Mar 11

Mar 11 Status Match Challenge for United Flyers

The aviation industry took a critical hit when the Coronavirus pandemic erupted. According to CNBC, over 40 airlines have gone bankrupt as of October of 2020. The major three American airlines – Delta, American, and United Airlines, were in trouble as well. Their stocks fell significantly, and all three airlines report billions of losses by the end of the year. 2021 seems a bit brighter with a slow distribution of COVID vaccines, and I am certainly looking forward to traveling more by the end of the year. In order to prep for future travel plans, I decided to change my airline of choice from Delta to United. Though I am a huge proponent of Delta’s work against COVID, my home airport is AUS, and United has more flights to Asian and European countries, thanks to its Star Alliance partners. In addition, with my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status, I receive a complimentary United Premier Silver status, jump-starting my status every year. To further expedite my status earning rate, I recently status-matched with my Gold Medallion status from Delta, and the request was approved!

Before I explain how the status match process works, let’s take a look at the earning requirements for the statuses and what loyalty programs United is willing to match with. As you can see in the table below, United recognizes major frequent flyer programs.

Almost all major airlines are eligible to be status-matched. Photo credit: www.united.com

If you have status with other major airlines, simply visit the promotions page from United Airlines, and input your information. You will need to provide a picture of the frequent flyer program you are attempting to match with. To me, it was as easy as going to Delta’s website and screen-shotting my Gold Medallion membership page. Once you submit your information, you should expect to hear back within 7 to 14 business days. Keep in mind, you want to be a member of United’s MileagePlus program, so if you are not a member, join before requesting the challenge. Once approved, depending on the MileagePlus Premier status you got matched to, you will need to fulfill specific Premier qualifying flights (PQF) AND Premier qualifying points (PQP) requirements. See the table below for more information!

The PQP requirement seems to be harder to meet than the PQF requirement. Photo credit: www.united.com

In my case, I will need to fly 6 Premier qualifying flights (PQF) and earn 2000 Premier qualifying points (PQP) on our United® or United Express® flights between January 30, 2021, and May 29, 2021, and that will earn me the Premier Gold status for the rest of 2021 and 2022. Though this is a great offer to jump-start the travel requirement for a higher frequent flyer status, make sure you have affirmative flight plans ahead of you. Not only you have 120 days to achieve the PQF and PQP requirements but also you are only allowed to status match every five years. I am overall satisfied with my status match experience. It was a seamless process, and I can’t wait to start using the lounge benefit I get from MileagePlus Premier Gold status. Have you done status-matching with United? How was your experience? Leave a comment and share your experience with the PointsMiler community!