Alitalia offering a status match (SkyTeam) to British Airways Gold card holders

Alitalia is currently offering a status match to British Airways Executive Club Gold members as well as other top-tier status holders with other airlines.

Full details can be found on the Alitalia website here.

This is, presumably, part of the relaunch of the airline under the pseudo control of Etihad.  Etihad has recently outlined its plans for turning around the struggling carrier and a willingness to match status cards from other airlines – a technique which Etihad Guest has used aggressively – is a way of getting people to try it.

The scheme

The Alitalia frequent flyer scheme is called MilleMiglia.  There are four elite levels which are outlined here.

As a BA Gold, you should expect to be matched to Freccia Alata Plus.  This level is equivalent to SkyTeam Elite Plus which is the equivalent of oneworld Emerald.

Why you should do this even if you never fly Alitalia

Alitalia is now a member of two airline alliances.

The formal membership is with SkyTeam.  Your Freccia Alata Plus card would get you top tier privileges, including lounge access (except on domestic Delta flights in the US, I think), with the following airlines:

• Aeroflot
• AerolineasArgentinas
• AeroMexico
• AirEuropa
• Air France
• Alitalia
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• China Southern
• Czech Airlines
• Delta
• Garuda Indonesia
• Kenya Airways
• KLM
• Korean Air
• MEA
• Saudia
• Tarom
• Vietnam Airlines
• Xiamen Air

Alitalia is also a member of Etihad Airways Partners.  This is not yet finalised, but the eventual plan is that a status holder with any of the following airlines – all of which have received equity investment from Etihad – will have reciprocal privileges with the others.

• Etihad
• Jet Airways
• airberlin
• Air Serbia
• Air Seychelles
• Etihad Regional

Alitalia also has partnerships with GOL, Malaysia and Qantas but I’m not sure if they offer any benefits for Alitalia top tier cardholders.

How do I get a status match?

You need to email:

a) a scan of your British Airways Gold card and

b) a screenshot of your online BA account showing recent activity

to statusmatchmillemiglia@alitalia.com.

Reports to date suggest that they are turning them around fairly quickly but I assume that will not continue if they are swamped.

Most people are being matched until March 2017 although some are only getting March 2016.  There appears to be no logic.

Can I apply if I have a BA Silver card / another Gold card?

You should definitely have a go if you hold a Gold (top-tier) card issued by another airline as long as it is not a member of SkyTeam.

The Flyertalk thread has one person on it who got matched from airberlin Gold, which is a little odd given that Etihad is a major shareholder in both airlines.  If you can read Italian, there is more discussion here.

It is probably also worth a look if you have a British Airways Silver card.  This is because the Alitalia MilleMiglia middle tier, Freccia Alata Club, is ALSO considered to be SkyTeam Elite Plus.  This means that you would get worldwide lounge access with SkyTeam except on US domestic flights with Delta.

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