Through May 30, 2013, Air France’s Flying Blue frequent flyer program is offering status matches to Gold level in their frequent flyer program.

The offer seems to be available to Gold members (which I assume equates to mid-tier elite members) of any alliance frequent flyer program. You simply have to fill out the short form with your name, frequent flyer numbers, and a scan of your elite card to be eligible.

There are three uses of this:

  • Free checked bags on all SkyTeam flights
  • Priority boarding on all SkyTeam flights
  • The ability to book Air France first class award tickets, as they only release award space to elite members of their own Flying Blue program. However, you can only redeem for first class at the “flex” level, which is extremely expensive — think 200,000+ miles one-way in first class between the US and Europe. Still, having status with them is literally the only way to book a first class award on Air France (which frankly doesn’t seem like that great of an experience anyway, but whatever).

Doubt I’ll be taking advantage of this, unless I’m really desperate to sample Air France Airbus 380 first class, as it’s the only first class Airbus 380 product not really accessible on miles.

(Tip of the hat to Gary)

Posted on January 22nd, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Air France/KLM | 14 Comments »

  1. January 22nd, 2013 at 10:36 pm

    Amol (@PointsToPointB) said,

    If I can match my A3/TK *G to this, it might take the sting out of my temporary drop to Delta Silver while I build upon my rollover from last year to get back to Gold/Platinum.

  2. January 22nd, 2013 at 10:43 pm

    AAL said,

    I hope that one benefit of this status match is the ability to guest a friend into the AF lounge; I have a business class award ticket on AF (partner award through Alaska Airlines) so I believe that I get access anyway, but my friend is in coach.

  3. January 22nd, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Amol — Sounds like the right strategy!

    @ AAL — Yep, that should get you a guest into the lounge.

  4. January 22nd, 2013 at 11:39 pm

    Boraxo said,

    Is this a better deal than Argentina status match? Which one lasts longer? Not really that useful without DL lounge access.

    BTW I would not be lining up to fly AF. All of my colleagues complain about their inferior business class seats and service, not to mention the horror of CDG.

  5. January 22nd, 2013 at 11:50 pm

    lucky said,

    @ Boraxo — I unfortunately don’t see the expiration policy on this status match, though I would assume it’s valid through the end of the year. The Aerolineas Argentinas status match might be better since you can status match to their top tier.

  6. January 22nd, 2013 at 11:52 pm

    James M said,

    Hopefully they match my shortly expiring AC Elite, and Asiana Gold (threw in my UA Silver for good measure). Argentina rejected me as none of them fly any of their routes.

  7. January 23rd, 2013 at 1:03 am

    Adrian said,

    AR also rejected me as per the same reasons with James M so the AF/KL status match definitely comes at a good time, especially since my next SkyTeam flight is coming in February!

  8. January 23rd, 2013 at 6:33 am

    Gardy said,

    Maybe I should go for this match. Still waiting for a response (any response) from my TK request from two months ago!

  9. January 23rd, 2013 at 9:15 am

    janyyc said,

    AR rejected me too. :(

  10. January 23rd, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    Jon said,

    i too am waiting for a response from TK and AR, not holding my breath. i don’t know if my AF request went through, though, since it looked from the confirmation page it was automatic, but my AF profile page says not yet. oh well. we’ll see what happens.

  11. February 3rd, 2013 at 8:23 am

    Rossana said,

    Flying blue closed match as of Feb.1, 2013

  12. February 6th, 2013 at 9:35 am

    Flying Blue are honouring their misguided status match! » Points to be made said,

    [...] Blue recently ran a status match promotion for anyone wanting to get a fast-track gold status. News spread pretty damn [...]

  13. February 22nd, 2013 at 2:02 pm

    Alan said,

    My status has finally updated to Gold today :D

  14. March 25th, 2013 at 11:29 pm

    AAL said,

    My FB Gold card arrived in the mail today – in time for my trip in a few weeks when I will use it to bring a guest into the SFO AF lounge. Thanks for the original post. I’m so glad I was able to sign up while the offer was on. The card is good through March 2014.

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