Flying Blue (SkyTeam) status match – your last chance!

If you have top-tier status with British Airways or indeed any other oneworld, Star Alliance or non-alliance airline, you have three weeks left to take advantage of the current SkyTeam status match. This would give you status with all 19 SkyTeam airlines.

If you live in or near Kent, you will know that the former RAF base at Manston has been operating as a (very unpopular) civilian airport since 2004. With Flybe having dropped its services last year, KLM has picked up the baton. It is offering two flights per day to Amsterdam.

Until July 31st, anyone who credits a KLM flight from Manston to their Flying Blue account will qualify to have their Flying Blue account made up to Gold status – as long as you already have a Gold card from another airline.

The promotion is only valid to Flying Blue members with a UK home and business address.

If you are wondering how to get to Manston, you take (from London) a Javellin high-speed train from St Pancras or Stratford International and get off at Ramsgate. It is then an 8-10 minute taxi ride to the airport. A trip report on Flyertalk can be found here.

Fares are very cheap out of Manston at the moment. At the time of writing, a one-way from Manston to Amsterdam can be as low as £42 (although you need to book a return to get that price, no cheap one ways bizarrely) and that is all you need to trigger the status match.

(PS. I had feedback from one reader who is struggling to get Flying Blue to process his Gold status match, despite following all the instructions in the leaflet. I don’t know if this is an isolated incident or not, but if you follow the rules you should be OK in the end.)