thorba

Hi guys thought I would open a new thread please forgive if its in the wrong place.;-)

Would be extremely helpful if any members could give some advice as to what options if any are open to Top Tier Frequent Flyers of Airlines that cease flying.

Malev was my main carrier for many years with many long haul connections through BA at Heathrow, would any One World Member Airline be sympathetic to a status match from me.

Thanks in anticipation of your answers!

Sad day for me and my thoughts are with everyone at Malev.

Prospero

I do sympathise with your plight. As the oneworld forum is getting a fair bit of traffic, i'm going to move your appeal over to that forum.

Prospero
Moderator: BAEC forum

BAHumbug

I sympathise with your predicament - it must be difficult to know what to do.

I can think of a couple of options that might be worth looking at, but my first advice is to be patient and see what happens over the next week or two. Possibly MA will be resurrected in some way ?

Failing that, and as you have flown with BA a fair amount long haul you are 'on their radar' so to speak and it might be worth you asking them. Traditionally BA don't status match but they might be sympathetic in this case; you've certainly nothing to lose !

Going forwards, if you want to stick with OneWorld, and you fly with BA a lot, maybe sign up for BAEC - if you're doing a fair amount of long haul travel then I'd guess it would not be too long before you got Silver at least.

Sorry I can't offer more concrete advice.

BAH

DWFI

I would agree that BA is a good first try.

American does have a bit more history of matching status. Right now, officially, they only offer paid Challenges that you must actually fly American to complete.
However, again - if you reach a sufficiently high up person they might be sympathetic and simply grant you the status.

Wadge

What about the Malev miles? I also have some from the past sitting on that account. Are they all wasted now? What is the OneWorld T&C for that if one member drops out? Are they transferable at this stage as well?

Kiwi Flyer

If the Malev FFP continues but Malev exits OW then you'd lose OW status and (possibly) the ability to redeem on OW. If Malev FFP shuts down then lose both status and any unused miles.

Existing awards on other OW airlines made using Malev miles may or may not be honoured.

David-A

The frequent flyer scheme is very much part of the airline. While OW has rules of reciprocity of status recognition, the FFS is part of your relationship with any airline you chose to have an account with, so sadly ow rules will have nothing to save your miles.


Airlines can join and leave alliances without being in difficulty at all, and when they do so their FFS - which is part of them, and its members come with them.

So, with regard to miles, your best hope is a revived malev in some form or another honouring the balances of the FFS members. Or, someone buying it, bits of it, what is left of it, choosing to do so.

While OW may make offers to try to keep higher tier members by matching them to other programmes, this will be status matches, not mileage balance matches.

Wadge

I understand that they are part of the respective airlines' but the benefit of OneWorld alliance is that they are interchangeable as a currency on different FX rates. Arent they? So though Malev went bankrupt I could still buy AA or BA tickets with my Malev miles, aint?

I dont have any status with them now just some amount of miles from the past that could have been used for some tix.

TPJ

I am quite sure many airlines would take this opportunity to comp you, I guess BA would be your best bet, but if unsuccessful I would talk to local LH Sales people to give me a status with M&M or ask AF to upgrade me to Platinum level. Just don't be shy and call the other airlines...

thorba

Thanks you guys so much for all your words of wisdom, much appreciated! Would anyone by chance have an email address of BA executive club or the relevant office that I could send of an email to gauge their opinion re status match?

Thanks again

BAHumbug

Executive Club Hungary:

Tel: +361 777 4749 (M-F 09:00 - 17:00)
Post: British Airways Executive Club
Stefanikova 22
811 05 Bratislava
Slovak Republic


Executive Club UK:

Tel: +44 191 490 7901 (from outside the UK - 07:30 - 20:00 every day)
Post: British Airways Executive Club
PO Box 111
Sudbury
Suffolk
CO10 6FB
United Kingdom

I would advise against phoning the UK at the moment as the lines are VERY busy because of snow disruption in the UK this weekend.

I don't have an EMail address I'm afraid - never needed one.

BAH

Squerez

Well,
I think my OW miles are gone unless if in the coming months somebody will resurrect MA. It happened the same with AZ: the old-one (owned by Italian state) gone burst on Dec 2010 but the new-one AZ (owned entirely by private people) granted my the same status and miles.

On the other hand I expect other OW airlines to grant me the same treatment onboard as before: if I'm a Gold (even from a defunct company!) I should access lounges. After all, if I'm Gold (or Silver) it is because I flew OW.

I will try status match with AY, BA but also AB (when fully integrated on OW) as soon as I will understand what will happen in the coming weeks.

NickB

Well, they may out of courtesy but that will be at a loss for them since MA will no longer be there to pay for your lounge visit. Other things such as use of business/first class check-in, op-up priority, etc... are less of an issue since they do not really cost the airline anything.

I would not be surprised, though, if a status match was offered by some airlines to ex-MA elites.

tauphi

Nope, the operating airline pays for lounge visits.

kauppias

Asked miles and more but got the canned reply below...


Dear Mr Kauppias

Thank you for your e-mail.

We understand that the Senator Card would be very practical for you but unfortunately it is not possible to match your current gold status with Malev Hungarian Airlines' frequent flyer programme in Miles & More. For this reason, we cannot comply with your request but hope you will accept our apologies for any disappointment caused.

To discover more about the numerous advantages and services of our frequent flyer programme, simply log on to our website at www.miles-and-more.com. A customised search is also possible with our new, improved search engine; it will guide you effortlessly to the information you need.

Whether on the ground or in the air, Miles & More have the right partner for you.

Sincerely,
Your Miles & More Service Team