Malev status match - worth doing?!?
 

Hi all.

Am a QF WP (OW Emerald) and am flying Malev next month and just noticed this very interesting offer on their website.

https://www.malev.com/offers/fly-at-a-higher-level

Travel on any Malév scheduled flight between 1 April - 30 June 2010 and if you have a premium tier loyalty card with any other airline Malév Duna Club will match it, thus entitling you to even more benefits from our loyalty programme

Firstly this may be of interest to others, but secondly the bit that interests me is the words "any other airline": this implies that they will status match from other OW airlines. Can this be correct?

If so, I was wondering if there was any point me matching my QF status to get equiv. in Malev - generally speaking I would not bother, but from what I can gather on their website their top-tier comes with both free upgrades (on MA metal of course) and "gold card for a family member" (with no conditions stipulated).

The upgrade thing seems to be confirmed on FLYGVA's Emerald Status chart, but there is no mention of the 'gold card [OW Sap.] for family member' benefit.

Can any here familiar with the Malev Duna Club prog. (as there seems to be no Malev forum on FT) advise whether these two benefits are as I described, or if it is not quite so exciting when you look at the fine print! ;)

Thanks!

The only thread that describes the Malev FFP and elite levels is here.

While it might help you (a little) upgrade while on MA metal, the last sentence of the OP seems to sum it up: .

YMMV, but free elite status can never hurt, right?

Thanks wonderbret
And this is the point - if indeed I can get matched to a status that allows me to gift their Gold card (OW Sap. i.e. lounge access status) to a family member that would be fab. (Thus my interest in this particular feature of their Platinum status).

Aisle Seat H,
I think it might be worth a try, but my expectations would be pretty low when it comes to Malev. I've had a fair bit of trouble with them lately (their customer service both at the airport and via the internet leaves a lot to be desired) and I have pretty much closed my Duna Club account and shifted earning to BA. And right now I am boycotting them for travel to Budapest. But if they give the benefit as stated, a free gold card for family member(s) seems like a fantastic deal. The one thing their offer doesn't mention is validity--how long gifted status is good for. But it doesn't specifically exclude other oneworld airlines, so you never know. Again, I would try it since you are flying them anyways and if it works out, great.

My one caveat (I don't know oneworld rules for lounge access very well) is would you be required to credit your miles to Duna club in order to take advantage of the benefits? Probably yes. For you if you're flying a short hop on Malev it's probably worth giving up the miles to upgrade to biz, since all of their flights are short regional flights. But if you're gifting the card to a family member in order for them to use the lounge on a longer flight, I don't think it would be worth it.

Thanks eefor jfp ^

I guess I'll just give it a go and see what happens.

As has been said I have nothing to lose as will still have my QF FF status anyway - but if it works a family member will get a Gold card too ^

The funny thing is, that on the Hungarian version of the site, this promo has been out since 22/Jan and does not mention any limitations on when the travel must be done!

For those who can read Hungarian

http://www.malev.hu/dunaclub/hirek?C.../tier-matching

Going deeper into the Duna Club news

- you can easily achieve status by segments flown on MA and OW (!) (30 for Gold, 80 for Plat)

Free Gold membership to family comes with Plat and I REALLY wonder if they will match to Plat (T&C unclear)

And if you are an AA Platinum or Executive Platinum you can get lounge access on itineraries within North America which your AA status does not allow. Probaly worth one flight on Malev - if you are in the vicinity:p

We will see! ;)

I'll revert in a few weeks (maybe more) once I've submitted my app. and they get back to me.

The cost for that would drive MA into the abyss. ;)

I have been matched Gold in January by Malev!
I do not think is a very effective FFP because everything must be done through call-center but I go often to Budapest and biz-check-in (yes, maybe I'm one of the few still too lazy to make check-in online) and fast-track are quite appreciated.
Lounges in BUD are small but in a crowded airport is also a nice experience.

I wouldn't count too much instead on upgrades and awards which are relatively expensive.
I do not travel as much as I would like to UK but exploiting some BA services can be also a good gift.

On the other hand I read in the inflight magazine that status matching was for other airlines FFP's members and up to Gold status.

How was the matching process - easy, smooth or ...?

I have an unexpected MA flight in June, so why not grab this offer? (and thus achieving Sapphire level in 3 OW airlines :D) I asked their e-mail contact if I can credit this flight to another OW FFP and still be eligible, but no answer yet.

Very smooth. I discovered my status match through Internet after 21 days...and then 2 weeks later I got my Gold card.

On the other hand beware they are very strict on crediting points on that card/your Malev profile in order to get all benefits.
I wouldn't risk at your place to not getting matched...

Status match indeed was very smooth - sent the docs today in the morning, online status shows Gold by the evening. ^ I explicitly entered NO FFP number during booking and check-in, one short flight with no status recognition is not too bad :D EDIT - flight ended up posting to both my new MA and AY account ^

I had them match my LH SEN card, didn't want to try my luck with AY Gold (OW, as is MA)

And to renew status, you only need 30 legs on any OW airline!

Matched to MA Gold today after a day return to Budapest on Saturday.

Even though the promotion uses words like "match" and "tier equalisation", they would not match NZ Gold Elite (the NZ Airpoints top tier above *Gold) to MA Platinum. A previous poster mentioned something in the MA inflight magazine limiting the match to Gold, but there was no such condition in the current edition - more to the point, there were pictures of the Duna Club Platinum Card on the promo.

I've asked for a reconsideration. I'll let you know how it goes.

Congrats on the match! How long is the status-matched Gold Card valid for? Thanks.

