Malaysia Airlines status match – buy Skyteam and oneworld status?

Today’s topic is a status match, along with a related loyalty trick. Realistically, most readers probably won’t have a chance to use it, but it’s an interesting one to know about.

The airline in question is Malaysia Airlines:

• Open only to elite members of Air India and Garuda Indonesia
• Malaysian nationals are not eligible
• Eligible members can match to Malaysia Airlines Silver, Gold or Platinum
• Match fees are $89, $199 and $349, respectively
• Matched status is valid for 12 months

Overall, it’s not the most exciting offer. It’s a paid status match rather than a complimentary one, and it’s restricted to just two airlines, so it’s clearly aimed at attracting frequent flyers from India and Indonesia.

The reason it’s worth mentioning, however, is that Garuda Indonesia happens to sell its Gold status.

The programme is called Gold Privilege. Membership costs $399 for the first year, with renewals at $299 (or slightly less if paid in Indonesian rupiah). Benefits include:

• Garuda Indonesia Gold status (equivalent to SkyTeam Elite)
• Five business lounge passes
• 10% discount on award ticket redemptions
• Travel insurance

The best part? There’s no need to requalify through flying. Simply renew your membership each year by paying the fee.

As a SkyTeam Elite member, you’ll enjoy alliance-wide benefits on airlines such as Air France, KLM, Delta and China Eastern, including priority check-in, priority boarding, additional checked baggage allowance and preferred seating benefits.

So, in theory, spending under $600 could potentially get you both SkyTeam Elite status and oneworld Sapphire status.

That said, this is more of an interesting thought experiment than a recommendation. The cost is fairly substantial, and more importantly, there’s no confirmation that a purchased Garuda Gold membership will actually be eligible for the Malaysia Airlines status match. Until that’s clarified, I’d be inclined to watch from the sidelines.