Qantas & Virgin Australia frequent flyers get free SkyTeam status match
By David Flynn, January 25 2013
LATEST | Air France/KLM has pulled down the shutters on the Flying Blue status match.
Visitors to the status match sign-up page are now being greeted with this message:
The possibility to apply for a Gold Card from Flying Blue is closed for now! This very exclusive offer was valid for a short period only and we are looking forward to welcoming our new Gold card holders onboard on our flights.
UPDATE | Air France/KLM seems to have clamped down on this status match offer.
The 'fine print' at the bottom of the status match signup page now states that the "Flying Blue offer is valid until 28 February, 2013 and is only valid for Danish residents."
The offer was previously listed as valid through to the end of May 2013 and there was no mention of it being restricted to any country.
PREVIOUS | Gold-class frequent flyers with Qantas and Virgin Australia will be keen to sign up for the free instant status match now available through the Flying Blue program of Air France and KLM.
It doesn't matter if you have no plans to fly with Air France/KLM – the reason to grab this golden opportunity is because Air France/KLM is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, so you'll also be clocking up SkyTeam Elite Plus status into the bargain, which means you get a few extra perks when travelling on other airlines belonging to the SkyTeam family.
That roster includes Delta, China Southern, Korean Air and Vietnam Airlines, all of which fly out of Australia.
Other notable partners which may slot into your 2013 travel plans include Aeroflot, Aeroméxico, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Europa, Alitalia and China Eastern.
Your Gold status with Flying Blue will land you the same serve of benefits those airlines provide to their own Elite Plus-grade frequent flyers – such as lounge access, extra checked baggage, priority checkin and boarding plus a 75% miles bonus.
Read: SkyTeam basics for Australian frequent flyers
This promotion applies only to Gold cards – sorry, Silver and below need not apply – and is open to all airlines, so you can also take advantage of this if you hold suitably Gold-plated membership with Air New Zealand Airpoints, British Airways Executive Club, Cathay Pacific's Marco Polo Club, Emirates Skywards, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and so on.
However, if you enjoy higher-than-Gold status such as Qantas or Virgin Australia Platinum, you'll still be eligible for a Flying Blue Gold card.
How to get your SkyTeam Elite Plus status match
Scoring instant SkyTeam Elite Plus status is a simple three-step process:
- Register for a Flying Blue account with either KLM or Air France, and note down your membership number;
- Take a quick snap of your current Gold frequent flyer card with your camera or smartphone, or scan the card onto your computer;
- Head over to the Flying Blue status match signup page, fill out the form and upload the image of your Gold frequent flyer card.
Update: Some readers report problems with the Flying Blue status match signup page because they're using Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser, so if you encounter errors on that page you may need to fire up an alternatiovw browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
Thanks to Gary Leff at the View From The Wing blog for sharing the details of this great deal.
For the latest news for business travellers and frequent flyers, follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
15 Mar 2011
Total posts 19
Great news, have just signed up!
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
A slight note if you're hoping to use this for Delta lounge access — make sure you check the terms and conditions carefully to verify that this is good for what you want, since SkyTeam partner lounge access is only allowed on international flights.
02 Dec 2011
Total posts 47
done here too, cheers
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 May 2012
Total posts 178
I am VA platinum and it seemed to work for me, cant beleive its that simple though, gladly take the offer though.
Thanks for the heads up.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2561
Did you get Gold, then?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 May 2012
Total posts 178
Hi David, Yes seem to have gotten gold from the repsonse page
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Dec 2012
Total posts 20
The page is merely a confirmation that you're now comped to gold but rather an indication that your request has been received pending approval, yes, not a great one, I know.
If you login to your FB account, you will see that it is just Ivory or your current FB status.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Apr 2011
Total posts 21
Sky team's lounge access rules appear to be airline dependent and so are different to OneWorld and Star. To use Delta's lounge with an AF/KLM card you need to have flown internationally on that day. Delta did let me into the lounge with a Virgin card though so if you just want access with Delta then VA status is more useful.
Access at Aerolineas Argentinas was just fine with AF status.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Feb 2011
Total posts 9
I have tried to fill in the form but it keeps telling me I have "not filled in the form correctly". Not sure what I am doing wrong...all fields filled in, FB number correct, file upload (gives a c:\fakepath address). Any hints?
05 Dec 2011
Total posts 7
Im getting the same error message too - please help with any tips guys!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Feb 2011
Total posts 9
I have had success by doing this from my iPhone and adding a photo.
04 Nov 2010
Total posts 670
Success, used my Qantas Gold card and now I have SkyTeam status to match, thanks AusBT!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Jan 2013
Total posts 55
All done. Thanks guys. Used my qf plat
21 Apr 2011
Total posts 42
Registered for an account, uploaded a photo of my QF Gold card, was shown a message saying I'm now FlyingBlue Gold, but can't see that status reflected when I log in to my account :-/
05 Dec 2011
Total posts 7
Problem solved - doesn't seem to work in Internet Explorer (which coincidentally seems to be spotty with Facebook photos too) but upload works fine with FIrefox.
Since IE nearly made me miss out on Sky Team reciprocal status, thats the final straw and I'm going to delete it!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
11 Jun 2012
Total posts 1
Keep getting this message from KLM & Air France when I try to sign up to Sky Blue "We're sorry, an upexpected technical error occured, please try again later"
23 May 2011
Total posts 33
getting the same message. Not sure why.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 780
Thanks
23 Aug 2011
Total posts 65
All good used Chrome.
