Act fast: Qatar Airways offering status match to Singapore Airlines elites (and others)

For a brief period, Qatar Airways is offering a status match to elite members of selected airlines, including Singapore Airlines.

This represents an excellent chance to parlay your Star Gold status into oneworld Sapphire or Emerald, unlocking access to several lounges at Changi including the Qantas First Class lounge (when it reopens, at least).

Which airlines is Qatar Airways status matching?

From now till 2359 on 20 May 2020 (Doha time- that’s 5 a.m Singapore time on 21 May), elite status holders with the following airlines can apply for a match:

• Singapore Airlines
• Emirates
• Etihad Airways
• South African Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• Virgin Australia

It’s a clever list, as far as strategy is concerned. Etihad and Emirates are direct competitors to Qatar, and South African and Virgin have financial troubles untold. Members in those programs would be more than happy to get an out.

Your matched status will be valid for 12 months, meaning you’ll enjoy elite benefits until June 2021.

Qatar has also cut the number of Qpoints required to retain status in half, allowing you to extend your membership a further year to May 2022. I’m more lukewarm about this, given you’d have to credit flights to Qatar Privilege Club and earn Qmiles- these have historically been devalued without notice, and you pay ridiculous “redemption fees” when redeeming them.

What status is Qatar Airways matching?

As a reminder, Qatar Airways Privilege Club has four tiers:

• Burgundy (no status)
• Silver (oneworld Ruby)
• Gold (oneworld Sapphire)
• Platinum (oneworld Emerald)

Qatar Airways has not explicitly stated how the tier match will work, but Executive Traveller has the tiers mapped as such:

	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Singapore Airlines	KF Elite Silver	KF Elite Gold	PPS Club/ Solitaire PPS Club
Emirates	Skywards Silver	Skywards Gold	Skywards Platinum
Etihad	Guest Silver	Gust Gold	Guest Platinum
Turkish	M&S Classic Plus	M&S Elite	M&S Elite Plus
South African	Voyager Silver	Voyager Gold	Voyager Platinum
Virgin Australia	Velocity Silver	Velocity Gold	Velocity Platinum

This makes logical sense to me, although the final decision remains at the discretion of Qatar Airways.

How do I apply for a Qatar Airways status match?

The first thing to do is sign up for a Qatar Airways Privilege Club membership, if you don’t already have one. It’s free, and can be done here.

Second, send the following information to statusmatch@qmiles.com with the subject “Privilege Club Status Match”:

• Qatar Airways Privilege Club membership number
• A photo of your current FFP membership card showing your name, status and expiry date
• A screenshot of the last two months account activity for your current FFP

Qatar Airways will review your application and approve/deny it within 10 business days. I wouldn’t be too worried about a lack of account activity over the past two months- I don’t think anyone around the world has been flying.

What lounges can I access in Changi with Qatar Privilege Club status?

If your status match is approved and you get Gold or Platinum status, you’ll have quite the selection of lounges the next time you fly out of Changi Airport.

In Terminal 1, you’ll be able to visit the Qantas Business Class lounge, and the British Airways Business Class lounge. Unfortunately, Qatar Gold/Platinum members flying in Economy Class won’t be able to access the Qatar Airways Premium lounge, which is easily my favourite Business Class lounge in Changi at the moment. 

If you’re a Platinum member, you’ll also have access to the Qantas First Class lounge, which has hands down some of the best dining I’ve ever had in an airport.

Over in Terminal 4 (when it reopens), you’ll be able to visit the Cathay Pacific Lounge, another very nice facility with a noodle bar and champagne.

Both oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members may invite one guest to join them in the lounge, provided he/she is travelling on a oneworld operated and marketed flight.

Conclusion

For those who already have KrisFlyer Gold or PPS/Solitaire PPS status, this is a great opportunity to get status with oneworld as well. Get your documents together ASAP and send them in.

The full T&C of the status match offer can be found here.

Do drop a comment below if you manage to get matched!

(HT: Executive Traveller)