Get a Vietnam Airlines (SkyTeam) status match from your HOTEL or airline status

Vietnam Airlines, a SkyTeam member, has been running a status match offer for the last few months.

You can use your British Airways Club status to get a direct match into the Lotusmiles programme. This includes giving Lotusmiles Platinum status to British Airways Club Gold members.

The match has now been extended to include major hotel loyalty schemes. Yes, you can turn mid-tier or top-tier hotel status into mid-tier SkyTeam airline status!

Your elite status would be valid across all 18 airlines in the SkyTeam alliance, including Virgin Atlantic.

You can apply here.

Whilst there is a fee to apply, this can be less than you initially think. I explain why below.

Which hotels are being matched?

I’ll start with hotels as this is the new element of the match.

• Accor Gold / Silver, Hilton Gold / Silver, Hyatt Discoverist / Explorist, IHG Gold / Silver, Marriott Gold / Silver, Radisson Premium / VIP, Wyndham Gold / Platinum will get you Lotusmiles Titanium (SkyTeam Elite)

• Accor Diamond / Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond / Platinum, Marriott Titanium / Platinum, Wyndham Diamond will get you Lotusmiles Gold (SkyTeam Elite)

• It is not possible to match hotel status to Lotumiles Platinum (SKyTeam Elite Plus)

As you may have spotted, both tiers give you the same SkyTeam status – Elite. I will return to the significance of this later.

Which airlines are being matched?

The key one, for our readers, is obviously British Airways.

• BA Club Bronze will get you Lotusmiles Titanium (SkyTeam Elite)

• BA Club Silver will get you Lotusmiles Gold (SkyTeam Elite)

• BA Club Gold will get you Lotusmiles Platinum (SkyTeam Elite Plus)

Virgin Atlantic status is NOT being matched, unsurprisingly, since it is a fellow member of the SkyTeam airline alliance with Vietnam Airlines.

You can also match from the following airlines: Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, ANA, Asiana, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Southern, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EVA Air, Egyptair, EL AL, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Etihad, Finnair, Iberia, Icelandair, Japan Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Brunei, Royal Jordanian, Shenzen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Southwest, Sri Lankan Airlines, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, Virgin Australia and WestJet.

Click here and go to ‘FAQ’ to see exactly what level is matching to what, as some are more generous than others.

What status benefits do I get with Lotusmiles?

You can see the status benefits you get with each tier here when flying with Vietnam Airlines.

The benefits of Titanium and Gold, which match from BA Bronze and BA Silver respectively, are mainly around priority check-in, additional baggage and seat selection.

Titanium and Gold are equivalent to SkyTeam Elite. This gets you, on every SkyTeam airline:

• Priority check-in counters
• Priority boarding
• Extra baggage allowance

Platinum is where it starts to get interesting, which is what a BA Gold member gets. At this level you get a card which is equivalent to SkyTeam Elite Plus.

Elite Plus gets you lounge access, with a guest, whenever you fly with a SkyTeam carrier.

It is important to note you cannot match your hotel status to a level which gets you airport lounge access with SkyTeam. The highest you can get is SkyTeam Elite (Lotusmiles Titanium and Gold) which gets you the benefits listed above.

The SkyTeam website here looks at the benefits of SkyTeam Elite (Lotusmiles Titanium and Gold) and SkyTeam Elite Plus (Lotusmiles Platinum).

Which airlines can I get benefits on with my Vietnam Airlines status?

Your status is valid across the entire SkyTeam alliance, which now comprises 18 airlines:

• Aerolíneas Argentinas
• Aeromexico
• Air Europa
• Air France
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• Delta Air Lines
• Garuda Indonesia
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• Middle East Airlines
• SAUDIA
• SAS
• TAROM
• Vietnam Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic
• XiamenAir

I need to flag one thing about Virgin Atlantic. There is a carve out from SkyTeam rules for the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Heathrow Terminal 3.

If you have Platinum status with Vietnam Airlines, you cannot use the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Terminal 3 (unless, of course, you are flying in Upper Class with Virgin). You will be sent to another lounge in the terminal. You also cannot use the Upper Class Wing to check-in – you need to use the Upper Class desks in the main terminal.

This rule does NOT apply to other Clubhouse lounges – only Heathrow T3.

It is important to note that both Lotusmiles Titanium and Lotusmiles Gold match to SkyTeam’s Elite level. You get an identical level of alliance benefits irrespective of whether you do the Titanium or Gold match.

How long does your matched status last?

12 months.

Your match should be approved within three business days (subject to requests for further ID) and your account will be upgraded within the next five business days.

You will need to earn the standard number of qualifying miles within that time to retain your status.

How do you apply for your status match?

Vietnam Airlines and its processing partner, Loyalty Status Co, have an application website here.

There are application fees, unfortunately:

• Titanium: $99
• Gold: $159 via an airline match and $199 via a hotel match
• Platinum: $299 (not available via a hotel match)

You can save $60 or $100 by applying for Titanium instead of Gold

The application website automatically defaults to the highest level of status you can get. You may not want this.

For example, a British Airways Silver member or a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum member may be happy with Lotusmiles Titanium instead of Lotusmiles Gold. You save $60 or $100 on the fee and the benefits are the same when you are flying with SkyTeam partner airlines, as both give you SkyTeam Elite equivalent status.

You should be asked during the match process if you want a lower level of status than you could get. If this option does not appear, say on the application form that you have a lower level of BA or hotel status than you actually do. It doesn’t matter that you will be uploading a scan of a higher status BA or hotel card – your match will still validate.

Conclusion

If you currently have British Airways elite status and are thinking of giving the world of SkyTeam a try, this is a good opportunity.

For the first time, you can also use your hotel elite status to get mid-tier SkyTeam status.

It should be especially interesting if you live outside the Heathrow catchment area, since SkyTeam members KLM and Air France have excellent connections – KLM and its codeshare partners fly from 17 regional airports including some you wouldn’t expect, such as Norwich and Humberside – to the world via Amsterdam and Paris.

You can find out more, and apply, on the status match website here.