I would agree with the above save one possibly useful item/revision that I would apply in some cases:

"One status match in the lifetime of a given account number."

... and even when the status match restriction applies for the lifetime of an individual person, some programs do a very poor job of noting that you've been status matched before.

HP Gold --> UA Prem Exec
 

I was given UA Prem Exec after faxing in my HP statement showing I was gold. It posted by the end of the week.

All you have to do is fax it in to their mileage plus fax machine.

Does anyone know of a way to get Airtran elite from having DL elite?

On the SkyTeam subject, which ones of their airlines will comp me their top status (I'm a QF Plat. and a BMI Gold)...

... and which one would I actually want ?!?

Don't mean to be saracstic, I mean which ones have good benefits, and I would prefer it if it was not in an airline likely to go bust !

And do hotel programmes comp. status ?

Will Marriott or Hilton HH comp. me equivalent of my IC Group/Priority Club Platinum ?

Hilton HHonors, more often than not, gives "challenges", whereby you get upgraded if you stay X times in Y months.

I can offer some advice. I decided to try this out with a couple of different carriers and hotels. Mariott and Starwood will comp hilton and hyatt (don't know IC). Starwood did it in under 24hrs. I have oodles of HHonors points. So starwood preferred platinum, but you must be HHonors diamond VIP or they will give you a gold challenge. Waiting on Marriott and Best Western (hahahaha)

I faxed American Platinum Exec and UA Executive Premier statements to a couple of airlines just to see. I will probably not use them, but what the hey. Alaska less than 24 hrs MVP Gold, US Air comp Gold "don't know why not chairman" America west responded quickly and said ok but has not posted on my account and their FlightFund Help desk can't access that department. Said it could take a week to post. Waiting on Delta.

Welcome to FlyerTalk nightmare339 :),
Oh and thanks for the relevant up to date information ^

Any news on NWA

Backdoor US->UA Comp?
 

I'm currently a US GP, and planning significant travel on UA this year. I'm thinking it would probably be more valuable for me to be a US Premier Executive than a US GP because:
- I can earn upgrades on UA
- I can take advantage of UA mileage bonuses
- Have a gut feeling that miles earned in MP program are safer than DM miles

That said, I know UA policy is NOT to comp status based on another *A carrier. My thought is that I could probably do a backdoor comp by getting CO to comp my US status, and then taking that CO status to UA for a comp.

Am I being silly? I'd appreciate advice and recommendations. I realize that getting a status match is a one-time event, so it feels a bit extreme to do that TWICE in one year. I've already earned 7500 status miles on US this year, so I need to decide now if I'll proceed with US or make the switch before I've lost the opportunity to earn the 50K I'll need to maintain the status.

I don't know if the terms of CO's program and UA's program allow for a second account or not, but if you open a new account at CO and/or at UA, then apply for the status matches, your "one-time" status-match issue might be set aside. And post-effective merging may occur in some programs too.

Interesting.

But that aside, do you think the second comp will work -- i.e. getting UA to comp me based on CO status even if I don't show any CO travel?

It's happened before, but I wouldn't necessarily count on it. The best time to do it is when you have some flight history to show UA.

How about flight history on UA that I credited to my US account....

This is getting complicated. I think I might just stick with US, despite the risks. *sigh* :confused:

Thanks for the help.

If you have a long flight coming up, it might be best to book it on CO or a CO partner (just be sure to get CO status first). Then you can fax your statement showing thoseYTD miles to UA (and since it's close to the start of the year, not having many YTD miles won't be a problem).

I wouldn't do that. I would follow the esteemed fellow above's recommendation to show some CO activity at the beginning of the year. Given that people's accounts are "zero'ed" out at this time, it helps for demonstration purposes. :)

Yeah, I suppose so. But the timing makes this tough -- I have to book and fly two transcons in the next 3 weeks. I would have to get a CO status match, book a CO trip, book a UA trip, fly a CO trip, get the CO miles credited, request the status match from UA, get it, then fly on UA -- HOPING that the timing worked out such that UA agrees to comp me in the 5 days between flights. It would also leave me with 8K orphaned CO miles I can't use.

I know what you're saying -- better than 100K US miles that go poof in June.

I should have gone through with this earlier this year. Now that we're in Feb, I'm not so sure it'll work.

Added: What the hell, I'm going to ask UA for a comp and see what they say. I know they're out for business these days, so who knows...

thanks, very useful info.

and any of you have any ideas re. my SKYTeam status match enquiry (who will comp. me, which one do I want) ? Any ideas much appreciated !!!

Why go poof in June? Unless they are expiring, US Airways group has no strong indication of going poof by June. They've even "projected" a "profit" by 2006. While that is really long time away and difficult to predict, it's with much more confidence that US Air will be around for the rest of this year given relative calm.
By the way, any news on whether Airtran will match DL status? Will any random airline match any status (say will ATA give elite status to DL elite?)?
Thanks :)

Anyone have an idea of how long a UA comp takes these days? I sent this info on Thurs night, and so far nada.

Seems like between 48 hours and 14 days, and I don't know how to predict which one it will be closer to in any given instance.

Thanks. I hope they hurry :)

SPG to HH?
 

Will Hilton comp me for SPG Platinum?

What level will they comp? Do I just need to fax them with statement?