Air New Zealand - Airpoints
24 Jan 2013
Total posts 30
I signed up as well and it accepted Air NZ GE card and like it says in other posts got the response page which says
"you are now FB gold member "
Your gold card will be sent to you shortly ....but there is no ID on that page so for all intense purposes one is still ivory as noted in other posts so be intersted to see what happens as i am flying CZ to london in a month ...hmmm
23 Aug 2011
Total posts 65
I am booked on KQ ACC/NBO/EBB/NBO/JNB on the 7th Feb so hope it is processed soon as the lounge would be nice as I am travelling Y.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
29 Aug 2012
Total posts 23
Similar issues. All gone through etc. etc. but there's nothing other than that nice message to indicate that I'm gold...and logging into the account on the Air France site shows that I'm a mere ivory
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
06 Dec 2012
Total posts 170
Done....Thanks for the heads up AUSTBT kudos!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
24 Jan 2013
Total posts 6
It's a shame they don't do a silver-for-silver status match!
Air New Zealand - Airpoints
24 Jan 2013
Total posts 30
Hmm still shows ivory. My question is this for real eg we receive notification we are gold but no recognition on web site. What r we supposed to believe.
25 Sep 2011
Total posts 16
Signed up and received the same message on screen as others 'congratulations you are now a gold FB member' however I did notice before I signed up that the small print says
'Flying Blue offer is valid until 28 February, 2013 and is only valid for Danish residents'
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2561
Hi Jules - yeah, seems like the offer was swamped and it set alarm bells ringing! The Feb 28 expiry date is new (used to be May 30) and far as I know there was previously no mention of 'Danish residents only'. We're updated the top of the story to reflect this change.
Air New Zealand - Airpoints
24 Jan 2013
Total posts 30
just had email confirming my welcome into the program >>>>>as ivory , too good to be true , perhaps the gold card will come in the mail!!!!
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
27 Jan 2013
Total posts 1
Tried signing up using my VA Platinum - didn't work.
25 May 2012
Total posts 1
I just tried to sign up and it states that the offer is closed for now.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
06 Dec 2012
Total posts 170
I emailed Flying Blue, explaining that I applied for the Status match and received their "Congratulations Welcome to Gold" message after scanning my Velocity Gold card and attaching it. I also explained that I applied before the date change from May to February and the addition of the Danish Only residents caveat. I enquired if upon reviewing the applications they received would they honour the applications received before the changes were made? I received this response:
"Thankyou very much for your email dated 1st Feb......you would like to apply to a status match campaign......This offer is subject to specific conditions that have not been met..... we regret to inform you...etc"
I take from this response they will not be honouring any applications received from Qantas or Virgin FF's. The response seemed to read that they took my email as the application and as I wasn't a SkyTeam alliance Gold member of any descritipion didn't care that I applied through the status match pager. So I wouldn't get any hopes up!
04 Sep 2012
Total posts 72
I sent an email asking about the status of my Gold account and Flying Blue responded as follows. I'll call them and argue the point that it wasn't specified in the original offer.
Thank you very much for your message dated February 13th 2013. You informed that you wish to upgrade your tier level with Flying Blue.
Unfortunately we were unable to find any promotions corresponding to your request.
Status matching campaign has been finished and this offer was only for resident in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Should you have any queries, https://www.airfrance.complease contact us by telephone at 8223 9835 from Australia or on website www.airfrance.com and www.klm.com.
We thank you for your continued loyalty to the Flying Blue programme.
Yours sincerely,
Your Flying Blue team
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
06 Dec 2012
Total posts 170
I have read on a few FF sites that people have been hitting the Facebook pages, of particularly KLM as they seem more receptive, and it seems as though they might honour the matches that occurred before they identified there was an error with the campaign. Apparently the offer was only supposed to be Scandinavian residents and should not have been open to the rest of the world.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
06 Dec 2012
Total posts 170
Got a response from Air France through Facebook on behalf of Flying Blue and they said they would honour the match!
04 Sep 2012
Total posts 72
Hi SaltyJ,
Thanks for your tip. I got Gold as well, through Customer Service in Australia, quoting the FaceBook approval in the online forums.
Virgin Blue - Velocity Rewards
12 May 2011
Total posts 31
I can confirm that my match was honoured also. Thanks to AF/KLM. Mine should get plenty of use.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 May 2012
Total posts 178
I can confirm that I also have gotten gold status come through. Checked my account yesterday and can see it. I was matched from VA platinum. Will be useful to have if using any skyteam airlines.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
06 May 2012
Total posts 178
also just to addmy status match seems to be until 2014
Air New Zealand - Airpoints
24 Jan 2013
Total posts 30
confirm they agreed via facebook to my status match as well. very polite they were , might just take a flight now!
19 Feb 2011
Total posts 18
I received email confirmation today of the match, and my FB account has been updated to Gold.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
05 Jan 2012
Total posts 335
Many who signed up for this straight away seem to have their Gold status as of last week. Seemed to be something that attracted far more than expected for FlyingBlue! Happy as!
09 Nov 2011
Total posts 10
Just got my status match from VA Platinum today, without needing to follow up at all. My registered address was in Canada ... go figure! Baggage allowance will be useful with Delta :)
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Qantas & Virgin Australia frequent flyers get free SkyTeam status match