Jan 4, 2017, 11:12 pm
Last edit by: Jaenks
Update January 2020:
According to statusmatcher.com TK will only issue the the status match challenge to those holders of the following status:
Oneworld Emerald
Finnair Plus Gold (Oneworld Sapphire)
Skyteam Elite Plus
Emirates Gold/Platinum
Etihad Gold
Oman Air Gold
Other Gold Card holders including *G are out of luck.
Please report your experience in this thread and note the useful information in the Wiki below.
It appears that status matches are only granted once per lifetime, so think carefully before requesting if you might not re-qualify.
4/7/2015
Adding this Step-by-Step guide with screenshots to TK Status Match
http://dcta.boardingarea.com/2015/02...-status-match/
26/7/2015 - Jerry
TK asks for Elite card scan AND Account activity within last 2 months, so it's best if you have some activities!!
Timeline can range from few hours to few days, be patient!
02/11/2015 - flolee
It looks like TK might also ask you for a scan of your Passport now. So if you are in a hurry better submit it right away in the first place with all the other documents.
Date Requested
Current Airline and Status (note list of matchable status above)
Information submitted (i.e. physical card scan, activity statement, etc)
Any replies received other than confirmation
Date Confirmation Received
03/01/2016 - zap7
Multiple reports from December 16th 2015 onwards state that TK now only grants a match to 4 months "elite trial", requiring 1 international TK flight during the 4 months following the match to extend it to one year and 15000 k TK status miles during that year to extend elite status to 2 years:
04/11/2017 - CoweyB. TK has clarified that once a status match is given any miles collected during the first year of the match do not count for renewal - despite the email suggesting that 25,000 miles collected in the first year will secure renewal. TK has said that it is necessary to collect 37,500 in the second year to maintain Elite status for a further two years once the period of the status match ends.
According to statusmatcher.com TK will only issue the the status match challenge to those holders of the following status:
Oneworld Emerald
Finnair Plus Gold (Oneworld Sapphire)
Skyteam Elite Plus
Emirates Gold/Platinum
Etihad Gold
Oman Air Gold
Other Gold Card holders including *G are out of luck.
Please report your experience in this thread and note the useful information in the Wiki below.
It appears that status matches are only granted once per lifetime, so think carefully before requesting if you might not re-qualify.
4/7/2015
Adding this Step-by-Step guide with screenshots to TK Status Match
http://dcta.boardingarea.com/2015/02...-status-match/
26/7/2015 - Jerry
TK asks for Elite card scan AND Account activity within last 2 months, so it's best if you have some activities!!
Timeline can range from few hours to few days, be patient!
02/11/2015 - flolee
It looks like TK might also ask you for a scan of your Passport now. So if you are in a hurry better submit it right away in the first place with all the other documents.
Date Requested
Current Airline and Status (note list of matchable status above)
Information submitted (i.e. physical card scan, activity statement, etc)
Any replies received other than confirmation
Date Confirmation Received
03/01/2016 - zap7
Multiple reports from December 16th 2015 onwards state that TK now only grants a match to 4 months "elite trial", requiring 1 international TK flight during the 4 months following the match to extend it to one year and 15000 k TK status miles during that year to extend elite status to 2 years:
Welcome Miles&Smiles Turkish Airlines' advantageous Frequent Flyer Programme. Elite card trial period will be valid for 4 months. As of start date of elite membership within 4 months trial period one international Turkish Airlines flight should be realised for extending your card validity date to 1 year, if 15.000 status miles accumulate at the end of the first year elite membership will extend 1 year more and the total validity date will be 2 years.
TK status match (2017 onwards)
Mar 13, 2018, 3:01 am
#361
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: EK Gold, TK Elite, Marriott Rewards, Global Entry, MileagePlus
Posts: 264
Update:
There were some questions earlier of whether tiers achieved using the regular criteria during a trial period would be honored. I have evidence to support that we can earn tiers per the regular mileage requirements during the trial period.
I failed to fly on any TK metal during my trial period. I ended up flying ~38k miles on other Star Alliance partners. My status has been downgraded to Classic Plus with a validity of 2 years and I'm showing that I'm only 2k miles away from achieving Elite again.
Some interesting learnings along the way: I earned 5k miles before the match. During the trial period, after flying 33k more miles, my dashboard showed only 33k status miles (38-5k) counting towards my next tier. That means that only miles after my upgraded/matched status were to count. Once the trial ended, however, all of the status miles are now counting towards attaining the next status level. Also nice to see that miles earned were immediately reflected at the end of the trial. Rather than losing all status, I immediately achieved Classic Plus status.
