Royal Jordanian, a oneworld member airline, has a lucrative status match opportunity, which could be a great way to get oneworld Sapphire benefits.
Here’s what’s exciting — while this promotion has been around for a long time, it’s finally open to those in the United States. This is an easy way to get American Flagship Lounge access on domestic oneworld itineraries, for a very reasonable fee of $149. If you fly American with any frequency and are eligible, taking advantage of this is an obvious decision.
The website statusmatch.com is partnering with Royal Jordanian’s Royal Club program to offer a status match promotion. Royal Jordanian is a oneworld member, and this could be valuable even if you don’t typically fly with the airline. A few basics to be aware of, to start:
- For airline status matches, Royal Jordanian is matching to Silver Jay status (oneworld Ruby) at a cost of $49, or to Gold Sparrow status (oneworld Sapphire) at a cost of $149
- For hotel status matches, Royal Jordanian is matching to Silver Jay status (oneworld Ruby) at a cost of $49, and hotel status matches aren’t available to Gold Sparrow status
- The status match request should take just a minute to complete, though it can take up to five business days for the request to be approved
- There’s no published end date for this promotion, though it can be pulled at any time
- Matched status is valid for a period of 12 months from when the match is approved
- This promotion is only valid for those who reside in the following countries (and you must have ID documents, like a passport or driver’s license): Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, Oman, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, UAE, UK, and USA
Which status is Royal Jordanian matching?
Royal Jordanian is matching status from airlines and hotels, and you can find a chart with how status maps over here. Specifically, Royal Jordanian is matching the following airline status:
- Air Canada – Aeroplan
- Air Europa – SUMA
- Air France – Flying Blue
- Delta – SkyMiles
- EgyptAir – Plus
- El Al – Matmid
- Emirates – Skywards
- Etihad – Guest
- Frontier – Frontier Miles
- Gulf Air – Falcon Flyer
- JetBlue – TrueBlue
- Kuwait Airways – Oasis Club
- Lufthansa – Miles & More
- Middle East Airlines – Cedar Miles
- Oman Air – Sindbad
- Saudia – Alfursan
- Scandinavian Airlines – EuroBonus
- Southwest – Rapid Rewards
- Spirit – Free Spirit
- TAP Air Portugal – Miles&Go
- Turkish Airlines – Miles&Smiles
- United – MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic – Flying Club
- WestJet – WestJet Rewards
As you can see, this includes many non-oneworld airlines, in particular airlines in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. I’m not sure I understand the logic of Royal Jordanian matching Frontier or Spirit status, not that I’m complaining…
On top of that, Royal Jordanian is also matching the following hotel status (but only to Silver Jay, and not to Gold Sparrow):
- Accor – ALL
- GHA – Discovery
- Hilton – Honors
- Hyatt – World of Hyatt
- IHG – One Rewards
- Langham Hotels – Brilliant
- Marriott – Bonvoy
- Melia – Melia Rewards
- Preferred Hotel Group – Prefer Hotel Rewards
- Radisson – Radisson Rewards
- Shangri-La – Golden Circle
- Wyndham – Wyndham Rewards
Why is this status match opportunity useful?
Obviously this promotion could be useful if you’re someone who has a lot of travel on Royal Jordanian coming up. Beyond that, though, the main reason to consider this promotion is because of the value of oneworld Sapphire status. This status offers perks like priority boarding, priority check-in, and extra baggage allowance, on all oneworld airlines.
If you have oneworld Sapphire status with a non-US frequent flyer program, you could even access American Admirals Clubs or American Flagship Lounges whenever traveling on a oneworld airline, even if you’re traveling domestically.
American AAdvantage and Alaska Mileage Plan elite members only get lounge access on select international itineraries, while oneworld Sapphire members with foreign airlines get lounge access even on entirely domestic itineraries. Getting access to American’s premium lounges even when traveling domestically is awesome.
If you’re an American flyer and are eligible, taking advantage of this opportunity is an absolute no brainer, as it’s one of the best deals you’ll get on premium lounge access.
Bottom line
There’s a status match promotion for Royal Jordanian Royal Club status, which can earn you oneworld Sapphire perks. There’s an application fee, but that’s not a lot at all when you consider the potential value of this promotion.
If you’re a oneworld flyer and are eligible, I’d highly recommend taking advantage of this. While this promotion has been around for some time, what’s exciting is that it’s now open to those in the United States, with more airline elite tiers being matched as well. Pathways to oneworld Sapphire don’t get much easier than this.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this oneworld status match opportunity?