Spotted this on the AusBT website, so full credit to the guys over there.
Seems like a good deal for anyone with a Silver membership (or above) in a non-Skyteam Alliance, including Qantas and Virgin Australia for locals, and American Airlines, Emirates, Singapore and United for those with overseas memberships.
EDIT: This status match is available until 31 December 2015. This means that if you're going to gain a higher level of status later in the year you'll be okay to wait a little longer before applying.
Here's what you get from the status match:
Any Silver-level frequent flyer card from a non-SkyTeam airline gets you Ulisse Club membership in Alitalia MilleMiglia, along with SkyTeam Elite status.
The first rung above entry-level members in both schemes, Alitalia throws in two free business class upgrades on its own flights, along with 25% more points when flying with SkyTeam.
Your SkyTeam Elite status also gives access to the priority queues at check-in and boarding with every SkyTeam airline, an extra 10kg of baggage or one extra piece and more, although not free lounge access.
Gold- and Platinum-grade cards, however, match to Freccia Alata Club and Freccia Alata Plus Club with MilleMiglia and the SkyTeam Elite Plus tier.
That unlocks business class lounge access before any SkyTeam international flight – although not before domestic flights – plus access to all Sky Priority queues, priority baggage handling and the ability to secure an economy seat on already-full SkyTeam flights when booking at least 24 hours before departure.
Here's what you need to do:
- Join Alitalia MilleMiglia for free, then take note of your 'MilleMiglia code' (i.e. membership number).
- Email [email protected] with your first and last name, your MilleMiglia code and photo/scan of your current Silver, Gold or Platinum frequent flyer card of any non-SkyTeam airline.
AusBT also points out an extra little benefit with this status match:
Handy tip: If your current frequent flyer card expires on or before March 31 2016, that's the date when your Alitalia card will expire. But, if your current card expires after March 31 2016, your Alitalia (and SkyTeam) status will be valid through the end of March 2017.
I did this last week, still waiting for it to come through