Why would I want Delta Skymiles status?

Many of you will never set foot on a Delta aircraft your whole life. And that’s just fine, you’re not really missing much. Granted, I’ve only ever experienced the airline’s short haul economy product, and although its new business class seat looks pretty sweet, I’d rather not subject myself to the legendary wonders of American airline hospitality any more than I have to.

But some of you will. Maybe you’re visiting the States and Delta’s offering the best point to point prices on a domestic leg. Or maybe you won’t fly Delta, but you intend to fly one of its Skyteam partners.

If that’s the case, and if you already have status on some other airline, you might be interested to know that Delta has a status match/challenge program.

Simply register for status match and if approved you’ll get Delta status  (see below for what tiers map to what) that lasts for 90 days. To extend it beyond the 90 days, you will need to earn a certain number of MQMs within that 90 days.

During those 90 days, you’ll enjoy the full fledged benefits of Delta status. Assuming you have Krisflyer Gold (and I’m guessing this will get matched to Delta Gold-see below), you’ll be able to enjoy perks on Delta like a free bag, priority boarding, luggage and security.

When flying on Skyteam partners, you’ll get lounge access and priority luggage.

Delta has listed the following airline programs and their corresponding status match on their webpage

This list is not exhaustive, however, as the page also says “If you have status with another airline not listed above, you may still be eligible for this challenge. Please submit your information below to confirm eligibility”

I’ve dropped them an email about whether they’ll be matching Krisflyer status and if so, what tiers map to what. If they do, I imagine they will map PPS/Solitaire PPS members to Platinum, with Krisflyer Golds and Silvers mapping to Gold and Silver respectively.

So if you’ve got 5 minutes and simply want to avoid paying a bag fee, or if you’ve got an upcoming Skyteam partner flight coming up, why not take the plunge?

(HT: Damien)