enough to be in Jordan at the time, so I automatically sent an existing booking as well as 12 months' worth of RJ flights to Amman that I had credited to my Air Berlin account. Some of the requirements listed (like a boarding pass) weren't necessary, and my impression is that it's somewhat discretionary...
@Lucky, when I emailed them I actually went a little overboard in proving it was worthwhile to them, and was lucky enough to be in Jordan at the time, so I automatically sent an existing booking as well as 12 months' worth of RJ flights to Amman that I had credited to my Air Berlin account. Some of the requirements listed (like a boarding pass) weren't necessary, and my impression is that it's somewhat discretionary to the FFP program managers – at first they quoted this email as though they were rejecting me until I pointed out that I met all the criteria. I did not need to provide an existing boarding pass.
@Sean , same thing here I swapped browsers and sign up was painless
@Lucky, does this mean you could status match from AA EXP to RJ's top tier status and then access the flagship lounges on U.S. all-domestic trips by using your RJ FF number?
I am trying to sign up on the RJ Royal Plus page, and it is not doing anything when I hit submit. Tried on phone and laptop. Any advise? thanks !
@Lucky, who else ist offering AB elites a Status match?
Their insolvency came just before I could renew my platinum (Emerald) Status with them which I held for 2 years so I dropped to Gold this months - always waiting for match oppurtunities but I did not see any. The only match I know tailored to AB members whould be the new Iberia match where I now would only get Gold (Sapphire) with this...
@Lucky, who else ist offering AB elites a Status match?
Their insolvency came just before I could renew my platinum (Emerald) Status with them which I held for 2 years so I dropped to Gold this months - always waiting for match oppurtunities but I did not see any. The only match I know tailored to AB members whould be the new Iberia match where I now would only get Gold (Sapphire) with this (if AB didn't stop to honor Status miles in August, I'd have been platinum/Emerald again).
@David
I just flew back to Chicago from Istanbul via Amman on Royal Jordanian in business class it was very comfortable and not at all like Lucky’s experience. Remember his flight was full of passengers who were returning from Hajj and in Islam “wudoo,” is the cleaning process one must undertake after using the restroom that typically involves splashing water amongst your parts to wash them off. This is quite difficult in a confined...
@David
I just flew back to Chicago from Istanbul via Amman on Royal Jordanian in business class it was very comfortable and not at all like Lucky’s experience. Remember his flight was full of passengers who were returning from Hajj and in Islam “wudoo,” is the cleaning process one must undertake after using the restroom that typically involves splashing water amongst your parts to wash them off. This is quite difficult in a confined restroom without a bidet. There should have been more tact on the part of the users however I would not let that report deter you from using this airline perhaps don’t use it during Hajj otherwise you’re fine
Does an award booking on RJ count?
It says "a recent boarding pass that shows your current status." So, theoretically, an American EXP that hasn't flown American in a long time, but has a recent BA boarding pass with "Emerald" on it could get this.
That is, it doesn't say that the boarding pass has to be from the airline you're matching from - so that recent could be from a partner.
@lucky
Somewhat off topic q: Would you consider flying RJ again after that terrible experience you had a while back?
"The frequent flyer member must be a current Elite member with the one world carriers valid for 12 months from the airline"
Does this mean that I must have a current status which is valid 12 months from now or have held status for the past 12 months?
Confused Soloflyer1977
@ Soloflyer1977 -- My guess is that they mean that you need to be matching from a full year of status, rather than just matching from a status challenge, or something.
I just got matched to Royal Jordanian Gold with an Air Berlin Gold and Turkish Airlines Gold membership. The earnings seem to be quite good (I'm a frequent traveller to Amman) and the service has always been excellent; their staff was very responsive by e-mail and allowed me to pick up my card at their main office, though of course they can mail it to you. The major drawback is the website, which is extremely...
I just got matched to Royal Jordanian Gold with an Air Berlin Gold and Turkish Airlines Gold membership. The earnings seem to be quite good (I'm a frequent traveller to Amman) and the service has always been excellent; their staff was very responsive by e-mail and allowed me to pick up my card at their main office, though of course they can mail it to you. The major drawback is the website, which is extremely basic and hard to book awards on, but otherwise the experience was positive. As Steven says, the business class check-in and private immigration/security in Amman is great.
@ Michael M -- Thanks for the data point! Out of curiosity, did you have to show proof of a flight in the future and then only get status after taking it, or did a past flight or booking for the future do the trick?
Would be great if you could find out more! Honestly that elite check-in experience two days ago in Amman was one of the most memorable ever -- being the only person at a private security line and private immigration window was priceless. And since I won't be qualifying with AA again could be a great way to maintain Sapphire status.