NOW OVER: Get British Airways Silver equivalent status by matching top-tier HOTEL status!

Here’s some good news for anyone concerned about no longer being able to earn British Airways elite status due to the new tier thresholds.

Royal Jordanian is offering you the equivalent of British Airways Executive Club Silver status if you have top tier HOTEL status.

This offer was very popular when it ran last year and now it has been brought back, albeit with a smaller list of participating hotel chains.

The offer will close on Wednesday 22nd January 2025.

You can apply here, albeit for a $199 fee. But read on first.

Royal Jordanian has been running an on/off status match from other airlines for a while. It has now extended it again to its Gold tier for anyone with elite hotel status in selected programmes.

To take part, you must live in the UK or Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey or the UAE.

The application form allows you to select other countries but you will be rejected if you select one which is not listed above.

Royal Jordanian is a BA partner in the oneworld alliance

British Airways will respect your newly minted Royal Jordanian status, including for lounge access.

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 the other oneworld carriers – Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, American Airlines, Qantas etc.

Which hotel 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.

• Accor (Diamond, Platinum)
• Hilton (Diamond)
• Hyatt (Globalist)
• IHG (Diamond)
• Marriott (Platinum, Titanium, Ambassador)

If you have a lower tier of hotel status, or status with any other hotel group, you can probably be matched to Silver Jay status which is equivalent to British Airways Bronze.

Hilton Gold or Marriott Gold status, which is free with American Express Platinum, would match to Silver Jay (BA Bronze equivalent) status for example.

BA Bronze is good for free seat selection within seven days of travel, but doesn’t come with lounge access or free seat selection at the time booking. Royal Jordanian Gold Sparrow status DOES offer you this.

You can still match airline status too

The following airline statuses can also be matched to Gold Sparrow (BA Silver equivalent) status.

The fee is lower ($149) if you are matching via airline status rather than hotel status:

• Air Europa (Gold, Platinum)
• Air France KLM (Gold, Platinum, Ultimate)
• Egyptair (Elite, Gold, Platinum)
• Emirates (Gold, IO, 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)

If you have a lower tier of airline status, you can probably match to Silver Jay status which is equivalent to British Airways Bronze.

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

Royal Jordanian is not matching to Platinum Hawk status. If you are top tier with another programme, you will only get Gold Sparrow. This still gets you lounge access with British Airways, however.

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?

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.)

For existing BA bookings, the easiest way to swap your Executive Club number for your new Royal Jordanian one is, oddly, by pulling up your BA booking via the ‘Manage My Booking’ section of the Royal Air Maroc website. Give it an hour to filter through and you should be able to pull up your booking via ba.com using the booking reference and select seats for free.

As Kumar says in the comments below:

“Hopefully this will help others – I added my RJ number using the Royal Air Maroc website on a reward Avios BA booking. I was able to book seats for free, got priority boarding and got access to lounges at both Glasgow and Heathrow. No issues anywhere and only had to scan my boarding pass at the lounges.”

Is there a fee for the status match?

Yes. There is a $199 application fee for Gold Sparrow status if you apply via your hotel status.

Silver Jay, equivalent to British Airways Bronze status, has a lower $49 fee. Whilst this doesn’t come with lounge access, you could still make a substantial saving on British Airways seat selection, which would be available for free from seven days before travel.

How do I apply?

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 terms state that your match will be processed within five business days.

Remember that ONLY the following hotel tiers match to Gold Sparrow (=BA Silver):

• Accor (Diamond, Platinum)
• Hilton (Diamond)
• Hyatt (Globalist)
• IHG (Diamond)
• Marriott (Platinum, Titanium, Ambassador)

The match is being processed by a third party, statusmatch.com, so you will see references to them whilst applying. Ensure you read the T&C to be sure that you have the correct status in order to make a match.

There is a special website for the status match which is here. Remember that the offer ends on Wednesday.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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:

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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

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

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.

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