Qatar Airways is offering a status match for members of a range of frequent flyer program, including those of Velocity Frequent Flyer. On top of that, they are offering a short cut to retaining the matched status.
It is a short, sharp offer – requests for the match are required by 11:59 pm on 20 May 2020. For those of us in Australia that works out to be the early ours of the 21st of May. If you’re on the east coast, the deadline is 6:59 am AEST. Members of the west coast need to have their applications in by 4:59 am AWST on 21 May 2020.
Details
Qatar Airways is offering the status match to a range of non one-world carriers. It includes the likes of Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Turkish Airlines, and Virgin Australia.
There offer has two parts. Firstly, they are offering a complimentary status match for 12 months. The terms and conditions don’t spell out how they will match levels, just stating that it is subject to their discretion.
However, Qatar offer three elite levels – Silver, Gold and Platinum. One would hope that they map the levels across in the obvious way.
Secondly, there is an offer of a fast track to renew that status. Qatar is offering to extend the matched status for a further 12 months while only requiring you to earn half the usual QPoints:
| Membership tier | Current Qpoints required by Privilege Club | Qpoints required for the Status Match campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Platinum | 600 | 300 |
| Gold | 300 | 150 |
| Silver | 150 | 75 |
How to match
Request your Qatar Airways Privilege Club status match in two easy steps.
1. Join Qatar Airways Privilege Club by visiting qmiles.com
2. Email your last two months’ statements and a copy of your frequent flyer membership card from selected airlines, along with your Qatar Airways Privilege Club membership number to statusmatch@qmiles.com, with the subject line “Privilege Club Status Match”
Your membership status match request will be reviewed, and approval sent within 10 business days.
Thoughts
It is an interesting offer. In particular, the list of programs being offered a status match is notable. Virgin Australia and South African have their financial challenges. Emirates, Etihad and Singapore airlines all offer competition to Qatar, and have restrictions at their home airports.