Do you have gold status already with one airline / one alliance? Well, every airline likes business and a good customer. So you can try to approach other airlines from preferably another airline alliance and kindly ask to match your status. I had Aeroflot Gold Elite status when I flew a lot between Europe and Asia. It is actually a pretty good airline and the tickets were really cheap. The lounges in Moscow are nice and the food is good. Aeroflot was Sky Team and I approached Turkish Airlines that is a member of Star Alliance, showed them the last months of my miles transactions with Aeroflot and kindly asked to match the status. Turkish Airlines gave me gold status for free under the condition, that I book two international flights with Turkish in the next months. This is called “a challenge” and I booked the two flights. Now I had Sky Team and Star Alliance gold status. Status gives you these perks:
After having Gold Elite with Sky Team and Star Alliance for a while, I approached LaTam from One World and asked them to kindly match my status, which they did. So I had all three major alliances Gold status (actually called
Sapphire Privileges and Ruby Privileges at One World).
Status matching does not stop there. Many car rentals and hotel chains are willing to match status for a good customer. Certain travel firms will match your existing loyalty program status with their competitors. This website will help you to find out: statusmatcher.com
Please also check our general information about how to collect loyalty rewards.