There were some questions earlier of whether tiers achieved using the regular criteria during a trial period would be honored. I have evidence to support that we can earn tiers per the regular mileage requirements during the trial period.
I failed to fly on any TK metal during my trial period. I ended up flying ~38k miles on other Star Alliance partners. My status has been downgraded to Classic Plus with a validity of 2 years and I'm showing that I'm only 2k miles away from achieving Elite again.
Some interesting learnings along the way: I earned 5k miles before the match. During the trial period, after flying 33k more miles, my dashboard showed only 33k status miles (38-5k) counting towards my next tier. That means that only miles after my upgraded/matched status were to count. Once the trial ended, however, all of the status miles are now counting towards attaining the next status level. Also nice to see that miles earned were immediately reflected at the end of the trial. Rather than losing all status, I immediately achieved Classic Plus status.
Mar 16, 2018, 3:10 am
#362
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 69
Update:
There were some questions earlier of whether tiers achieved using the regular criteria during a trial period would be honored. I have evidence to support that we can earn tiers per the regular mileage requirements during the trial period.
I failed to fly on any TK metal during my trial period. I ended up flying ~38k miles on other Star Alliance partners. My status has been downgraded to Classic Plus with a validity of 2 years and I'm showing that I'm only 2k miles away from achieving Elite again.
Some interesting learnings along the way: I earned 5k miles before the match. During the trial period, after flying 33k more miles, my dashboard showed only 33k status miles (38-5k) counting towards my next tier. That means that only miles after my upgraded/matched status were to count. Once the trial ended, however, all of the status miles are now counting towards attaining the next status level. Also nice to see that miles earned were immediately reflected at the end of the trial. Rather than losing all status, I immediately achieved Classic Plus status.
There were some questions earlier of whether tiers achieved using the regular criteria during a trial period would be honored. I have evidence to support that we can earn tiers per the regular mileage requirements during the trial period.
I failed to fly on any TK metal during my trial period. I ended up flying ~38k miles on other Star Alliance partners. My status has been downgraded to Classic Plus with a validity of 2 years and I'm showing that I'm only 2k miles away from achieving Elite again.
Some interesting learnings along the way: I earned 5k miles before the match. During the trial period, after flying 33k more miles, my dashboard showed only 33k status miles (38-5k) counting towards my next tier. That means that only miles after my upgraded/matched status were to count. Once the trial ended, however, all of the status miles are now counting towards attaining the next status level. Also nice to see that miles earned were immediately reflected at the end of the trial. Rather than losing all status, I immediately achieved Classic Plus status.
Mar 16, 2018, 3:35 am
#363
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,026
IMHO it's only until you achieved Elite again by meeting regular requirements that we could reach this conclusion. Being Classic Plus is not sufficient as evidence and Classic Plus is useless. Sometimes "only 2k miles away" does not reflect the actual case i.e. how they determine whether you've obtained Elite when you did get another 2K.
Perhaps the question is why waste your status match opportunity without a plan to fly on TK but I suppose some people do it to get into *A lounges during the trial period...
Mar 16, 2018, 3:47 am
#364
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: EK Gold, TK Elite, Marriott Rewards, Global Entry, MileagePlus
Posts: 264
Perhaps the question is why waste your status match opportunity without a plan to fly on TK but I suppose some people do it to get into *A lounges during the trial period...
Mar 20, 2018, 10:49 am
#365
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: MSE
Programs: BA Silver, TK Elite, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 466
I am completely confused as to how this TK Elite requalification works.
I signed up for the TK M&S programme in November 2016 and got status matched to Elite a month later, with the usual condition that I fly one TK international flight in the first four months to get Elite status for a year, and 15k miles by the end of the first year to have two years of Elite.
I achieved both of these, flying 21k status miles (on TK metal) in February 2017. I flew a further 18k status miles through the balance of 2017, exceeding both the 25k threshold (and indeed the 37.5k threshold) within a year of signing up for the M&S programme.
For every Miles&Smiles statement that I have received since the beginning of 2017 up until now, the Elite Membership Expire Date has shown as 31 December 2018. Having acheived 25k miles in the first year, as well as 37.5k miles within two years, I would have expected that this status should have been renewed, but it still shows as 31 December 2018 on turkishairlines.com. Is this incorrect, and something that I should contact Turkish Airlines about? Or is it correct, and is there more earning that I need to do in 2018 to protect my Elite status?
