Kenya Airways Will Match Accor Gold To Top-Tier Platinum — Easy SkyTeam Elite Plus From Bilt For $299

Kenya Airways Status Match (Up To Top Tier Elite) Bilt Gold and Platinum members who took advantage of the August 1 Accor status match have another way to leverage that hotel status. Kenya Airways will now match Accor Gold, Platinum or Diamond directly to its top tier Asante Platinum status. The match costs $299 and is valid for 12 months. It comes with SkyTeam Elite Plus status, including lounge access on international SkyTeam trips, SkyPriority, additional baggage and priority baggage delivery. No Kenya Airways flight is required. How The Kenya Airways Match Works Kenya Airways has operated a remarkably broad paid status match since last year. Airline and hotel elites can buy Asante Silver, Gold or Platinum status, while even many travel credit cards qualify for Silver. Hotel status has ordinarily topped out at Asante Gold. The new exception is that Accor Gold, Platinum and Diamond members may apply directly for Asante Platinum. For people who used Bilt’s Rent Day offer: Bilt Gold members who transferred 5,000 points received Accor Gold for 12 months. Bilt Platinum members who transferred 15,000 points received Accor Platinum through December 31, 2027. Bilt General and Silver members received Accor Silver, which only qualifies for Asante Silver. Both Bilt Gold and Platinum members can therefore apply for Kenya Airways Platinum. Here’s What’s New The underlying Kenya Airways match is not new. I wrote about it last year, and Accor Gold, Platinum and Diamond members already qualified for Asante Gold. What is new is that Accor Gold, Platinum and Diamond now receive Kenya Airways’ top Platinum tier instead of Gold. That improves Kenya Airways-specific benefits, but it does not change the member’s status within SkyTeam. Both Gold and Platinum are SkyTeam Elite Plus. Kenya Airways Platinum includes: 100% bonus points on Kenya Airways flights Complimentary seat selection at booking Kenya Airways lounge access with one guest SkyPriority One additional checked bag A 24/7 Platinum customer-service line Asante Gold receives a 75% points bonus and free seat selection beginning 72 hours before departure. Its alliance-wide benefits are otherwise the same. Kenya Airways permits only one status match per person and will not upgrade a previous match because the member later acquired a better qualifying status. Someone who already bought Asante Gold cannot now rematch Accor status to obtain Platinum. The Value Of SkyTeam Elite Plus The key benefit is SkyTeam Elite Plus. That provides: Priority check-in, bag drop and boarding Priority security and immigration where offered Priority transfer desks Priority baggage handling Preferred seating where offered One additional bag, or an additional 20kg under weight-based baggage rules Business class lounge access with one guest on eligible international SkyTeam itineraries That works when flying Delta, Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air, SAS, Aeromexico and most other participating SkyTeam carriers, regardless of cabin. This is not Delta elite status. It does not provide complimentary Delta upgrades or automatic Comfort+ seating. But it does provide access to exit rows. I use my Flying Blue Gold status (also from Bilt) for priority check-in (useful with bags), free checked bags, priority boarding (for overhead bin space) and free exit row seats. You need to be a regular Delta flyer, but not frequent enough to earn your own equivalent status. If you’re an occasional international coach flyer that adds lounge access. Status is valid for 12 months from approval, so ordinarily I would apply shortly before the first trip where I expected to use it. However, Kenya Airways has not published an end date for the Accor-to-Platinum exception and can remove it at any time. There’s a strong play here, but it’s not a purely speculative one given the cost. That said, if you’re a Bilt Platinum I think the Flying Blue Gold with 10,000 points transferred is probably a better opportunity. That’s SkyTeam Elite Plus, 10,000 points is less than $300, and you still have the points to spend. Topics on this page