TAP Portugal offering lucrative status match to Star Alliance Gold

Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal has launched a status match opportunity to elite status members of several popular airline loyalty programmes. Statuses matches are a way for airlines and their associated loyalty programmes to entice prospective customers to shift their spending.

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With this example, TAP Air Portugal will match your existing status to encourage you to fly with it so you can start enjoying status benefits immediately, rather than having to slowly build status by flying a lot. If you meet a certain threshold during the period you hold the matched status, such as flying a certain number of miles or flights with TAP, your matched status will be extended.

Related: What are hotel and airline status matches and how do you get one?

TAP Portugal’s Miles&Go loyalty programme is currently offering to match the following statuses, some of which are popular with British travellers. (Note, too, that there are other programmes TAP will match from. It’s worth checking with the airline for the full list.):

You’ll notice there are no Star Alliance members on the above list. That’s because airlines typically offer matches to members of competing airlines and programmes, not their existing partners.

In order to take advantage of this offer, you will need to:

• Sign up as a member of TAP’s Miles&Go programme;
• Register for the status match opportunity at this link;
• Submit a photo of your existing elite status in the above programmes, which shows your name, loyalty number, status level and expiry date;
• Once this has been completed, you will be informed if you are provisionally approved. You must then either pay for Club TAP Miles&Go (starts at €99 and provides you with bonus Miles&Go miles when travelling) or purchase at least €70 of Miles&Go miles in the programme.

Related: Good value, but not much more: A review of TAP Air Portugal’s A321LR in business class, Porto to Newark

Once you have completed all the above steps, your new Miles&Go elite status will be yours to enjoy within 15 days, and it will be valid for 12 months. If you fly four flights with TAP Portugal and earn 25,000 Status Miles in the programme (i.e. by crediting Star Alliance flights to the programme), your Gold status will be extended by a further 12 months. This is half the normal requalification requirements.

Status matches are usually awarded at no cost, though for this offer, you will have to spend at least €70 for your match to be approved. While there are plenty of benefits to be enjoyed with Star Alliance Gold like priority check-in, luggage and boarding as well as increased mileage earning, lounge access and extra baggage allowance, Star Alliance Silver comes with few benefits. Because of that, a Silver match is unlikely to warrant the minimum €70 cost.

Featured image by Airbus