Here’s How To Status Match To Star Alliance Gold

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United Airlines offers a very useful but poorly publicised route for travelers to reach the dizzy heights of Star Alliance Gold status if they already hold status with an airline belonging to another alliance (SkyTeam or oneworld). While top-tier Star Alliance status may not be as beneficial as its oneworld equivalent, it’s certainly worth having….especially if you have flights on Star Alliance carriers planned.

What Are The Benefits Of Star Alliance Gold?

• Priority Airport Check-in
• Extra Baggage Allowance
• Gold Track (Priority Security & Immigration)
• Airport Lounge Access (based on airline, stays and cabin of travel)
• Priority Boarding
• Priority Baggage Handling
• Priority Reservation Waitlist
• Priority Airport Stand-by

Which Airlines Are In The Star Alliance?

Who Can & Cannot Status Match To Star Alliance Gold?

• Flyers who have mid-tier status with airlines outside of the Star Alliance are eligible to match to United’s Premier Platinum or Premier Gold levels both of which come with Star Alliance Gold status.
• Flyers who already have Star Alliance Gold or Silver status are excluded from this offer
• Flyers who have participated in a United Airlines status match in the past 5 years are excluded from this offer

Examples of status matches:

• Delta Gold → United Premier Gold
• Delta Platinum → United Premier Platinum
• American Airlines Platinum → United Premier Gold
• American Airlines Platinum Pro → United Premier Platinum
• British Airways Silver → United Premier Gold
• British Airways Gold → United Premier Platinum

If you have higher status that those mentioned above you will probably be matched to United Premier Platinum but I’ve heard reports of some flyers being matched to United Premier 1K.

How Do You Status Match To Star Alliance Gold

You will need:

• Your MileagePlus account number
• Name, mailing address and email address
• A copy of your most recent mileage summary or 2018 membership card for the frequent flyer program you are matching from. It must clearly identify your current elite status, including your status expiration date.

When you have this information to hand you should proceed to United’s dedicated status match page (HERE) and supply the details requested.

IMPORTANT: When filling out the form you’ll be asked to select a date from which you’d like your status match to start and it’s very important you select the right date – see the “how long does my Star Alliance status last?” section for an explanation.

If you provide all the information required (which shouldn’t be hard to do) you’ll hear back from United within 14 business days confirming which MileagePlus tier level you have been matched to.

How Long Does My Star Alliance Gold Status Last?

Once you have been approved for United MileagePlus status you will hold that status for 90 days only….but this can be extended.

To extend your Star Alliance Gold status United gives you a challenge:

• To extend Premier Gold – Fly 12,500 PQM or 15 PQS on flights operated by United or United Express within the 90 day window.
• To extend Premier Platinum – Fly 18,000 PQM or 22 PQS on flights operated by United or United Express

Note: PQMs are “Premier Qualifying Miles” and PQSs are “Premier Qualifying Segments”

Here’s the important bit: 

If the flight that gets you over the challenge’s milestone occurs before 30 June 2018 your MileagePlus (and therefore Star Alliance) status will only be extended to 31 January 2019.

If, however, you time it so that this flight occurs after 30 June 2018, your United MileagePlus status will be extended to 31 January 2020.

That’s a whole extra year of airline status just for completing the challenge after 30 June 2018.

Things To Bear In Mind

Clearly the most important thing to bear in mind is that you select the best date to start your status match as discussed above, but there are a few other things to bear in mind too.

• Status match start dates can be set a maximum 14 days into the future.
• If you have been matched to Gold status you cannot reach a higher status level under challenge conditions (i.e flying 18,000 PQM will not elevate you to Platinum Status).
• If you fail to complete the PQM or PQS requirements within the 90 day challenge period your matched MileagePlus Premier status will expire and you will drop down to whatever status you had before
• Only flights marketed and operated by United or United Express will earn PQMs/PQSs that qualify for this promotion – you cannot extend your status by flying on other Star Alliance airlines

Hitting The PQM/PQS Targets

The table below shows what the various fare classes earn when booked through United Airlines.

The percentages relate to the distance traveled so, for example, as a non-stop roundtrip between Los Angles and London is approximately 10,911 miles, this is what a flyer could expect to earn on that trip:

• Discounted Economy Class – 10,911 PQM and 1 PQS
• Full fare Economy Class – 16,367 PQM and 1.5 PQS
• Discounted Business Class – 21,822 PQM and 1.5 PQS
• First Class & full fare Business Class – 32,973 PQM and 1.5 PQS

As you can see, one such trip in discounted Business Class would be more than enough to extend a traveler’s status through 31 January 2020.

Bottom Line

This is a very easy and very quick way to get Star Alliance Gold status and will be of use to two types of traveler – those who just want/need status for an upcoming trip (or set of trips) on Star Alliance carriers and those who are looking to earn Star Alliance Gold status and then keep it thereafter.

Don’t forget that once you’ve applied for the status match you’re excluded from future United status matches for the next 5 years, so be sure you’re really going to make the most of it before you apply.

[HT: AUBT for reminding me of this]