STAR ALLIANCE GOLD STATUS & OneWorld Sapphire
INTRODUCTION
We are living in a highly competitive world, where frequent flyer programs are fighting over your loyalty. And the most loyal customers get rewarded with benefits the normal holiday traveller may not even can imagine, like limousine transfers and so on.
One of the really sought after frequent flyer status is the Star Alliance Gold status. Some airlines even sell the status for 1,000s of USD, but there are also airlines, which gives away the status for free.
Star Alliance Gold status gives you the following benefits:
• Priority Airport Check-in
Star Alliance Gold Status allows you to check-in through the Priority check-in counters. With shorter queues checking-in, you can get to the lounge a little sooner.
• Airport Lounge Access
When you travel with any Star Alliance member airline, you and a guest can escape the crowds and relax in over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide, regardless of your class of travel.
• Priority Boarding
There's no need to rush out of the lounge anymore. With priority boarding you can enjoy the freedom of boarding at your convenience along with First and Business Class passengers.
• Extra Baggage Allowance
As a Gold Status holder you can choose not to travel light. We allow an additional 20 kg (44 pounds) where the weight concept applies, or one additional piece of luggage where the piece concept applies.
• Priority Baggage Handling
Similar to you, your bags get priority treatment and are among the first to be unloaded, which means you can be one of the first in line for a taxi/shuttle bus.
• Priority Reservations Waitlist
If there aren't any seats available on your preferred flight, we ensure that you are given higher priority on the waiting list.
• Priority Airport Standby
If your travel plans change and flights are full, your Star Alliance Gold status ensures you are given higher priority when standing by for a flight at the airport.
Currently there are a few airlines, which give away this status for free. The buzzword is STATUS MATCH. What does this mean? Well, airlines are fighting over your business and try to lure you away from their competitors. To make the switch even easier for you they are willing to give you the equivalent status, you currently have with a competing airline, in their own frequent flyer program. All you have to be is a Gold or Platinum cardholder of one of the other airline programs, which are considered competitors by this airline.
TUTORIAL
TURKISH AIRLINES is one of just a few airlines out there, which gives you FREE Star Alliance Gold status for 2! years plus 1 year Star Alliance Silver status. They will match your newly opened account to their gold status if you are a holder of one of these cards:
• Any other Star Alliance Gold card
• SkyTeam Elite Plus card
• Oneworld Emarald card
In order to get a match you should do the following:
• Go to http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/miles-and-
smiles/homepage and sign up for an account
• Send them via the online form https://www4.thy.com/customercontact/index.tkf?lang=en a status match request and attach a copy of your current frequent flyer card, a copy of your online statement and a few lines why you want to switch over to Turkish (cover letter).
• Wait a good week! Some people get upgraded within a few days and some have to wait over 4 weeks. If your new account has not been upgraded within 2 weeks I then would suggest to contact Turkish via their Twitter team. This will speed up the upgrade process considerably and your account should get upgraded within a few days.
You may not currently have one of the three status mentioned above. Well, the thing is, that Turkish Airlines will not and cannot check, if you currently have a status earned from another alliance airline or not. Thus you can photoshop an account statement and a frequent flyer card and send it in and you will get matched to Star Alliance Gold status for 2 years.
Using this new gold status you then can get status matches with other airlines, like Oneworld Sapphire status.
If you need help with an online statement and/or a frequent flyer gold/platinum card then I do have a few templates available, which I will sell separately.
APPENDIX
A cover letter could look like this:
Dear Madams and Sirs,
as you can see from my attached statement(s), I currently have “XYZ” status on ABC, but I would like to shift my business to Turkish Airlines. I have a couple of flights booked on Turkish Airlines in business class for the next months and a number of additional flights in the works, which I would prefer to fly on Turkish Airlines if you would be willing to match my elite status on ABC to your equivalent “Gold” level.
Please do modify this letter!
UPDATE
Using this new status from Turkish Airlines, you then could match further to Air Berlin. Air Berlin would then match your Turkish Airlines Star Alliance gold status to their Top Bonus gold status, which basically is OneWorld’s “Sapphire” mid tier status. The status is valid for 1 year.
Alternatively just use your own Star Alliance Gold status and request a status match from Air Berlin.
Just send an email to service@topbonus.de and attach a picture of your Star Alliance gold card to it. Usually they reply you within 24 hours.
The Oneworld Sapphire status will get you business class check-in and business class lounge access among other benefits.