Originally Posted by
WheelsFirst
Status matching is an interesting concept because it defeats the reward for loyalty, it basically says if you were loyal to one airline, our airline will give you the same benefits. However, it is an effective and necessary business practice as it reduces the lock one airline has on a traveler if they want to switch.
I can't imagine there's a big impact to locally earned elites. Either someone matches and doesn't re-qualify, thereby probably only taking a couple flights which doesn't disrupt much, or they qualify, which means they would have qualified a few months down the road.
I finally gave up on Delta a couple of weeks ago based on many factors that were important to me and part of my calculus. I took the AA status challenge for their platinum and will have it locked up in a couple of weeks. AA wins by offering a status challenge as they are able to lure me away from a competitor based on the fact that if I have an option to switch and a better potential exists to gain access to an enhanced experience by the nature of my AAdvantage level - with this in hand, I am likely to leave the comfort of my Delta DM space. Granted, DM was earning me row 39 on the aisle just about every flight, but there was a hesitation on my part to switch without a new prebaked program alternative.