Is that not the same treatment that you'd get if you'd qualified by flying with United, and aren't all 2004 cards distributed to all Elite members in the new year? I haven't even received my letter yet, although the MilagePlus website now shows me as Premium Executive.

Not sure about ALL matching, but it has been mentioned on the AA board, by a very relaible source, that AA will discontinue the matching with UA.

I think thye may still match some top tiers on foreign airlines such as BA Gold or similar, but I think for domestic carriers it will no longer be done.

Very timely topic as people review options for 2004, looks like the competition is heating up for high volume flyers.

I asked earlier this year about a transfer from UAL to AA and the next thing I knew I was getting offers from their partners. I also recieved a membership.

I asked for none of these, and it took me 6 months to get my membership canceled.

Looks like they'll do almost anything to capture UA 1K members. The dishonesty I encountered with AA will never allow me to join them now.

.....

Hey guys reference NWA Status comp. How long has it taken to get a response? I put mine in before XMAS (bad Timing) and have yet to hear a word. Anyone have an email address that might be useful in checking how the process is going?

I just got something from American that their qualifying points per mile accounting will change in 2004. The email also says that:

"This more generous point structure means that all AAdvantage elite levels can be attained more quickly. And, the great news is that members who would have earned a higher elite status or retained their current status under the new points qualification guidelines (based on their 2003 flight activity) will be awarded that higher status for the 2004 membership year. Members will receive their credentials at the beginning of the new membership year in March 2004."

Does this mean that if I succeeded in my Gold challenge that I might actually be Platinum (which I would have made under the new qualifying miles system)?

I just found GLEFF's ex cellent thread from October answering my question. I apologize for the posting.

My experience follows. YMMV.

11/18: called AAdvantage Gold Customer Service (I was Gold at the time) and asked for a status match from UA Premier Exec. The CSR gave me the requirements for a match (see email reproduced on page 4 of this thread) and the fax number.

11/19: faxed the materials in

12/20: called to see what was going on, as my status had not updated. I was told that the materials had been received and that they were "under review."

1/6: logged into AA.com and saw that my status had updated to Plat!

NOTE: I had shifted essentially all my flying to AA as of the beginning of October, and racked up about 15 segs. between then and the end of the year. Whether this had any effect on the match I have no idea.

Was comped to US CP from DL PM. Sent them documentation showing 63 round trips from PHL to JAN in last 15 months - a route that US also flys. Booked 1Q already on US.

Reading through all these topics here (it's almost too much information to grasp), it seems like so many people want to switch airlines. I know you can't please all of the people all of the time, but how do people make up their minds on which airlines to switch to? The only airline I can reasonably switch to is US from DL. But with the news that US is selling their gates, commuter airline and hubs, switching to them is a scarey option.

I can't say it was any single factor when I moved from top tier at UA to top tier at AA. I looked at routes (in my case, AA flies from 4 nearby airports), fares, partners, and elite benefits, and I knew they would comp based on threads on the AA board (which was the first place I started my research).

I asked for a comp to UA PremEx based on my CO Gold Status.

I submitted my info (covering letter, copy of my card, printout of my CO account) 2 weeks ago.

I checked my MP account late last week, and noticed that my status had been updated from "General Member" to "Premier Executive".

I've already booked 3 flights: YYZ-OGG, YYZ-SAN, YYZ-DEN (trying to avoid AC when possible, which means going through ORD).

FYI, CO's new EQM scheme, as well as a general blase attitude toward customer service when dealing directly with me, has caused me to search for another transborder carrier.

Add in the E+ and *G benefits, and i'll fly them a LOT in the next 12 months.

Of course, i'll still fly CO down the East Coast, because I love those RJ's...

[This message has been edited by kpalle (edited Jan 12, 2004).]

Plat with CO a pice of cake! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Send in HP card waited for 10 days - done!

------------------
Viele Grüße

Oliver

That's right, I tried to jump from CO to NWA Platinum, faxed all the docs,etc., became a Whirrled Perky and got a letter saying they don't "poach".

Pick an airline you won't likely fly, get comped to them, and then use that status to get comped to NW.

Pick an airline you won't likely fly, get comped to them, and then use that status to get comped to NW.

