Originally Posted by
malibert1
Hello Flyertalk
I have also purchased a very affordable TK ticket in W class in February only to find out afterwards that the mileage credit won't transfer to United as I hoped. I'm flying IAD-CPT, so I will be travelling around 21,000 miles, but likely won't be flying TK for the foreseeable future.
But if I post this 21k mile trip to a M&S account, and then fly 4k more miles in 2014 on United and direct those miles to the M&S account rather than my UA account, I'd achieve Classic Plus status with TK. But how can I turn that status into something useful on United or other Star Alliance flights? Is that what status match is?
Thank you, sorry if this is a basic or misplaced question.
You earn Star Alliance Gold status (*G) with 40K M&S miles. That is one of the more generous requirements (most airlines require 50K). This gives you benefits such as lounge access, an extra check in bag, priority boarding, etc. You can read the complete benefits at the Star Alliance website. Handy for frequent travelers, but perhaps less important otherwise.
I would say if you will fly another 20K with other Star Alliance airlines, then credit those to M&S to achieve *G - if having *G makes sense for you. Otherwise I would still credit your current flight to M&S to earn the 21K (better than nothing), which is enough for some
TK awards (albeit with moderate fuel surcharge), such as an intra-Europe round trip in economy or two intra-Turkey round trips.