IanWorthington

I'm OW Emerald with LATAM. What are my chances of a status match with A3? Is there anything I should do to improve my chances?

KLouis

Chances are zero and there's nothing you can do about it.

IanWorthington

Thanks @KLouis.

What's the story? A3 never status match or what?

Jma12

They only offer status match once to Sunmile account, the Cyprus airline went out of business.

IanWorthington

OK, thanks.

KLouis

They also matched Spanair's FF program members when that airline went out of business in 2012.

NWIFlyer

A3 has historically matched in specific circumstances and sometimes more generally. You can add BMI to the specifics list from when they left Star after being bought by BA in 2012.

However, it seems like that's bitten them, hence the re-launch of the FFP and the tightening of the qualification (now arguably one of the more difficult to achieve for non-European residents)/re-qualification requirements in order to reduce the number of Gold members. Having achieved that, it's extremely unlikely they'll try and increase them again via the vehicle of a status match campaign.

benberg2013

In a way, I'd say, that the fact they have tightened the rules, is all the more of a reason why sometime in the future they would start being more flexible on status-matching, when realising how many people they have cut off from elite status.

KLouis

Let's not look at it from the point of view of those who can no longer re-qualify as easily as it used to be. I'm thinking of the A3/OA flights requirement, which is the major reason for not being able to achieve and keep status. Why, therefore, make a Gold membership gift to people who will, most probably never fly with A3/OA and will use the Gold status to simply cause expenses (especially usage of lounges overseas). I really doubt that the company execs are so naive: they cut off those people simply because they wanted to cut off so many people!

The bottom line is that most, if not all programs (I'm aware of) gradually make it more and more difficult to achieve and maintain the highest status level. TK is one exception, but at the rate this airline expanded over the last 5-10 years, it made sense to attract as many people as possible. The question (obviously OT) is: will TK be able to survive this massive expansion now that tourism in Turkey is negatively affected by both war, terrorism and internal political problems?

irishguy28

Don't you mean Golden Commode?

A3 is one of the easiest *A programs in which to obtain status - even more so if you actually fly on A3 occasionally - so if you need the status, earning it the old fashioned way is not so difficult.

IanWorthington

Thanks all.

Regrettably LATAM have retired that name. I'm just plain LATAM Black these days. Tricky to make a variant on that without someone taking it the wrong way.

Jma12

KLouis, you brought up a good point about TK. I highly doubt TK's FFP will remain the same for the next couple years. It is also very difficult to redeem their miles on *A partners.

DELLAS

I can see quite a few changes coming to TK in general and their FF program will not go untouched. With the situation in Turkey getting worse by the day and fights brewing with the EU and terrorism expected to get worse it will be more and more difficult for TK to avoid more cuts and changes to policy.

Giamasetti

I can confirm that status match is difficult with A3. I asked, for my wife, to match her "Freccia Alata" (Alitalia - The equivalent of "Skyteam Elite Plus") status but they answered "no"

headingwest

Hmm, that's a shame. Does anybody know who would match Alata? That would be very useful indeed!