Trust me you won't get platinum even if you have another card named "platinum"

After a month of fighting with them about this and numerous emails from email addresses you cannot reply to that come nameless which makes me feel like i'm dealing which a bunch of outsourced call centre people in the middle of no where - they finally reply with the order of management as they call it.

You know what sucks about these things what are you suppose to do if your airline doesn't have a status called platinum i mean like seriously not that many do and don't even get started on Diamond!

How long does the "matched" status last - just this calendar year? 1 year from the match date or until end 2011?

No idea yet. I don't yet have a card - even not a gold one - and the online profile doesn't show dates.

I asked them to send another welcome kit and as it has been 8 weeks and when i did they replied with my card number and pin with no actual response to my question or request. Sigh

Sounds like a wonderful airline to deal with...:eek:

Yeah great huh. But i am excited about flying with them.

Good point. The trip LGW-BUD return even in statusless Y was fine - no worse than other European carriers - I like their 3d animated safety video :)

The 3 hour tour of Budapest I took was pretty amazing too.

If they don't come through with Platinum - which now looks doubtful - I'll credit my OW sectors to BAEC, where I'll be silver (OW Sapphire) by next week anyway. (We'll see which card arrives first...)

Will definitely be back to BUD with the family at some point when I've more time to spare, so Malev's promotion hasn't been a total waste at all.

C'mon guys, MA is a very little airline with 22 planes: you cannot pretend what even bigger airlines cannot afford!

I'm quite happy with my status matching (from Senator LH to Gold MA) and all the benefits I can enjoy while I fly OW: lounges and fast track.
But I do not expect any welcome kit (there's no such thing with MA) or to spend easily my few miles with them...and of course you need to pass through their call center when you need mainly to fly with their partners (after all they have few connections only through BUD) ...it happens also with ST carriers or *A!

By the way, you cannot really complain as the status match is valid for 2 years.

Just to clarify....MA Gold matched in June 2010 produces an MA Gold card until June 2012? Is this what they did for you?

I can confirm after 1.5 months wait - the card was even sent on 12/5 which means they must have sent it via sea mail or something that it expires on Feb 2012.

Also the supposed 'welcome kit' is just a single white piece of paper and a card. It's really really basic. No luggage tags for Malev.

Anyone know what "Bonus travel right transferable to any person" means?

Is the bonus points apply to OW flights so 25% bonus? It's a bit vague in the benefits guide.

To be precise: I got matched in January 2010 with a similar promo and my card is valid until February 2012.

Thanks for clarifying ^

I have just received a complimentary Platinum card from Malev for showing them my Platinum Czech Airlines card and list of flights in 2010 (75 so far)

They give me confirmed biz-class upgrades and a bunch of other groovy stuff that makes the whole experience far more pleasant. So if you're platinum anywhere then give them a go!

i forgot to report back didn't i !

i am very glad to report that under the offer they did/do match fellow OW Emeralds to Duna Club Platinum, and that with Duna Club Platinum you get to gift Duna Club Gold (OW Saph.) to a family member (with all the associated lounge access, business class check-in, etc benefits) !

They don't seem to understand if the top tier on the program you're matching from doesn't use the word 'Platinum', even if it is obviously higher than Gold, Silver and whatever lies beneath.

I'm thinking of making use of this promo. Trouble is, I'm based in Hong Kong and need to first fly to a Malev destination first.

Which city in the Malev network has the lowest oneway fare to Budapest?

Why? MA Gold won't give you anything you haven't already got with BA Silver.

Good reminder to change my tag! By BA Silver has just been downgraded last month, as most of my OW flights this year are on CX and I couldn't meet the 4 BA metal flights criterion. :(

By the way, I did scout around the MA website. Appears the cheapest oneway to BUD is EUR 54 from MXP, followed by EUR 75 from STR, then EUR 85 from TXL.

Hello

I've just seen this offer. I am wondering how exactly you go about it. I've read the website, and I'm a little confused on the exact steps. It says I need a special promotion code, and says "MA: ......." that doesn't mean much. Do I need to register with the Duna Club first, and then take a flight, then submit my details to Duna Club?

Thanks

Yes. You sign up to Duna Club on line. The code they are after is your membership number. Once you've travelled the sector, email the address as shown and it will happen pretty quickly.

Thanks for your help. Appreciated. Will get cracking on it tomorrow.

As I'm flying from BA's regions, I need to connect in LGW. If I got a Malev metal flight, under a BA Codeshare, would they accept that as a flight?

Guys, are you sure the promo is still alive?

Here it says

Az akció időszaka: 2010. április 1. - 2010. augusztus 31.

http://www.malev.hu/ajanlataink/repu...inttel-feljebb

Even for those of you not fluent in Hungarian, this should be clear. True, the original promo was 1/1-30/6 and got changed somewhere along the line (I got matched in June) so it's quite possible that they'll extend it again, but it's still worth checking before taking any "unneccessary" flight(s)

If you are not hard pressed, you might even gamble on them having the same promo in Jan/2011 so the status would last till Feb/2013. (yes, it's current year + next year + Jan/Feb after that)

Well, if you look at the English pages, the dates are 1 April to 30 November

https://www.malev.com/offers/fly-at-a-higher-level


Promotion period: 01 April - 30 November 2010. Those who are already members or who enter the Malév Duna Club Programme till 30 November 2010 and start a Malév scheduled flight in the promotional period on any booking class are eligible to participate in the promotion.

I found out from the Duna Club this is not possible. They said to me
"Thank you very much for your kind letter to us. We kindly inform you that this
is not possible. Marketing carrier must be MALEV on your ticket!
You should book your flight on www.malev.co.uk, for example!"

At least we know for sure!