Status match Fiji Airways

[L_MareeB]

With Fiji Airways announced as becoming a OW airline in April, has anyone tried getting a VA status match with them?

 

[henrus]

Fiji Airways when they become a full oneworld member will adopt the American Airlines frequent flyer program so you’d be best looking to get a status match with AA but they currently only offer status challenges with other US based airlines.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/aadvantage-status/aadvantage-status-match.jsp

The current Fiji Airways Tabua club which was a hybrid loyalty program/lounge membership will be phased out and as such they aren’t accepting any new registrations and those on a current plan can only renew month by month.

Truth be told if you’re looking for a status match for a one off FJ trip then they probably won’t grant it anyway but if you regularly fly between Australia and Nadi then it might be worth looking at other oneworld programs.

 

[L_MareeB]

Fiji Airways when they become a full oneworld member will adopt the American Airlines frequent flyer program so you’d be best looking to get a status match with AA but they currently only offer status challenges with other US based airlines.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/aadvantage-status/aadvantage-status-match.jsp

The current Fiji Airways Tabua club which was a hybrid loyalty program/lounge membership will be phased out and as such they aren’t accepting any new registrations and those on a current plan can only renew month by month.

Truth be told if you’re looking for a status match for a one off FJ trip then they probably won’t grant it anyway but if you regularly fly between Australia and Nadi then it might be worth looking at other oneworld programs.

Thank you! That’s very insightful. I didn’t fully understand the implications of the whole AA model (TLDR, TBH). So, I appreciate this insight! I was thinking of it more as a shortcut to OW status, but thanks for explaining the nuances. Appreciate it.

 

[justinbrett]

Fiji Airways when they become a full oneworld member will adopt the American Airlines frequent flyer program so you’d be best looking to get a status match with AA but they currently only offer status challenges with other US based airlines.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/aadvantage-status/aadvantage-status-match.jsp

The current Fiji Airways Tabua club which was a hybrid loyalty program/lounge membership will be phased out and as such they aren’t accepting any new registrations and those on a current plan can only renew month by month.

Truth be told if you’re looking for a status match for a one off FJ trip then they probably won’t grant it anyway but if you regularly fly between Australia and Nadi then it might be worth looking at other oneworld programs.

I wouldn’t be surprised, in time, if FJ will launch its own program in the coming years using Aadvtange currency and IT - but giving it more control to tailor to local pax. Similar to IAG where Avíos is standard but the airlines do status differently.

I can’t imagine many Fiji / South Pacific based pax will be able to attain AA status especially when denominated in USD and lack of US credit cards. Though I guess they can always join QFF, not hard to get the four sectors.

 

[henrus]

I can’t imagine many Fiji / South Pacific based pax will be able to attain AA status especially when denominated in USD and lack of US credit cards.

It’s possible this is by design. In the oneworld program it’s the frequent flyer program that pays for the lounge access, so a QF WP accessing a CX lounge prior to a CX flight, QF pays.

Now if FJ did launch a program and made it easy to obtain OW status (such as via a status match) this could cost them a bit so it’s probably been their decision to let AA bare the cost and pay a much smaller amount for awarding miles to AA.

Let’s pretend that FJ did launch their own program in the oneworld they’d also be unlikely to offer status matches based on the above given they’d have a flood of VA status holders who’d likely apply. Those new FJ status holders matched from VA would also be likely to use QF lounges meaning FJ would have to fork out to QF if one of their own program members used a QF lounge.

Other perks such as priority boarding/check in are not really the issue here as they’re already being offered via the oneworld connect program and don’t really cost anything to offer.

 

[justinbrett]

It’s possible this is by design. In the oneworld program it’s the frequent flyer program that pays for the lounge access, so a QF WP accessing a CX lounge prior to a CX flight, QF pays.

Now if FJ did launch a program and made it easy to obtain OW status (such as via a status match) this could cost them a bit so it’s probably been their decision to let AA bare the cost and pay a much smaller amount for awarding miles to AA.

Let’s pretend that FJ did launch their own program in the oneworld they’d also be unlikely to offer status matches based on the above given they’d have a flood of VA status holders who’d likely apply. Those new FJ status holders matched from VA would also be likely to use QF lounges meaning FJ would have to fork out to QF if one of their own program members used a QF lounge.

Other perks such as priority boarding/check in are not really the issue here as they’re already being offered via the oneworld connect program and don’t really cost anything to offer.

I’ve seen that reported that the status airline pays for lounge access in oneworld but I don’t think that’s necessarily true, as confirmed in this post:

BA Executive Club change to spend-based status earning

There’s no obligation for any airline to do status matches, many large airlines don’t do them at all.

Remember until recently, you couldn’t join BAEC if you were an Australian resident. FJ could do the same, or even restrict it to Pacific Island residents. Then there’s a joining fee they can add.