Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles status match and booster: Shortcut to SkyTeam elite status

If you’re looking to earn elite status in the SkyTeam alliance, Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles is now offering two fast-track opportunities that allow you to start enjoying the benefits a lot quicker:

• A status match (US$99 to US$299), which gives upfront Titanium, Gold or Platinum for a 12-month period
• A status booster (US$99 to US$198), which lets you earn 2X or 3X the usual qualifying miles for a 90-day period

Qualification for Lotusmiles elite status usually requires up to 50,000 qualifying miles in a 12-month period, so these opportunities hasten the process considerably.

✈️ Lotusmiles Regular Qualification Requirements
Tier	Qualifying Miles (in 12-mth period)	Flight Sectors (in 12-mth period)
Titanium SkyTeam Elite	15,000	18
Gold SkyTeam Elite	30,000	27
Platinum SkyTeam Elite Plus	50,000	45
Members can qualify either through Qualifying Miles or flight sectors

Lotusmiles elite members enjoy privileges such as priority check-in, extra baggage allowance, priority boarding, and lounge access when flying on Vietnam Airlines or its 18 SkyTeam partners, including China Airlines, Delta, Garuda Indonesia and KLM.

Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles Status Match

Status Match

Open Lotusmiles members who are residents of the following regions: Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan China, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA

Vietnam Airlines is offering a status match for elite members from selected airline and hotel loyalty programmes. This allows them to bypass the usual qualification requirements altogether, and receive upfront status valid for 12 months. 

An application fee of US$99 to US$299 applies, depending on which tier you’re matching to, and whether you’re matching from airline or hotel status.

Lotusmiles Tier	Airline Match	Hotel Match
Titanium SkyTeam Elite	US$99	US$99
Gold SkyTeam Elite	US$159	US$199
Platinum SkyTeam Elite Plus	US$299	N/A

Status match requests will be processed within three business days, and upon approval, status will be updated within five business days. After the initial 12-month period, members must requalify via the usual requirements to retain elite status.

Vietnam Airlines will match status from a total of 47 airlines, including (but not limited to) the following:

	Titanium	Gold	Platinum
British Airways	Bronze	Silver	Gold Gold Guest List Premier
Cathay Pacific	Silver	Gold	Diamond Diamond Plus Invitation
Emirates	Silver	Gold	IO Platinum
Malaysia Airlines	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Qantas	Silver	Gold	Chairman’s Lounge Platinum Platinum One
Qatar Airways	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Singapore Airlines	Silver	–	Gold PPS PPS Solitaire
THAI Airways	Silver	–	Gold Platinum
Turkish Airlines	Classic Plus	–	Elite Elite Plus

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Elite Gold, PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club members can get instantly matched to Lotusmiles Platinum, which maps to SkyTeam Elite Plus. This could be potentially useful if you’re looking for quick status with a second major alliance.

Vietnam Airlines will also match hotel elite status from 19 hotel chains, including (but not limited to) the following:

	Titanium	Gold	Platinum
Accor	Gold Silver	Diamond Platinum	N/A
Best Western	Gold Platinum	Diamond Diamond Select
GHA	Gold Platinum	Titanium
Hilton	Gold Silver	Diamond
Hyatt	Discoverist Explorist	Globalist
IHG	Gold Silver	Diamond Platinum Royal Ambassador
Marriott	Gold Silver	Ambassador Platinum Titanium
Radisson	Premium VIP
Wyndham	Gold Platinum	Diamond

Do note that status matches from hotel status max out at Lotusmiles Gold. If you want to go for Platinum, you will need to have elite status with an eligible airline. 

Vietnam Airlines Status Booster

Status Booster

Open to Lotusmiles members worldwide.

While a status match is no doubt the faster way of earning Lotusmiles elite status, it does come with some limitations:

• you need to have elite status with an eligible airline or hotel loyalty programme in the first place
• you can only utilise the status match a maximum of once
• the status match is only available to residents of selected countries

If you’re not able to take advantage of the status match, there’s a second option: status booster.

Unlike the status match, this doesn’t offer status upfront. Instead, it’s intended for travellers who are just shy of qualification, or who have a series of trips planned and want to maximise the qualifying miles earned.

With the status booster, Lotusmiles members will earn 2X or 3X the usual qualifying miles on Vietnam Airlines-operated flights, for a 90-day period. A subscription fee applies, as shown in the table below.

The status booster takes 48 hours to come into effect, so be sure to purchase it a few days before your intended flight. Also, the subscription fee will be automatically billed every 90 days, so don’t forget to cancel your subscription once you’ve earned the qualifying miles you need!

Here’s an illustration of how status booster works. Suppose you have a round-trip booking in Economy Class Flex from Ho Chi Minh City to Frankfurt. Based on the Vietnam Airlines accrual chart, this fare would normally earn 1.1X qualifying miles. 

With the 3X status booster activated, you’ll earn a total of 52,808 qualifying miles, broken down into:

• 13,202 base qualifying miles (6,001 actual flown miles x 1.1 regular earn x 2 ways)
• 39,606 bonus qualifying miles (13,202 base qualifying miles x 3x booster)

That’s enough to qualify for Platinum with one ticket alone!

What are the perks of Lotusmiles status?

Lotusmiles elite members enjoy privileges such as priority check-in, priority baggage handling, extra checked baggage, lounge access, and priority boarding on Vietnam Airlines and SkyTeam flights.

Lotusmiles Platinum status corresponds to the SkyTeam Elite Plus tier, and key benefits include:

• Access to Vietnam Airlines and SkyTeam lounges
• SkyPriority access 
• Extra baggage allowance
• 100% bonus on mileage accrual
• Free upgrade to Premium Economy, on a space-available basis

Lotusmiles Gold status corresponds to SkyTeam Elite, and grants:

• Priority check-in, boarding, and airport standby
• Extra baggage allowance
• 50% bonus on mileage accrual
• Free upgrade to Premium Economy, on a space-available basis

While SkyTeam Elite does not confer lounge access, in and of itself, Lotusmiles Gold members nonetheless enjoy lounge access when flying with Vietnam Airlines, in any cabin. They will also enjoy lounge access when travelling on VN-numbered codeshare flights operated by:

• ANA 
• Cambodia Angkor Air
• El Al Israel Airlines
• Pacific Airlines 
• Philippine Airlines
• Vietnam Air Services Company- VASCO

Lotusmiles Titanium status corresponds to SkyTeam Elite, and grants:

• Priority check-in, boarding, and airport standby
• Extra baggage allowance
• 30% bonus on mileage accrual

How will transactions code?

The status match and status booster programmes are run in partnership with StatusMatch.com, and payments will code as MCC 7372 (Computer Programming, Data Processing and Integrated System Design Services).

Do note that even though the amount is billed in USD, the payment will be processed in Singapore.

Conclusion

Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles members can now take advantage of a fast-track to elite status, either by matching status from an eligible airline or hotel programme, or earning up to 3X the usual qualifying miles for a 90-day period.

While the status match is obviously the faster of the two, it does require you to have existing status elsewhere, can only be utilised once, and is only open to residents of selected countries. However, the status booster is open to members worldwide, and can be very useful in situations when you have long-haul travel planned with Vietnam Airlines, or are just short of qualifying or requalifying for a status tier.