This post is dedicated to my younger brother, Anthony, who I gifted United Gold status to 2 months ago (Anthony, are you listening? It’s time get your butt in gear…). Anthony has been doing a lot of business traveling on US Airways and United for his new job, and I want to show him how he can best leverage his new gold status by contacting Turkish Airlines and asking for a status match.
With the match, he’ll be able enjoy two-free years of North American/domestic lounge access (United Club, US Airways Club etc.).
The Turkish Status match has been around for a while, but the terms have changed it a bit. It used to be that you simply sent over an email to them including digital copies of your “proof” (a screenshot of your current statement and membership level). However, it seems to be that TK will no longer match without hard copies.
Here is a step-by-step guide for people who are newbies and might be in the same boat as my brother:
First and Foremost – Who is Eligible for TK Status Match?
The cool thing about this match is that Turkish Airlines will match other Star Alliance Gold members, as well as Skyteam Elite Plus and Oneworld Emerald members. In other words, members already holding US Airways Gold Preferred, United Premier Gold, American Executive Platinum, and Delta Gold Medallion or higher have the opportunity of enjoying the sought-out haven of lounge access prior to take-off.
Now that you’re eligible for the match, here’s what you’ll have to do:
- First, create a free Miles&Smiles account.
- Scan a HARD COPY (digital copies/screenshots of statements and cards are no longer acceptable) of both your current statement and membership card from your existing and qualifying program as mentioned from above. Note: Some people have been asked to provide a copy of their passport too. I personally printed out my last 3 United MileagePlus statements and took pictures of me holding the hard copies using the camera on my iPhone. I did the same thing with my membership card, and it worked like a charm.
- Next, Fill out the contact form on the TK website and write a short message, including your Miles&Smiles account number, stating that you’d like to be status matched. Don’t forget to attach the requested proof files above.
- Following your submission, you will be given a reference number so you can later trace the status of your request.
- The completion of the the match can take a few business days to several months, depending on the amount of requests in progress and if all of the required documentation is included. In my experience, it took several weeks of back and forth contact in order for me to be matched, but after I sent my pictures of my hard copy proof, I heard back within a few hours. YMMV.
- Miles&Smiles Elite is valid for 2 years.
Flight for thought- The current price of a 1-year United Club membership is $500.00, or 65,000 miles with an initiation fee of $50, while a standard US Airways Club membership is $450 a year. In short, five minutes of your time and a simple message requesting a Turkish Airlines status match will grant you ~$950 in lounge perks by allowing you to receive lounge access on North American itineraries that would otherwise inaccessible with US-based Star Alliance Gold elite status.
If you haven’t done so already, give it a shot, and be sure to let me know how it goes. If you have matched before, how long before the request was responded to? Have you stumbled across other benefits or issues associated with the match?
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Hi Angelina,
Thanks for sharing this useful info. Can you please advise how to gift airline status ? also which airlines do have this option ?
So you can do a Us Airways trial for Gold preferred and ask Turkish to match?
Also can you match Virgin America Gold to Turkish Gold?
Thanks for the great post
That’s awesome! I never knew that. Thanks Angelina! So if I do get a status match, does that mean I always have to credit my miles to TK whenever I fly United in order to get lounge access? For example, if I am flying United from IAH-SFO and wish to credit those miles to United, can I just show the TK elite card at the lounge reception and they’ll still let me in (or will they only let me in if I credit those miles to TK?)
@Praynay: I won Gold status during a raffle at FTU DC. Since I am already Gold with United, I had the option of gifting the status to someone else. Some airlines allow you to gift status with million miler programs. Here’s info on United’s: http://www.united.com/web/en-us/content/account/lifetime.aspx
@Duc: That can work, but I’m not sure if TK would automatically approve the match because they like to see your statement activity. Worth a try though… I don’t think Virgin America qualifies for the match, but try and let us know how TK responds.
@Joey: Glad the post was helpful to you. You don’t have to credit your flights to TK for the lounge access. I always credit my flights to UA as well and never had a problem just flashing my TK card at UC.
Not sure how it’s possible to write about TK status matches without crediting VFTW who has been on this for a year with several posts.
How long did it take you to receive your physical card/packet? My match was approved May 22.
Aeroplan 75K Elite as well?
So we make photos and fill out the form and send it where?
Email or by snail mail?
Thank you!
This technique doesn’t always work.
I’ve been waiting 5 months and have been back and forth with them at least 5 times “requesting additional information”
Attempted to match from AC Elite… (now Elite 35K) still pending…
Also remember that you can get the same club membership (and a bunch of other benefits) from the Chase CC with a lower annual fee. And elites get discounts. Also, UA offers discounts based on status level.
For some reason the Turkish Airlines website doesn’t seem to work well with Chrome browser. If you follow the link to the Customer feedback page the image with the code is broken so you can’t actually submit your request. The image shows up fine in Firefox though.
Hello – I am AA EXP but am in burn-mode this year and all my travel has been using miles. I have my AA EXP card which expires in Feb 2014 – any tips on how best to try and get this status match?
Thanks,
I just got matched this morning. Very easy process for me. Signed up for an account and emailed in a scan of my membership card and 6 months printed from online on the 9th. The 10th I got an email asking for a color scan of my membership card. Sent it yesterday (11th) and got accepted today! I’m chairman with US if that is helpful. Looking forward to 2 years of lounges.
Requested status match from US Air gold, expiring next Feb’14. Two days after got email confirming my status match :) Awesome!
Really? I’m still waiting more than 3weeks for status match on TK
Took me 3+ months and back and forth sending the same information but I finally got approved via my Aegean Gold
Tried to match my US airways gold preferred with Turkish and was denied. :(