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LAST DAY: Get British Airways Silver equivalent if you have status elsewhere

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British Airways never, ever, does status matches from other airlines.

(Well, if you are a multinational switching from another alliance to BA they will do it for top staff, but apart from that …..)

However, in a return of the offer we first saw back at Christmas, you can get a de facto British Airways status match via Royal Jordanian.

The offer is due to end today, 31st March. You can apply here.

Royal Jordanian status match

Note that the T&C state that Royal Jordanian is restricting the UK part of the deal to people who live in England. The application form only allows you to select ‘UK’ so I suspect that this is acceptable.

Other acceptable countries of residence are:  Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey and UAE.

The application form allows you to select other countries but I assume that you will be rejected if you select one of those.

Royal Jordanian is a BA partner in the oneworld alliance

British Airways may refuse to do status matches, but Royal Jordanian has different ideas.

Royal Jordanian is a member of the oneworld alliance, alongside British Airways. If you have Gold Sparrow status with Royal Jordanian, you will receive virtually all of the benefits of British Airways Silver status when you fly with BA.

  • BA lounge access for you and a guest? Tick
  • Priority security? Tick
  • Extra baggage allowance? Tick
  • Use business class check-in desks? Tick
  • Free seat selection? Tick
  • Priority boarding? Tick

Your Royal Jordanian status will also be valid when flying with all of the other oneworld carriers – Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, American Airlines, Qantas etc.

Which airline statuses is Royal Jordanian matching?

You can match status from the following programmes to Royal Jordanian. I have listed the status level you need to get Gold Sparrow status with Royal Jordanian, which is equivalent to British Airways Silver.

Silver Jay status with Royal Jordanian, equivalent to British Airways Bronze, is also available if you have the next lowest elite tier with any of these programmes.

Royal Jordanian status match
  • Air Europa (Gold, Platinum)
  • Air France KLM (Gold, Platinum, Ultimate)
  • Egyptair (Elite, Gold, Platinum)
  • Emirates (Gold, Platinum)
  • Etihad (Gold, Platinum)
  • Gulf Air (Gold, Black)
  • Kuwait Airways (Gold, Platinum)
  • Lufthansa et al (Senator, HON Circle)
  • Middle East Airlines (Gold, Platinum, Presidents Club)
  • Oman Air (Gold)
  • Saudia (Gold)
  • Scandinavian Airlines (Gold, Diamond, Pandion)
  • TAP Air Portugal (Gold, Navigator)
  • Turkish Airlines (Elite, Elite Plus)
  • Virgin Atlantic (Gold)

You can’t get top tier status via this match

Before I go on, you need to know that Royal Jordanian has different status tiers to British Airways. When I talk about ‘Gold’ or ‘Silver’, you need to note which airline I am discussing.

Royal Club, the Royal Jordanian programme, has three elite levels:

  • Platinum Hawk is the same as British Airways Gold
  • Gold Sparrow is the same as British Airways Silver
  • Silver Jay is the same as British Airways Bronze

Here are the two key things to note about this match:

  • Royal Jordanian is not matching anyone to Platinum Hawk. If you are top tier with another programme, you will only get Gold Sparrow. This still gets you lounge access with British Airways, however.
  • If you have a lower elite tier with an airline listed above, you should be eligible to receive Silver Jay. This is not a lot of use, in the same way that British Airways Bronze status isn’t too valuable. It doesn’t offer lounge access and only offers free seat selection on BA seven days before departure.
Royal Jordanian status match

How long will my Royal Jordanian status last?

12 months.

Do I need to put my Royal Jordanian status in my British Airways bookings to get my benefits, thus losing Avios and tier points?

You will definitely need to put your Royal Jordanian number into future BA bookings to get free seat selection.

You may NOT need it for lounge access, priority boarding etc because much of the time you can show one card to an agent and keep a different number in your booking. At airports with automated gates you may need to have your Royal Jordanian number in your booking to access priority security lines.

You would need to swap the frequent flyer number in your booking at check-in to earn Avios and tier points. You could also do it in the lounge if there was a BA ticket desk.

The bottom line is that you need a boarding pass in your hand at the time of boarding which shows your BAEC number if you want to earn Avios and tier points, instead of Royal Jordanian miles and tier credit.

(Frankly, for short haul flights which earn minimal tier points or Avios, you might as well put your Royal Jordanian number in your booking and leave it there. You’re not losing much.)

Is there a fee for the status match?

Yes. There is a $149 application fee for Gold Sparrow status.

Silver Jay, equivalent to British Airways Bronze status, has a lower $49 fee.

The terms state that your match will be processed within five business days but I am told that it should be quicker.

How do I apply?

There is a special website for the status match which is here. I recommend you read the FAQ and T&C before proceeding.

You will need to sign up for a Royal Jordanian account before applying for your match. There is a link on the status match site.

The offer is due to end today, 31st March.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

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American Express Business Gold

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Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Comments (13)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Empers says:

    Yep successfully status matched from Emirates Gold, thank you Headforpoints. I think it was issued within 12 hours.

    I used it immediately to save money on seat bookings for some BA redemptions. We will get the value for more seat bookings and lounges this year, so the status match fee should be covered 👍

  • Jenny Taylor says:

    Just tried this through the link – now signed up but nowhere there a link to BA status. Any ideas??

    • Rob says:

      What do you mean ‘link to BA status’?

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      You don’t get a BA status!

      You get a status with Royal Jordanian which has a One World level which then corresponds to a BA Status.

    • Hilda M says:

      Jenny, you’ve got an equivalent to BA status so you book your flights without signing into your BAEC account and enter your Royal Jordanian number to allow you pick seats, visit lounges etc.- you won’t earn any Avios, rather RJ miles

  • Omicron says:

    I did this a while back it was a very quick and seamless process despite the somewhat unclear instructions. I’m not a UK citizen, but it was no problem to enter UK / GB as my country of residence despite only having a foreign passport to show them.

    Some Cathay / Qantas lounge visits at T3 and Club World seat reservations have already offset the $149 fee significantly.

    The only problem is – what to do with the resulting “orphan” Royal Jordanian miles? 🤔

  • Malibu69 says:

    My match was authorised within 24 hours but the gold card only showed up on the gulf air site about 5 days later. The royal Jordanian app doesn’t allow log in on an Apple product. Tried this multiple times and doesn’t let me in, so must be an IT problem. Can still login on the website though.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

      Status can take a while to filter through the various One World airline system so I’m nit surprised it took 5 days.

      Depends on how often Airline A uploads changes then for Airline B to process those changes into its systems.

  • Badger says:

    My BA silver expires in June or July and I won’t be retaining it this year. Would doing this effectively extend those benefits until March 25?

  • Jus says:

    Would i be able to take my family through fast track? They are all BA blue. If my wife makes a BA booking on her account using a companion voucher would i still be able to allocate seats an + above. I know i would only be able to have 1 guest with me in the lounge.

    • Rob says:

      If on the same booking, yes.

      • Joe says:

        Yes for gatwick and heathrow. At outstations, I’ve often been refused, even the guest. Ymmv

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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