SPG will match HHonors diamond VIP with SPG Platinum Preferred, but will place you on a challenge if you are HHonors gold or below. Just fax a statement to 1-512-997-9046 along with your spg number and a HHonors statement. They usually do this in 24hrs. They will not email or call you to confirm. It will only show on website. I have done this for my wife and mother, all are platinum preferred and none of us have received our new cards. Also write a short note saying you want to take your business to them if they will match. HHonors will do they same in return, but I cannot find their fax number. Best Western will do it without faxing them a statement if you get the right customer GCCI member otherwise they will tell you outright NO. I called twice second guy said he would do it and within 5 minutes my account said Diamond. I know this does not help your situation but it might help others.

Took them about 1 week for me. Posted online only.

It's PDQ. I had a letter in my mailbox 8 days after I posted my request. It may have been less time than that if I had been checking online.

HHonors Diamond to Marriot - response
 

Sent an email to via the Marriot rewards website inquiring as to potential status match from HHonors Diamond to Marriot anything. Here is the response:

Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards about status matching.

In fairness to our most frequent guests, levels in Marriott's Elite Club are only achieved by personal nights stayed at Marriott brand hotels between 1/1 and 12/31 of each calendar year.

Most of our Gold Elite level members stay over 60 nights per year, and most of our Platinum Elite level members stay over 100 nights per year. The demand for Gold and Platinum Elite benefits is very high at hotels, and not all Gold and Platinum level members can be accommodated on every stay. Therefore, we can only offer those levels to members who stay the requisite number of nights each year to qualify.

We can however, offer you a complimentary upgrade to the Silver elite status which is given to our members who stay 10-49 nights within a calendar year. Please let me know if you would like to be upgraded to Silver and I will be happy to accommodate you.

We appreciate your understanding, and are always happy to answer questions about the Marriott Rewards program.

Sincerely,

Reed Hatch
Internet Correspondence Specialist
Marriott Rewards

Bummer. I was truly intrested in changing my travel "preferences" but am now discouraged. Not sure what I get for silver. If it is anything like HHonors silver...not much. (Better than an outright "NO", I suppose.)

At least you got Silver!

Dear Mr. BA Loyal,

Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards.

I apologize to inform you that we do not have a status matching program. In fairness to our most frequent staying guests, elite levels in our program are achieved by personal nights stayed at Marriott Hotels between January 1 and December 31 of each year. Silver elite level requires 10 personal nights, Gold elite level requires 50 personal nights, and Platinum elite level requires 75 personal nights.

The demand for Gold and Platinum elite level benefits such as concierge lounge (full service hotels, only, excluding resorts), upgraded rooms, etc., is very high at hotels and not all of our current Gold and Platinum level members can be accommodated with complimentary benefits on every stay.

Please let me know if you have further questions. We are always happy to help you with your Marriott Rewards Account.

Sincerely,

Elaine Gregston
Internet & Correspondence Specialist
Marriott Rewards Guest Services

I am pretty sure I toss my elite statements. Or maybe I opted out just for e-mails. Point being - if you don't have these does anyone know if a print out of the e-summary on the web site will do the trick? (along w/ your elite cards of course).

I have platinum on American and Silver on United. Am thinking of switching to Continental due to their rediculous number of non-stop flights out of EWR. What level would you think they'd match to?

A print-out shoud be fine. I would think they would give you gold.

Great way to get some miles
 

I know this should be posted elsewhere, but I read mostly here. Haven't seen any news on phonehog lately so I tought I would remind people. I went there, got a VIP membership 9.99 per month. Racked up 13000 minutes in a long night of cliking and filling in info. Transfered for 7800 AS miles. Caution you have to get some spam 3-4 emails per week and give credit card for trial offers. Be sure to cancel within trial period. Cost me 9.99 for VIP and of course 29.99 for points.com which gave me a nice 2500 AS miles bonus. 10300 miles for 40 bucks, .004 cents per mile. Here is a link. http://www.phonehog.com/

You also posted this in the Alaska forum...

So what is this high level of benefits at the gold and platinum level. For staying 50+ nights you get gold and get lounge access on Monday-Friday stays or a free breakfast and you get a guaranteed room type. And a few extra bonus points.

I can not understand what is the big deal there. I would think they should jump at the opportunity to lure someone from staying at Hilton and switching their stays to Marriot. No? :confused:

Yah did that after figuring out how to post a new thread. Sorry

Virgin Flying Club
 

Having requested a match from SA gold, they have given me a silver card and put me on a fast track to gold. Needed statement and card confirmation faxed or e-mailed.

Will hotels (starwood, hyatt, hilton, marriott) status match if they matched you once already? About 3 years ago, they matched my status, but I've since fallen back. Same question about airlines.

I am an Elite member of Air Canada's Frequent Flyer program.

Are there any status matches available for me with US-based airlines?

Is 520 881 4458 still a correct fax# for UA MP status match requests? What should I expect them to give me for AA Gold? Would a printout from AA website work as a proof of status? (Don't get paper statements anymore -- it is all electronic now.)

UA status match
 

I just sent them a copy of my AA statement. They do not acknowledge for about 1 month or so with a cheesy email, but my upgrade posted in about two weeks. I used this fax number 520-881-2889

I wouldn't expect anything more than Premier, which is the equivalent of Gold at AA (25K level).