Hot on the heals of announcing its split from Virgin Australia, Etihad Airways has launched (or is that relaunched?) a status match offer for eligible Australian based frequent flyers. Under the offer you can match to either the Etihad Guest Silver or Etihad Guest Gold level. And you can match from the Velocity program.
If you are successful in your application, you will get an initial six months at the of Gold or Silver. You then need to fly Etihad at least once within those six months in order to extend your status for a further year.
Interestingly, there is a fee to match from a Silver status, while from Gold there is currently no fee.
How does it work
In order to apply for the status match under this offer, you first need to live in Australia. You also need to hold status with an eligible airline. For the current status match they are:
- Air India (Flying Returns)
- British Airways (Executive Club)
- Emirates (Skywards)
- Qatar Airways (Privilege Club)
- Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer)
- Turkish Airlines (Miles&Smiles)
- Virgin Australia (Velocity)
If you can tick both those boxes then you can apply for the status match. If you are applying for a Silver, you’ll need to pay a fee of US$59. At the moment, the fee is waived for those applying for a Gold level.
If you’ve got everything in order, head over to the Status Match page. You will need to supply proof of your frequent flyer status and residential address in Australia.
Extending Status
If you are successful in obtaining a status match, you will initially be offered the status for six months. In order to extend it for a further 12 months you will need to take an Etihad flight within six months. The rules on this flight are:
- Must be an Etihad marked and operated flight
- You must earn at least 1 Etihad Guest Mile into your Etihad Guest account.
Thoughts
Its interesting timing given the recent announcement that Etihad and Virgin Australia were terminating their partnership. Even moreso with the Velocity program being one of the programs that can be matched. Airlines typically don’t match their current partners – but it seems they’re not waiting for the divorce to be complete.
