The Qatar Airways status match has been extended ….. again!
It was due to end on Saturday but has now been pushed back to midnight UK time on Wednesday 27th May. The list of participating airlines has not changed again and remains at five.
Here is our original article on the match, which I have amended to reflect the new qualification requirements …..
Qatar Airways is running a status match at the moment. This means that, if you have elite status with selected other airlines, Qatar Airways will give you equivalent status in Qatar Privilege Club.
The reason this is interesting, of course, is that Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld alliance alongside British Airways. Having status with Qatar Airways gets you all of the benefits of having status with British Airways when flying BA, including BA lounge access, fast track security, priority boarding, additional luggage allowances etc. You also get status benefits when flying with any of the other airlines in the oneworld alliance.
You can find full details on the Qatar Airways website here.
Which airlines is Qatar Airways offering to match?
That’s the good news. The bad news is that only a small number of airlines qualify. These are:
- Emirates
- Etihad
- Turkish Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
Whilst the rules talk about matching ‘top tier’ status, it appears that they will match ANY level of status with these five airlines. This is because matches are being made to Qatar Privilege Club Platinum, Gold and Silver tiers.
Annoyingly, there is no list of how a match will work so we don’t know exactly what will match to what. If an airline only has three tiers then you can reasonably assume it will be a straight match to Platinum, Gold or Silver. For airlines with four tiers it gets more complicated.
How do Qatar Airways benefit link to British Airways?
This is a little complex, because Qatar Gold doesn’t mean BA Gold!
This is how it matches:
Qatar Privilege Club Platinum = oneworld emerald = British Airways Gold benefits
Qatar Privilege Club Gold = oneworld sapphire = British Airways Silver benefits
Qatar Privilege Club Silver = oneworld ruby = British Airways Bronze benefits
How do you apply for a Qatar Airways status match?
The details are on the Qatar Airways website here.
You need to open a Qatar Privilege Account first, which can be done here.
You need to email Qatar Airways with a copy of your competing airline membership card, a statement of your frequent flyer activity with that airline for the last two months (presumably nil!) and your Qatar Privilege Club account details.
How long does your status match last?
It isn’t clear, but the implication is that it will last for a full 12 months. Rather like British Airways, Qatar Privilege Club membership is NOT based on strict January to December calendar years but reflects when you joined or when you achieved your status.
Members who are matched can retain their status for a further year by collecting just HALF of the usual number of tier points during the next 12 months. This isn’t hugely generous, given you are unlikely to be flying much for the next 3-4 months, but it is better than nothing.
Even better, if you are matched to Qatar Platinum, you may (or may not) get a ‘soft landing’ to Qatar Gold for a further 12 months which would still allow you to access British Airways business class lounges. This would effectively get you 24 months of British Airways lounge access via this match.
Full details of how to apply are here. Note that the deadline is midnight on Wednesday 27th May.
(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for the latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios from current offers and promotions.)
About Head for Points
Extended and rules changed yet again
(Singapore included once agin)
they are amateurs
Shambolic
Singapore came back in the 2nd set of changes – this is the 3rd set 🙂
Has anyone actually been matched yet??
I asked to match my TK Elite plus status hoping to get Platinum but so far no reply
Same Same, everything crossed for us both.
CAn anyone confirm the link? Qatar website says promotion has now ended when searching.
The link is in the article!
Worth noting that if you get matched to QR Platinum, you will get access to Al Safwa First lounge in Doha if flying business class (not if flying economy). This is not a One World Emerald benefit, only for QR Platinum. However, as many of us fly QR business to credit the tier points to BA and gain status with BA, it will need to be your QR number that is on the boarding pass to gain entry to the lounge rather than just flashing your card, and therefore you would miss out on your BA tier points (and Avios). But with this ‘half status points’ offer to keep your QR membership, that might be better anyway.
Can’t you get a gate agent to change the FF number back to BA (from QR) before you board?
That would work if it was a simple DOH-XXX booking however a connection booking would be need to be printed with QR FFP number in it, and whilst the gate agent at say LHR could change it to BA before boarding, that would then change the FFP number in the booking and when Al Safwa scan the boarding pass it would fail. But you could ask that lounge agent to change to QR FFP and then the gate agent to change back to BA FFP (a lot to remember!).
Email sent on the 19th, no reply as yet but it did say up to 10 days.
Any high res TK cards out there?
Stay classy…