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

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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.

Alitalia card

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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Category

British Airways and Avios, SkyTeam alliance partners

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

RIccati says:

30 Jun30 June 05:58

Status matches are actually a powerful device to attract business.

For the expense of lounge access a few times year and an occasional odd bag, an airline gets cash business.
Alan says:

30 Jun30 June 06:22

Have given it a go – nice to maintain top-tier with all 3 networks, even if two are by matches 😉

For those that don’t know, MileMiglia is an ‘interesting’ programme – it relaunches every few years (currently it’s on the 2013-2015 edition) and members have a short window to make use of their points before their lost when the new programme launches – takes a lot to make Flying Blue look half-reasonable, but they’ve managed it!
Daleroxxu says:

30 Jun30 June 06:37

I still have until the end of July with the Cathay Pacific gold card that I got free with Amex platinum so have emailed Alitalia looking for a status match from that.

Are there any other airline programs that I have even a slim chance of a status match from? May as well email them all now before my status expires.
- Geoggy says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 07:33
  
  try gulf air falcon flyer and then Etihad guest. Done both of these with Cathay Gold
  - John G says:
    
    30 Jun30 June 08:04
    
    I tried Gulf Air twice recently with VS gold and A3 Gold and both times was informed that they are not currently offering any status matches. This must have changed recently as there are lots of reports of matches on statusmatcher.
- Matt says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 11:50
  
  Turkish Airlines is pretty reliable, I got a 2 year Elite card matched from my Aegean Gold.
James Ward says:

30 Jun30 June 06:55

SkyTeam Elite Plus gives lounge access when flying on a same day international flight or domestic connecting flight. So you wouldn’t get access in the event you’re flying domestically *anywhere* (unlikely you fly purely domestically in Europe) but will get Delta Sky Club lounge access in the U.S. if connecting to or from any international leg.

You’d also be eligible for unlimited complimentary upgrades on DL domestic flights, free access to “preferred” and “Comfort” seats on domestic DL flights and discounted access to “Comfort” seating on DL international flights (but don’t get excited – we’re only talking a bit more legroom and recline, not a different seat).
- James Ward says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 07:01
  
  Actually, scrub that last past – looks like Delta removed Alitalia elites from free upgrade eligibility. Only Air France / KLM and Virgin Atlantic elites are now eligible – and even then, only after all Delta’s own elites’ upgrades have cleared.
Howard says:

30 Jun30 June 07:56

I applied using my Cathay Pacific Gold card which expires in September.

I did eventually use this to get Etihad gold status.
- idrive says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 08:27
  
  it seems you do not need to send the statement, only the card. do you agree?
  - Mazin says:
    
    30 Jun30 June 21:56
    
    True. I sent the card (BA Gold / expiry end Aug15) only and got Alata Plus/Elite Plus within 48hrs. Didn’t get a reply but learnt about it when checked my membership profile.
David says:

30 Jun30 June 08:32

I have Cathay Gold from the Amex Plat offer, and recently leveraged it to gain Etihad Gold through their status match offer. Which of these would you suggest asking Alitalia to match?
- joe says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 17:40
  
  Did that not expire some time ago?
  - David says:
    
    30 Jun30 June 23:22
    
    The CX Gold offer is indeed no longer available for new signups, but the status I obtained is still valid through the end of August, so I’d like to make use of it while I can! Any thoughts on my original question re whether using CX or Etihad is more likely to be successful?
Howard says:

30 Jun30 June 08:33

I never sent statement to Etihad and have not with this status match. I have only sent Cathay Pacific.
- idrive says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 08:40
  
  AH! i did not send it to Etihad i thought a card would not be enough!! 🙁 is it done, finished now?
  - Dave H says:
    
    30 Jun30 June 10:14
    
    I have just had a negative reply from Eithad, stating they have no status match at the moment.
  - YL says:
    
    30 Jun30 June 11:02
    
    I tried to status match with Ethiad with my CX Gold (which was only 2 months left) when they were offering status match, but they never reply.
    
    Looks like I should have try harder…
    - Charlie says:
      
      30 Jun30 June 11:50
      
      It worked for me, although I accidently ignored the email informing me of the status match, and only discovered when logging onto Etihad!
JG says:

30 Jun30 June 15:23

I just sent an e-mail out asking for a match from BA Silver. Let’s see what comes out of it. Anyone try matching with BA Silver?
- Jon says:
  
  30 Jun30 June 15:36
  
  If you google the email address, you’ll see several website explaining the match options.