Your Amex Platinum can get you two years of SkyTeam Elite Plus status for around £200
- Sam
- 28 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Stay with me on this one, because it'll be worth it.
Kenya Airways have a long-standing status match programme where you can show them your status with another airline/hotel, pay a fee, and they'll give you an equivalent status with themselves.
What's changed is that they have temporarily boosted the match you will get from Accor Gold, Platinum, and Diamond to Asante Rewards Platinum Elite Plus (side note, I love this name. It's named as if David Brent was tasked with naming a loyalty tier and he just stacked fancy-sounding words atop each other).
Okay, why should you care? Because if you have an Amex Platinum, Accor Gold was added as a perk to your Platinum card last month, meaning you can match your newly acquired Accor Gold to Kenya Airways, essentially buying you lounge access, fast-track security etc on Air France, KLM, Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air and a dozen more, in economy upwards, with a companion, for a minimum of two years, not just one!
And breathe...
That's very clearly an introduction, so lets go through it for you step by step.
Step one: get Accor Gold from your Amex Platinum
Accor is the French hotel group behind Ibis, Novotel, Mercure, Pullman and Sofitel, among others. Its programme is called ALL, and Gold is the mid tier.
As mentioned, Amex added Accor Gold as a Platinum card benefit in July, making it one of five free hotel statuses you get with this card. You claim it through your Amex benefits page, and it costs nothing on top of the card fee.
Step two: match that Accor Gold to Kenya Airways
To briefly explain, a status match is where one programme gives you elite status on the strength of status you already hold elsewhere as a form of bribery as a "high-value customer". You are adding rather than switching, so your Accor Gold carries on as normal. If you want more information, Helena has written a guide to status matching.
All hotel status used to cap out at Asante Gold, but from 27 July, Accor members holding Gold, Platinum or Diamond can match straight to Asante Platinum, the top tier.
The fee is $299, around £200, paid once.
Apply on the Kenya Airways status match page. You will need to create an Asante Rewards account, and have proof of your Accor Gold status (a screenshot will suffice). You'll find out if you're successful within three working days, and if you are unsuccessful, your fee will be refunded.
What SkyTeam Elite Plus gets you
Asante Platinum is SkyTeam Elite Plus, the highest of the alliance's status levels.
SkyTeam has 18 member airlines: Air France, KLM, Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air, Aeroméxico, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Europa, China Airlines, China Eastern, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya Airways, Middle East Airlines, SAS, Saudia, TAROM, Vietnam Airlines and Xiamen Air. (Benefits can vary between them, so check what you get here.)
Lounge access is the perk most of you will care about, as you will get lounge access when you are on an international flight operated by a member airline, regardless of the cabin you are in. You can bring one guest, who has to be on the same flight as you.
You also get an extra checked bag and SkyPriority, which means priority check-in, fast-track security, priority boarding and baggage delivery.
The one to know about before you pay is Virgin Atlantic, which is covered below.
Why you'll get two years, not one
Your matched Platinum Elite Plus status runs for 12 months, after which if you've not requalified from enough flying (this will be 99% of you), then you'll lose your status.
But you don't drop all the way down, instead this clause will kick in, "elite members who fail to requalify are downgraded, but not more than one level at a time." Meaning that you will drop down one tier, instead of to the bottom. Why does this matter?
Kenya's tiers are Ruby, Silver, Gold, Platinum. Silver is SkyTeam Elite. But Gold and Platinum are both Elite Plus. So match to Platinum, fail to requalify, and you'll fall to Gold after a year, and as Gold is also SkyTeam Elite Plus, you will keep your lounge access!
The Virgin Heathrow Clubhouse is not included
This is worth being clear about, because this is the lounge most of you want.
The Heathrow Clubhouse admits Upper Class passengers, Flying Club Gold members on Virgin or Delta international flights, Delta One passengers, and Delta Platinum, Delta Diamond or Flying Blue Platinum members travelling in Premium.
SkyTeam Elite Plus from other airlines is not included. What you get instead at T3 is access to the No1 Lounge, which is fine, but it's not quite the Clubhouse.
Virgin Clubhouses around the world though do admit SkyTeam Elite Plus members.
I need to mention the price quickly
As said throughout, matching from hotel status costs $299 for Gold or Platinum.
But matching from airline status to Gold or Platinum is cheaper at only $175, about £130. So check what you already hold:
British Airways Club Gold, Gold Guest List or Premier will also get you Asante Platinum. Same two year outcome, but £90 less.
British Airways Club Silver gets you Asante Gold, so one year of Elite Plus and then that will drop to Silver. The Accor route is better if you have it.
British Airways Club Bronze reaches Asante Silver only, which is not worth doing.
Verdict: the best value status buy I have seen this year
If you're like me, you'll have earned Accor Gold simply for holding an Amex Platinum. Being able to match that free status into two years of lounge access for you and a companion, an extra bag each way, and SkyPriority through the airport, all for around £200, makes this a no-brainer in my opinion.
And who knows which airline you might be able to match this status too in the future.
Sam
Points Well Made is a passion project from Sam and Helena. If you've enjoyed this and want to help us keep the lights on, please consider buying us a Ko-fi or subscribing monthly. You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok for more of the same. Thanks for reading.
