Qatar Airways Status Match: Alaska Gold to Qatar Gold (oneworld Sapphire)

From 20 May 2020 till 28 May 2020, Qatar Airways offered status match to members of selected airlines. They are:

• Singapore Airlines

• Emirates

• Etihad Airways

• South African Airways

• Turkish Airlines

My quick thoughts on airline status

Unlike hotels, there is generally not much value left in maintaining airline status. For this reason, I discourage staying loyal to any frequent flyer program or airline if you care about value. It really does not make sense to pay a few hundred dollars more for Economy flights just so that you can have extra baggage allowance and priority boarding. Most Business lounges are not worth your loyalty too.

There is one outstanding exception though. It is Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and I explained why here.

Upon successful matching, your status with Qatar Airways would translate to its oneworld equivalent as follows:

• Qatar Silver -> oneworld Ruby

• Qatar Gold -> oneworld Sapphire

• Qatar Platinum -> oneworld Emerald

If you do not try, you’ll never know

As an Alaska Gold member, I took a couple of minutes to submit my application for a status match even though it wasn’t part of the above list of selected airlines. It was a long, one-month wait but I got an approval email just last night.

What do I get with this free status match?

As a oneworld Sapphire member now, I will get the following key benefits when flying in Economy Class with any oneworld airline like Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Qantas & British Airways. Yes, airline status matters most when flying in Economy Class because you will receive all the benefits below anyway if you fly in Business/First, even if you have no status.

• Priority check-in

• Access to Business Class lounges

• Priority boarding

• Extra baggage allowance

• Priority baggage handling

Only the first 2 benefits matter to me, really.

On top of the above, I will also get to enjoy Al Maha Meet & Greet service at Doha’s Hamad International Airport. This is great as I do fly Qatar Airways in Economy to Europe fairly often as it is very easy to find round trip fares for just $700+ from Singapore.

Conclusion

I am not sure how much value I can squeeze out of this in the next 12 months but I am hoping that Alaska Airlines joins oneworld by then, for me to continue enjoying oneworld Sapphire benefits.

I submitted the status match hoping that it would be processed fast enough for me to share any potential success. Unfortunately, it is too late now. But if you are like me and absolutely love travel hacks/deals, I hope that this article encourages you to take more risk-free opportunities that literally take a few minutes of effort.

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