If I Status Match to United Will I Lose My AA Status?

June 08, 2014

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3 min read

If I Status Match to United Will I Lose My AA Status?

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This past week, TPG reader Ben sent me a message via Twitter:

"‪@thepointsguy if I do a status match (from AA to UA), does that mean I lose my status on the airline I'm currently with?"

Airlines are very competitive these days, especially when it comes to getting top tier elite fliers. If you ever want to switch loyalty from one airline to another, they know you don’t want to start from the bottom once you've already earned status in one program. To help frequent fliers out, many airlines offer status matches and challenges, which I’ve written about before (see related links below).

Attaining elite status the old fashion way can be hard - status matches help you get there faster. — Attaining elite status the old fashioned way can be hard - status matches help you get there faster.

If this is something you're interested in doing, July is the best time to go for a status match because when you attain the status, it will be good for over a year and a half - usually until February of the year after next. So if you were to status match this July, you would have that status until February, 2016.

The answer to Ben’s question above is no. If you status match, you won’t lose your original status, because the airline you’re currently with has no idea that you’re going for the match. The whole idea is that the competing airline is trying to poach you from your current one. You'll lose your status when the time comes if you don’t maintain it, but if you really do switch all your business elsewhere, you can still go back to the original airline and leverage that elite status until it expires.

You will keep your current status with AA while status matching on United.

Again, the airlines don’t really know when you're status matching back and forth, so whenever you do it, you generally will retain the status that you currently have.

Let me know if you have any other questions by messaging me on Facebook, tweeting me @ThePointsGuy, or emailing me at info@thepointsguy.com.

Related Posts:
Current Airline Elite Status Match and Status Challenge Information
Maximize Monday: Airline and Hotel Elite Status Matches and Challenges
Airline Status Match and Challenge Information
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