The Star Alliance Gold Status you earn from this Turkish Elite Status Match can be used to enter the terrific Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge in Istanbul! Photo by: Evan Berman

I wrote about how Turkish Airlines devalued its award chart to the point of irrelevance for most. Hopefully you got a chance to take advantage of the old sweet spots prior to demolition. With that background, you might think it’s curious that I am encouraging you to become a member of the Turkish Airlines loyalty program, especially as their mid-tier Elite level. Don’t worry, with very little effort, you can reap the benefits of Star Alliance Gold Status!

What is a Status Match?

Status matches come in all shapes and sizes. In the good old days, you used to be able to show status with one hotel/airline and match to another and that was that. You would have the new status for as long as the terms dictated (usually for a year). Unfortunately, airlines (and to a certain extent hotels, though I rarely care about hotel status matches as it is so easy to earn elite status through a credit card) have made this more difficult. There are now often requirements to meet before you can continue to maintain that matched status. The most common version goes something like this: match your status for 4 months of free status. During that time, should you meet x requirements, you will maintain the status for a fully year. I’ll share more details on the American Airlines and Turkish Airlines status match programs below.

The Turkish Airlines Status Match:

What can you earn?

There are up to three parts to this match. Here are the levels and requirements:

• Earn four months of Turkish Airlines Elite Status upon successful match
• Take one international Turkish Airlines flight during this period to qualify for an additional eight months of status (for a total of one year from approval)
• During that first year, earn 15,000 status miles on Turkish Airlines flights to maintain status for another year. (that is, flying United and crediting to Turkish will not count, only Turkish Airlines flights. Keep in mind that this is status miles, not miles flown.)

One thing to note is while it appears that the Turkish flight must be a paid fare (i.e. cash only, not miles), the website and email do not confirm this. For example, I had two recent Turkish Airlines award flights and they unfortunately did not count towards meeting the requirement.

What are the benefits of Star Alliance Gold Status?

Star Alliance, like SkyTeam, has 2 tiers of status, as opposed to the 3 that oneworld has. While oneworld Emerald (the highest level) is the most valuable airline status, Star Alliance Gold (the highest level) is not far behind, while SkyTeam Elite Plus (the highest level) is a distant last in terms of value. While Turkish is only matching you to the Elite level, not the highest Elite Plus level, both are Star Alliance Gold, so unless you plan to fly Turkish often, you won’t be missing out on too much!

If you, like me, are not a frequent Turkish Airlines flyer, you are doing this match to earn Star Alliance Gold Status. In case you are unfamiliar, the following benefits apply:

• Additional free checked bag on all Star Alliance flights
• Priority check-In (this is usually First Class or Business Class check-In for airlines like United where there is no First Class, though the caveat of Lufthansa Group airlines (Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian) applies– you will only be eligible to use their Senator check-In, not First Class)
• Access to priority boarding lanes
• Access to Elite Lounges (this is usually Business Class lounges, though there are quite a few exceptions here. United Polaris Lounge access is not permitted, Lufthansa Group Airlines grant access to the higher-tier Senator Lounges. In reality, this benefit is not as clearcut as just allowing access to Business Class Lounges, though it can still be quite valuable.)
• Priority Security (at certain airports. This is obviously a case-by-case issue, so it may or may not impact you depending on your travels.)
• Priority Baggage

The only Turkish Airlines-specific perk to know is you will earn 20% more miles on Business Class flights (nowhere near enough to make up for the rates increasing by 30%+ across the board though!)

Who is Eligible?

There is a website aptly called Status Matcher that has reviews of people who have applied for every status match available with the date applied, status used to match, and outcome (successfully matched, rejected, or in waiting). Additionally, these individuals are very good about providing color, for example: “matched American Airlines Platinum Status to Turkish Elite Status and was denied with their response saying only oneworld Emerald status is eligible for this match.” Now you know that if you have Platinum Pro or above it is likely that you will be approved, while AA Platinum status will likely be rejected. In short, here is what appears to be broadly approved (assume that anything else, especially a lower tier or airline that is not mentioned will not be approved):

Oneworld:

• Anything oneworld Emerald i.e., British Airways Gold or above, American Airlines Platinum Pro or above, Qatar Airways Platinum, and so on

Star Alliance:

• Does not appear to be accepted

SkyTeam:

