Get British Airways Bronze equivalent status for $49 by matching virtually any HOTEL status!

We’ve talked a lot about airline status matches recently. Many airlines have become a lot more aggressive in their attempts to poach the best customers of their rivals.

If you have elite status with any airline alliance, there is probably a route out there to get status with any other alliance.

However, what happens if you don’t have elite airline status to start with?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could use your HOTEL elite status to get elite airline status?

And wouldn’t it be even better if you could do this to get some limited status benefits with British Airways?

Now you can, for a period, albeit for a small fee.

You can apply here. But read on first.

Royal Jordanian has been running an on/off status match from other airlines for a while.

It has now extended it to anyone with elite hotel status.

To take part, you must live in the UK or Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey or the UAE.

The application form allows you to select other countries but you will be rejected if you select one which is not listed above.

Royal Jordanian is a BA partner in the oneworld alliance

British Airways will respect your newly minted Royal Jordanian status.

Royal Jordanian is a member of the oneworld alliance, alongside British Airways. If you have Silver Jay status with Royal Jordanian, which this match gets you, you will receive virtually all of the benefits of British Airways Bronze status when you fly with BA:

• free seat selection within seven days of travel

• use of Club World, Club Europe or oneworld equivalent business class check in desks, regardless of your flight class

• priority boarding

The official ba.com page outlining the benefits of Bronze status is here.

Your Royal Jordanian status will also be valid when flying with the other oneworld carriers – Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, American Airlines, Qantas etc. Benefits at oneworld Ruby level vary by airline however – you may not get free seat selection with all carriers, for example.

Which hotel statuses is Royal Jordanian matching?

I have listed the status level you need to get Silver Jay status with Royal Jordanian, which is equivalent to British Airways Bronze:

• Accor (Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver)
• Global Hotel Alliance (Titanium, Platinum, Gold)
• Hilton (Diamond, Gold, Silver)
• Hyatt (Globalist, Explorist, Discoverist)
• IHG (Diamond, Platinum, Gold, Silver)
• Langham (Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond, Topaz)
• Marriott (Ambassador, Titanium, Platinum, Gold, Silver)
• Melia (Platinum, Gold, Silver)
• Preferred Hotels (Titanium, Gold, Silver)
• Radisson (VIP, Premium)
• Shangri-La (Diamond, Gold, Jade)
• Wyndham (Diamond, Platinum, Gold)

You can’t get lounge access via this match

Before I go on, you need to know that Royal Jordanian has different status tiers to British Airways. When I talk about ‘Silver’, you need to note which airline I am discussing.

Royal Club, the Royal Jordanian programme, has three elite levels:

• Platinum Hawk is the same as British Airways Gold

• Gold Sparrow is the same as British Airways Silver

• Silver Jay is the same as British Airways Bronze

Royal Jordanian is not matching hotel status cards to Platinum Hawk or Gold Sparrow status. However high your hotel status, you will only get Silver Jay (BA Bronze equivalent). This gets you free seat selection on BA within seven days of travel.

How long will my Royal Jordanian status last?

12 months.

Do I need to put my Royal Jordanian status in my British Airways bookings to get my benefits?

You will definitely need to put your Royal Jordanian number into future BA bookings to get free seat selection.

You would need to swap the frequent flyer number in your booking at check-in to earn Avios and tier points. You could also do it in the lounge if there was a BA ticket desk.

The easiest way is to use the ‘Manage My Booking’ function of another oneworld airline such as Royal Air Maroc – oddly, you can amend all aspects of a BA booking via other airline sites.

(ba.com has been deliberately hobbled by their IT team to stop you changing the frequent flyer number in a booking, although the call centre can do it. Other oneworld airlines are not so restrictive.)

The bottom line is that you need a boarding pass in your hand at the time of boarding which shows your BAEC number if you want to earn Avios and tier points, instead of Royal Jordanian miles and tier credit.

Frankly, for short haul flights which earn minimal tier points or Avios, you might as well put your Royal Jordanian number in your booking and leave it there. You’re not losing much.

Is there a fee for the status match?

Yes. There is a $49 application fee for Silver Jay status.

You should make a substantial saving on British Airways seat selection, which would be available for free from seven days before travel and for everyone on your booking – not just you.

How do I apply?

You will need to sign up for a Royal Jordanian account before applying for your match. There is a link on the status match site.

The terms state that your match will be processed within five business days.

The match is being processed by a third party, statusmatch.com, so you will see references to them whilst applying. Ensure you read the T&C to be sure that you have the correct status in order to make a match.

There is a special website for the status match which is here.