I signed up for the TK M&S programme in November 2016 and got status matched to Elite a month later, with the usual condition that I fly one TK international flight in the first four months to get Elite status for a year, and 15k miles by the end of the first year to have two years of Elite.
I achieved both of these, flying 21k status miles (on TK metal) in February 2017. I flew a further 18k status miles through the balance of 2017, exceeding both the 25k threshold (and indeed the 37.5k threshold) within a year of signing up for the M&S programme.
For every Miles&Smiles statement that I have received since the beginning of 2017 up until now, the Elite Membership Expire Date has shown as 31 December 2018. Having acheived 25k miles in the first year, as well as 37.5k miles within two years, I would have expected that this status should have been renewed, but it still shows as 31 December 2018 on turkishairlines.com. Is this incorrect, and something that I should contact Turkish Airlines about? Or is it correct, and is there more earning that I need to do in 2018 to protect my Elite status?
Mar 20, 2018, 6:21 pm
#366
Join Date: Jan 2011
Programs: oneworld, * Alliance, Marriott Bonvoy, HHonors, WoH
Posts: 2,115
I am completely confused as to how this TK Elite requalification works.
I signed up for the TK M&S programme in November 2016 and got status matched to Elite a month later, with the usual condition that I fly one TK international flight in the first four months to get Elite status for a year, and 15k miles by the end of the first year to have two years of Elite.
I achieved both of these, flying 21k status miles (on TK metal) in February 2017. I flew a further 18k status miles through the balance of 2017, exceeding both the 25k threshold (and indeed the 37.5k threshold) within a year of signing up for the M&S programme.
For every Miles&Smiles statement that I have received since the beginning of 2017 up until now, the Elite Membership Expire Date has shown as 31 December 2018. Having acheived 25k miles in the first year, as well as 37.5k miles within two years, I would have expected that this status should have been renewed, but it still shows as 31 December 2018 on turkishairlines.com. Is this incorrect, and something that I should contact Turkish Airlines about? Or is it correct, and is there more earning that I need to do in 2018 to protect my Elite status?
I signed up for the TK M&S programme in November 2016 and got status matched to Elite a month later, with the usual condition that I fly one TK international flight in the first four months to get Elite status for a year, and 15k miles by the end of the first year to have two years of Elite.
I achieved both of these, flying 21k status miles (on TK metal) in February 2017. I flew a further 18k status miles through the balance of 2017, exceeding both the 25k threshold (and indeed the 37.5k threshold) within a year of signing up for the M&S programme.
For every Miles&Smiles statement that I have received since the beginning of 2017 up until now, the Elite Membership Expire Date has shown as 31 December 2018. Having acheived 25k miles in the first year, as well as 37.5k miles within two years, I would have expected that this status should have been renewed, but it still shows as 31 December 2018 on turkishairlines.com. Is this incorrect, and something that I should contact Turkish Airlines about? Or is it correct, and is there more earning that I need to do in 2018 to protect my Elite status?
Mar 21, 2018, 2:13 am
#367
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,026
All is written in your statement. Even if you already re-qualified until 12.2020, expire date still shows until 12.2018. It will change from January 2019 if you have achieved 25k/37,5k during the last two years. There is also written your percentage and miles already made to re-qualify.
@PeaSouper needed / needs to do:
1 TK flight within 4 months. Done.
15K miles between November 2016 and October 2017. That was done, but just extends status by a year, until Oct/Nov 2018. (although perhaps the OP actually started in Dec 16, which is why the status is valid until December 2018)
But here's where the TK status match is annoying... All of those Year 1 miles are lost and you need to do 37.5K miles in Year 2. So, if PeaSouper doesn't fly 37.5K miles during 2018, he will lose his Elite status at the end of the year.
I've written it up as clearly as I can, with thanks to this thread and other contributions. https://insideflyer.co.uk/2017/11/mi...-status-match/
Last edited by craigthemif; Mar 21, 2018 at 2:20 am
Mar 21, 2018, 3:20 am
#368
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: MSE
Programs: BA Silver, TK Elite, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 466
But here's where the TK status match is annoying... All of those Year 1 miles are lost and you need to do 37.5K miles in Year 2. So, if PeaSouper doesn't fly 37.5K miles during 2018, he will lose his Elite status at the end of the year.