Does not work. NW will require you to submit documentation showing flights on the airline you are requesting a comp from. Status alone is insufficient. Trust me.

Add TACA to the list:

(based on my request of a match of my Executive Platinum status with AA.)

Dear Mr. Snorkmaster,

Thank you for contacting us. It's a pleasure to greet you. Indeed we have a "Level Match Program". We need a copy of the statement and member card of the Program you are enjoying at the time.
We have 3 levels, PLATA , ORO and our highest level is PLATINO.
You need to go through a 2 month period evaluation which will determine the level you will be invited to through out year 2004.
The 2 month period starts the day you request to be considered into the process.
Since you are already enrolled in DISTANCIA, the next step is to send the information once you have your flights scheduled.
If you would like to be invited to PLATA you need to accrue 4 international flown segments (segments within Central America
do not apply for this evaluation period). For ORO you need 6 international flown segments and for PLATINO you need 8 international
flown segments. During this period of two months, you will be treated as an Horizonte de PLATA, this will not be shown in your DISTANCIA
account, but Operaciones Programas de Lealtad, which is the Department in charge of this process will have all this information available to them.
For you to be given the Upgrades, you will need to e-mail us the reservation record locator and your frequent flyer number to
[email protected], we request you specify you are in the process of obtaining a level Match in DISTANCIA, at least 72 hours before
departure of the flight, since we review the upgrades to be given 24 hours before departure because of the level (PLATA).
We review the Horizontes de ORO 48 hours before departure and the PLATINOS up to 72 hours before departure.
Once the period has ended we will review how many segments were credited into your DISTANCIA account and depending on the
amount you will be given the correspondent member card.
For the level you will enjoy in 2005, we will consider all the flights credited in 2004, including the flights within Central America.
You will need to credit the following amounts depending on the desired level:
Horizonte de Plata- 20,000 Miles or 25 segments accrued in flights operated by TACA during a calendar year (Jan 01 to Dec 31)
Horizonte de Oro- 40,000 Millas or 45 segments accrued in flights operated by TACA during a calendar year (Jan 01 to Dec 31)
Horizonte de Platino- 80,000 Millas or 85 segments accrued in flight operated by TACA during a calendar year (Jan 01 to Dec 31)
Our fax number in El Salvador is (503) 267-8230 to the attention of Jacqueline de Avendaño.
Any further questions please contact us it will be a pleasure to help you.

Sincerely yours,

Customer Service Center
Loyalty Programs
TACA

[This message has been edited by snorkmaster (edited Jan 22, 2004).]

I am a Platinum with Starwoods and in December I requested Hyatt a comp to Diamond. No response. I assume they are not interested but I expected at least a reply.

------------------

Priority Club will match the major competitors. They ask for a copy of your current competitor card to be faxed and that's it.

I have not been traveling for a couple of years but I am back at it. I thought I would share what I was able to accomplish in getting my old status' back.

The first thing I did was contact AA. I used to be Platinum. When I did not travel for a year they sent me another Platinum card for the following year anyway, but the year after they only sent me a Gold. When I contacted them they put me on a Platinum challenge, which I met, so I got my Platinum status back at AA through Feb '05. (An unexpected bonus... they gave me the 100% mileage bonus on the trip that qualified me... I thought the 100% bonus would start the flight after).

Then... I called UA. "Will you match AA?". They told me to fax in my activity and they would evaluate. They also advised me they would only match once per member. I did not have the heart to tell them they already did an AA match for me back in 2000. Two days later I logged into the UA site and it said I was Premier Executive--and I have not even flown a single flight on UA for three years!

NWA also gave me a FAX number to send in a copy of three months of AA statements. I only really have two months of activity this year. I faxed that in but so far no change (FAX# 218.254.7566 ATTN Emily)

Then I read this thread and I decided to start calling the hotels. Here's what happened.

At Hyatt, where I used to be Diamond, they put be back at Platinum without a blink.

At Hilton, where I used to be Gold they put me at Silver, but they blinked.

And Starwood, where I was Gold, put me at Preferred Plus.

Not bad for a few phone calls, thought I.

[This message has been edited by pushback (edited Jan 22, 2004).]

Given at least the stated policy of several programs not to comp but once per member, why would one seek so many comps all at once? (Or is it all in the name of research?)

