StatusMatcher – what tier matches can you get from your existing airline and hotel status cards?

statusmatcher.com is a site which I think HfP readers should know about, as it does offer a useful service to regular travellers.  I have no idea who runs it or where it is based, but it has been around since 2007 and has a lot of contributors.

A ‘status match’ is when you approach an airline or hotel company with proof of your high status with a competing airline or hotel group. You then ask to be immediately upgraded to the equivalent level with that company. This is not unreasonable, since it encourages customers to switch brands. People would otherwise be unwilling to give up their status benefits with the other group by starting from scratch with the new company.

Some groups love giving status matches, others don’t. British Airways will almost never status match, unless your company signs a major deal with them or you have a relationship with an overseas office.  Virgin Atlantic, on the other hand, ran a status match for British Airways customers in 2021.

(Virgin Atlantic now openly matches the airline status of anyone with a Premium or Upper Class flight booked – see here.)

I have written about specific matches on Head for Points in the past.  Hilton and IHG have been very aggressive over the last year – you will normally be given status for 90 days or so with the chance to retain that status by doing a handful of stays. Keep an eye on HfP to be notified about these offers as they come and go.

Many other airlines and hotel groups offer UNOFFICIAL status matches.  You won’t find the details on their website, but they will do it if you ask. Marriott has run a Platinum Elite challenge in the past for example – it is how I first got my Bonvoy (well, Marriott Rewards as was) top tier status – although I am not sure if it is running at present.

The point of the StatusMatcher website is to provide a central point where people can report successful or failed status matches. It gives other readers a feel for who is worth approaching.

As statusmatcher.com has become more established, the data has become more reliable and more up to date.  You tend to need a decent level of feedback on any particular programme before you can ascertain a trend.

There is never a guarantee that a particular airline or hotel chain will match you even if it matched someone else.  On the other hand, if you have a number of flights booked with an airline then you might be successful where someone else failed.  Despite this, StatusMatcher does give you useful guidance and is worth adding to your arsenal of frequent flyer tools.