I've written it up as clearly as I can, with thanks to this thread and other contributions. https://insideflyer.co.uk/2017/11/mi...-status-match/
I've written it up as clearly as I can, with thanks to this thread and other contributions. https://insideflyer.co.uk/2017/11/mi...-status-match/
To be clear, I've noticed the following few things which make me think that my Elite status is confirmed through 2020.
Firstly, in my January 2018 M&S statement, I'm told that the "card criteria have been fulfilled".
Secondly, when managing my Turkish Airlines account, Elite is showing at 100%:
Finally, and most convincingly, when I access the old Turkish Airlines website (https://www4.thy.com/tkmiles/renewal.tk), and go to Card Operations > Renewal, I see the following:
I think that this shows that Turkish Airlines will renew my Elite status.
Mar 21, 2018, 7:19 am
#369
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,026
And I don't claim to be the font of all wisdom regarding the TK status match, but have tried to distill a variety of experiences into a hopefully straightforward guide. Fingers crossed for your case...
Mar 21, 2018, 8:37 am
#370
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: MSE
Programs: BA Silver, TK Elite, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 466
I don't think that anyone can be a source of all wisdom regarding the rules at TK, as they don't appear to be applied consistently in any case. I've posed the question to the Miles&Smiles team via their online contact form, so we'll see if that gets anywhere. I'll be sure to report back...
Mar 22, 2018, 1:26 am
#371
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 69
Without a single TK flight, the OP's status match / trial is long dead. Your TK account isn't blacklisted or otherwise marginalised just because you didn't bother completing the terms of the status match. So doing 40K within 12 months should be perfectly fine for Elite.
Perhaps the question is why waste your status match opportunity without a plan to fly on TK but I suppose some people do it to get into *A lounges during the trial period...
Perhaps the question is why waste your status match opportunity without a plan to fly on TK but I suppose some people do it to get into *A lounges during the trial period...
By the way never heard airlines block or threaten flyers when their schedule probably changed and does not meet the quota within challenge period, after they approved the challenge request as long as they keep crediting miles, unless airlines mandate a booked ticket as prerequisites to issue a challange which was later cancelled by flyers deliberately.
Status Challenge is served as not only a fast track but also lure for potential "High Net Worth" customers. Sounds ridiculous if anyone proactively stands for "airlines blacklisting customers" for such two-bit reasons (e.g. "hey the lounges are too crowded and challenge's unfair"?) particularly in this forum where professional frequent flyers targeting at travelling wisely.
Mar 26, 2018, 1:54 am
#372
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: MSE
Programs: BA Silver, TK Elite, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, NEXUS/GE
Posts: 466
Just to close the loop on the question that I posed above, I heard back from Turkish Airlines. They have confirmed that I have met the requalification criteria and that my status will be renewed for another two years upon the expiry of my current card.
Mar 26, 2018, 2:03 am
#373
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,026
If you have it in writing, don't lose it! But otherwise... ^
Mar 26, 2018, 12:32 pm
#374
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Udon Thani, Thailand
Programs: TK E,*G, A-Club G
Posts: 869
All confusing...
I lost QR plat (OWE) status 2016, gold 2017 am now silver 2018, had to cancel an upcoming April trip.
Booked two TK trips May and Sept good for 2x16k miles, thus 32k
Looking at booking a Sept Y trip (J too expensive) with TK rather than AC good for 12K, thus should be elite by end sept.
I could use the extra kg flying J (30 kg is meager, but 2x23kg in Y to YUL is better than AC) and the lounge access at IST for the Y trip.
Would like to be elite before flying first leg, doubt it will possible with my downgraded QR status, worth trying asking?
I lost QR plat (OWE) status 2016, gold 2017 am now silver 2018, had to cancel an upcoming April trip.
Booked two TK trips May and Sept good for 2x16k miles, thus 32k
Looking at booking a Sept Y trip (J too expensive) with TK rather than AC good for 12K, thus should be elite by end sept.
I could use the extra kg flying J (30 kg is meager, but 2x23kg in Y to YUL is better than AC) and the lounge access at IST for the Y trip.
Would like to be elite before flying first leg, doubt it will possible with my downgraded QR status, worth trying asking?
Mar 26, 2018, 2:06 pm
#375
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Berlin, TXL
Programs: OW Emerald, *A gold, Skyteam elite plus, Hilton gold, SPG gold
Posts: 339
I just got an elite miles and more status match. i have a general question, what is considered a international flight with TK e.g. TXL-IST-TXL will be consider an international flight?