• Anything SkyTeam Plus i.e. Air France/KLM Gold or Above, Delta Gold or Above, and so on

How to apply:

I am happy to report that this step is (relatively) easy! All you need are the following:

• A copy of your passport photo page (note that this includes the signature page, you will want one photo with both displayed)
• A photo of your eligible airline elite status card, clearly showing the expiration date of four months from now or further
• A copy of your last two months of recent flight activity on the airline

1. Go to this link.
2. Navigate to the feedback form and scroll down to the please select option where you will choose new feedback.
3. Select membership processes under the Miles & Smiles Program header (scroll down)
4. Fill out your personal information and upload the three above requested documents
5. Choose yes to “would you like a reply to your feedback?” and select I confirm that I am a passenger on the specified flight (unless you really are applying for someone else) and accept the T&Cs.
6. I recommend something light and friendly in the message space. I used “Hello, my name is Evan Berman and I am American Airlines Executive Platinum (oneworld Emerald). I have enjoyed my Turkish Airlines flights and am excited to fly the airline more. Thank you for your consideration of my status match to Turkish Airlines Elite Status. Sincerely, Evan Berman”
   1. I would make sure to include the fact that you are (insert your status level, both with the airline and alliance) and that you are requesting a match to Turkish Elite Status. It can’t hurt to be friendly and attempt to butter up the agent as I did, but in the end, they are looking to attract a certain type of flyer– you either do or do not meet that profile!
7. Hit submit and wait for an email response!

My Experience:

As mentioned above, I applied for this status match using my American Airlines Executive Platinum Elite Status, which is oneworld Emerald. I will discuss how I earned this level below (and keep in mind that this is a status match from a status match from a status match so these can be quite useful!). I followed the above steps Friday February 25^th, submitting at 8:12pm ET. At 9:30am the next day, I had a confirmation that my request was approved, and I was now a Turkish Airlines Elite Status member.

Turkish gets a bad rap for taking forever to respond (which is problematic given that your only option with many things is to fill out a feedback form on their website! As such, it is only fair to laud their very quick turnaround! That said, I’d allot two weeks turnaround time so if you have upcoming Star Alliance flights where this status is useful, consider applying in advance so that you may enjoy your new benefits.

How I earned the American Airlines Executive Platinum Status I used to match:

Here’s an example of why Status Matching can be so beneficial. Let’s go back in time, shall we? I remember it like it was yesterday, the 21st of October 2022, a cool fall day with the promise of great times ahead! 😉 Dramatic narration aside, let’s go through the process starting at the beginning:

1. I applied for the Hyatt Explorist (mid-tier) Status match for which employees of eligible companies can apply. These companies include behemoths such as Facebook, Home Depot, as well as other large employers. There is no list of which companies are included, so if you are interested, just put in your email address, and see if you qualify. There’s no harm if you don’t! My company happens to be included on that list, so I was approved.
   1. Alternatively, there is sometimes an Elite status match for AA Elite members, and I could have gone this route. That said, you can only match airline status to Hyatt once every 5 years, so I opted for the corporate match instead. I hope to take advantage of another Executive Platinum to Hyatt Globalist status match opportunity in the future!
2. After staying 10 nights in 90 days (including spending 10,500 points to “mattress run” three nights), I was granted Explorist status until the end of February 2024. For those keeping track at home, that is one year after the then-current status year (March-February for Hyatt) ends.
   1. Explorist Status is not worth too much (the highlights are just 2pm Late Checkout, one-category upgrade, excluding suites and 20% bonus points (6x per $1 spent, rather than the base of 5x per $1.) I had originally planned to take advantage of the MGM to Hyatt reciprocal status match program to retain Explorist status in perpetuity, though unfortunately, the partnership has ended and unsurprisingly the new MGM-Marriott partnership has gutted that benefit along with many others. In completely unrelated news, Marriott hit 200,000,000 members recently!
3. In the fall of 2023, American Airlines ran an Instant Status Pass opportunity for elite status members of many different airlines and hotels (including Hyatt). You would be matched to either Platinum or Platinum Pro status, depending on the status level that you matched for four months. During that period, you would need to hit thresholds for Loyalty Points to reach each level. The best part of this match is that you are able to qualify for levels above your matched level, which is rare. In other words, the match is to Platinum, but it is possible (as I have done) to parlay this opportunity into an easier method to reach top-tier Executive Platinum status.
   1. Every four months, you must hit the thresholds of 13,000 Loyalty Points for Gold, 25,000 LPs for Platinum, 42,000 LPs for Platinum Pro, and 67,000 LPs for Executive Platinum.

