Air France-KLM Flying Blue program offers paid status to American travelers

Flying Blue, Air France-KLM’s loyalty program, is offering a generous online status bonus to elite members of the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage, JetBlue TrueBlue Rewards and United Airlines MileagePlus programs.

Delta Air Lines SkyMiles elite members are excluded from this offer, likely because Delta is an Air France-KLM SkyTeam member.

The following statuses will be associated with Flying Blue Silver (SkyTeam Elite): Alaska MVP and MVP Gold, American Gold, JetBlue Mosaic 1 and 2 and United Premier Silver.

If you hold the following statuses, you can be matched with Flying Blue Gold (SkyTeam Elite Plus): Alaska MVP 75K and 100K; American Platinum, Platinum Pro, Executive Platinum and Concierge Key; JetBlue Mosaic 3 and 4; and United Premier Gold, Premier Platinum, Premier 1K and Global Services.

Note that unlike status match challenges offered by other airlines, U.S. and Mexican residents must pay. It will cost $99 to earn Flying Blue Silver status or $299 to earn Flying Blue Gold status.

What are the benefits of Flying Blue Silver and Gold status?

Status matches are offered from time to time by airlines in an attempt to entice frequent travelers from competing carriers to transfer their business to another airline while giving them a head start on their status goals. elite.

Unfortunately, Flying Blue Platinum status, with its valuable ability to book Air France’s famous La Première first class with miles, is not available to residents of the United States and Mexico with this connecting offer.

Related: 10 Things That Impressed Me About Air France’s Incredible La Première First Class

Flying Blue Silver is the lowest tier of Flying Blue elite status and includes some basic benefits:

• 6 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on tickets issued by Flying Blue
• Free selection of standard seats
• Priority check-in and boarding
• SkyTeam Elite Benefits (the most notable SkyTeam Elite benefit is a free checked bag on all Flying Blue and SkyTeam partner flights)

Flying Blue Gold members have access to Flying Blue Silver benefits as well as:

• 7 Flying Blue miles per euro spent on tickets issued by Flying Blue
• Access to SkyTeam lounges on international flights operated by a Flying Blue or SkyTeam airline (valid for you and one guest)
• Access to partner lounges of airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, Qantas and Air Mauritius
• SkyTeam Elite Plus (benefits like SkyPriority boarding, expedited immigration and more)
• 50% off preferred and Delta Comfort+ seats

Related: The ultimate guide to earning and redeeming with Air France-KLM Flying Blue

We’re big fans of Flying Blue here at TPG, even without elite status, because the program is a transfer partner of all major credit card currencies, making Flying Blue miles easy to earn, and you You can book business class flights to Europe from just 50,000 Flying Blue miles, which is an incredible deal.

To apply for the match you must have a valid Flying Blue account (which can be opened online for free). A decision will be made within three working days and the new status will appear in the member’s account within five working days.

Once matched, Flying Blue status is valid for 12 months. To maintain your status, you must requalify by meeting Flying Blue’s standard qualification levels; there is no shortcut to extended status during the match period.

Keep in mind that while status matches offered by other programs are typically free, U.S. and Mexican residents must pay $99 for Silver status or $299 for Gold status.

Conclusion

This is a generous, if unusual, offer from a strong airline loyalty program. However, requiring members to pay to match their status — when other programs do it for free — may turn off some members. Still, if you have an upcoming trip with Air France-KLM or other SkyTeam member airlines like Delta, Korean Air or China Eastern Airlines, especially international travel, this could be a great time to try the benefits of another loyalty program.

You can apply for Flying Blue status online here.