The reason I tried to get NWA and UAL to comp my AA is because, although I have been able to keep all my flights on AA so far, my company said I will have to start using the company travel agent instead of booking through AA.com. I figure that means I will be doing some flying (to Asia) on NWA an UA.

As for the trying to get the hotels to upgrade me... why not!?

Does any one have any recent experience requesting a status comp from UA? I faxed them my latest CO onepass statement reflecting Platinum status, 105K+ eqm last year etc. (I've had it with CO) I have not heard anything in a couple weeks from them one way or the other. Typical? How long have others had to wait on average for UA?

I am currently AC Elite which is Star Gold. I wonder if any(yes any) airline will comp me to their highest level due my status with AC?

Alaska, I'd guess.

gleff, thank you for this.
I was comped CO Gold this past year (from AA Plat) and flew 9 segements and was not upgraded on a single segment. Per past FT discussions about CO's upgrade policy I emailed CO that I was considering moving my business back to AA because I didnt "reap what I flew." They extended me CO Gold through 2/05.

United gave me PremEx last year without me asking probably because they saw my AA statement when I faxed it to them for a promotion. Like CO, UA also automatically extended my PremEx through 2/05.

Is it very common that UA and CO will extend status so freely? AA certainly doesnt seem to be doing so.

Happy Travels

Renard - I've found that UA is very slow to give you any mailed nofication. I think it took 3-4 weeks before I got anything. However, if you log into your account, they will reflect it in a short amount of time (1 week?).

When did you request the comp?

Late year comps (and the dates vary by airline, as much as July 1 through November) will be good through the end of the current program year AND the following program year.

So if you went to Continental for a comp in August 03 it's entirely possible that your Gold status was automatically given to you through Feb 05. That's because it's not all that reasonable to expect you to requalify in only 4-5 months.

But like I said, the exact date during the year where the airlines change over from granting status through the end of the current year to granting status through the end of the next year varies by program and may even change year to year.

Jaimito,

I did log in and over two weeks later it still says 'general member' under my status.. so nothing even online.

gleff,
thanks. this makes perfect sense. Sadly, I might have to fight with AA to extend me Plat through 2/05 based on my UA PremEx. I hate asking for the comp status. I would rather fly the miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif but I also prefer AAdvantage to MileagePlus.
Happy Travels

Faxed info to NW a few days ago to request status match.
I've been AS Gold for 4 years and explained that over the past 2 years the majority of my EQM have been on NW metal.
Any input on how long it will take to hear or even if they will consider a match?

duplicate post

[This message has been edited by frankc98376 (edited Mar 05, 2004).]

I selected Delta as my secondary program this year. I requested a status match based upon UA 1P and AA Plat (comped).

After I faxed in copies of my elite cards, Delta offered me a status match as follows:

Fly 6,000 miles (not clear if this is EQM or raw miles) March 1-May 31 and get Silver; Fly 12,000 miles within that timeframe and get Gold.

I've hit the 6,000 already (measured by both EQM and raw miles) and my Silver status has posted.

[This message has been edited by Mikey likes it (edited Mar 16, 2004).]

Do a search at altavista.com that has the words: "british airways" elite status match

and click on the 2nd/3rd result and see what happens. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

or you can see this BA forum thread

[This message has been edited by terenz (edited Mar 19, 2004).]

Took NW 3 weeks to get back to me with a letter. Instead of a status match, I'm a CO plat, they offered a Challenge. Would elevate me to NW silver if I took 2 flights in 90 days. Sadly the flights had to be in fares that I don't fly, namely, P,F,C,J,Z,Y,B or S.

Updated with America West's Challenge program (including some reports of instant silver for the asking).

See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=321742

There are also reports of status matches on Hawaiian
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327859

If more details are forthcoming I'll update the main post.

Ual To Aa
 

I see several threads on AA about not accepting UAL status matches anymore, does anybody know a good way to get status on AA? I am NWA Gold, and UAL Prem Exec....

Thanks.

FWIW, nobody received a status match through that promo as it wasn't meant for the general public, BA didn't even bother to send rejection letters to people.

BA was and still is one of the few that will not match status. They will always require proof of future spending (think $65k+), mainly done though a corporate account manager.