Got all that? One thing to note is that even if you qualify early (as I did), your status is not updated until the end of the qualification period. The upside is that you can “over qualify” and since the qualifications are cumulative, you will get a head start towards the next qualification. Additionally, if you qualify for EP status the first period but only Platinum Pro thereafter, you may do so. However, the inverse does not work. Whatever your level is after the first qualification, that is your limit– you may not achieve a higher status in the following periods.

Using my Star Alliance Gold Status:

I don’t fly on Star Alliance Airlines nearly as much as oneworld or SkyTeam and when I fly them it is frequently on Business Class Awards where the benefits of Star Alliance Gold Status are incremental. That said, I’ve had the opportunity recently to use my brand-new status.

Case #1: South African Airways

South African Airways is one of the world’s oldest airlines but has unfortunately had a rough go of it the past few years. The long-haul route map has been demolished. Where they once used to fly to the US and many places in Europe, it is mostly a regional and domestic airline at this point. 🙁 As such, on my recent visit to South Africa, I wanted to make sure I tried out the airline that had previously gotten rave reviews. I flew CPT-JNB and JNB-MRU (Cape Town to Johannesburg in Economy– operated by Sun Express, one of their subsidiaries– and Johannesburg to Mauritius in Business Class)

In Cape Town, I not only received access to the Star Alliance Gold Check-In which saved me 5-10 minutes but also priority security, located opposite from general boarding. I was the only person accessing this expedited security, which was very relaxing, as opposed to the normal chaos of security! Then, I headed to the South African Airways “The Lounge” in the domestic gates. There were only 4 others in the lounge, and it was extremely tranquil. Finally, once I had eaten some food in the lounge and it was time to board, I headed to the Star Alliance Gold Priority Boarding Lane, bypassing the full 737 airplane’s worth of people that were in the general lane.

While boarding in South Africa is quite efficient (it was only 15 minutes total!), it’s still nice to be able to stroll up and board when you please. From there, I headed onboard to my exit row seat that I was able to select for free courtesy of my status. My bag was the first one off the baggage claim in Johannesburg– a first for me! In fact, the woman was just rolling out the (literal) red carpet to grab the Star Alliance Priority Baggage for those in Business Class and with Star Alliance Gold Status.

Case #2: United

One of the main reasons that I rarely fly Star Alliance is that I am not a huge fan of United. I much prefer JFK or LGA to EWR and don’t consistently fly anywhere else where United has a hub presence. That said, I had a flight on Monday from EWR back to CHS on United and I enjoyed bypassing many of the issues that EWR faces– I had a free checked bag (prices recently rose to $40 per checked bag for all of the US carriers, excluding Southwest) and was able to use the Premier Check-In area to avoid the long lines (none at that hour but it can be extremely long!).

Then, I visited the newly redone United Club in Terminal A (which was thankfully better than the dreadful United Club in SEA, not that it could be any worse!). As mentioned before, I unfortunately could not visit the United Polaris Lounge as these lounges are excluded from the normal Star Alliance Gold Business Class Lounge Access. that being said, the Terminal A United Club was very nice– decorated as nicely as the Delta SkyClubs but without 10,000 of your closest friends there.

Case #3 (future uses): Other Star Alliance Carriers

When my travels take me to Asia and Europe again, I look forward to visiting some of the most heralded lounges– for example, returning to the ANA Business Class Lounge in NRT that I loved on my previous visit and Swiss Senator Lounge non-Schengen Zone in ZRH Terminal E, which has several $200+ bottles of whisky available for tasting as well as an elegant cigar room. Not too bad for someone who rarely flies Star Alliance and got his status by matching from a status that I earned the easy way courtesy of another status match and my company!

If you are interested, here is the link for the Turkish feedback form (the first step for the status match). Will you be applying? Let me know! Stay tuned for reviews of the famed Qatar QSuites Business Class (including why I think it is overrated) and my first impressions of visiting Madagascar and much, much more!

Evan