How to make the equivalences of hotel statuses

Hotel loyalty programmes are struggling to attract the most loyal members of other programmes into their fold. The following example is a good proof.

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Loyalty programs status match

Status match s an offer made by a loyalty program to provide you with status equivalent to that which you already have with a competing loyalty program.

Status matches are a common practice in loyalty programs, especially hotel programs.

Some programs work case-by-case… while others create real acquisition campaigns with dedicated sites.

Become a Best Western Diamond member with a status match.

Here’s an example from Best Western Rewards, who nicely called their status match: “Status Match No Catch“.

status match bw — Status match, Best Western edition

With our Status Match…No Catch^® program, we will match your ELITE status in any other hotel loyalty program, FREE of charge. You’ll begin earning Best Western Rewards^® points at the Elite level instantly, and watch them add up even faster.

The process

I’ll take my case as an example. Thanks to my American Express Platinum card , I am a Gold member of the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Marriott Bonvoyà Benefits

Statusmatcher.com, gave me some pointers on which program I should choose to go to check out Best Western Rewards.

Through this, I found that Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite members received the highest status: Diamond Select.

The procedure is described on the Best Western Rewards website. But there is no need to fill out the form indicated.

So, I just sent an email to StatusMatch@bestwestern.com saying:

My Best Western Rewards membership number
My Name
My address (as indicated in the account)
The competitor loyalty program
My status with the competitor’s loyalty programme

I added a screenshot of my Marriott Bonvoy account proving that I am indeed a Gold Elite Member.

10 minutes later (!!!!), I got an email validating my new status: Diamond Select!

bw diamond select jm — Achieving Best Western Rewards Diamond Select status

Within 10 minutes, I went from the lowest status (Blue) to the highest status (Diamond Select) which normally requires staying a minimum of 50 nights in Best Western hotels during the year!

Diamond Select BW

This status allows you to get 50% bonus points for each stay.

If you have signed up for the Best Western Rewards card and earned 20,000 points, you may be able to redeem some of those points for a hotel night or two!

The goal

Thanks to my American Express Platinum card , I am:

Gold member of the Marriott Bonvoy program
Gold Member of the Hilton Honors Program
Gold member of the Radisson Rewards program

Thanks to various status matches I was able to become:

World of Hyatt Explorist Member (no longer available, but you can “try out” on this page“)
Diamond Select Member of the Best Western Rewards Program
AccorHotels Platinum Member (No longer available, but can be obtained otherwise here)
IHG Platinum Member (No longer available, but some promotions return from time to time)
Choice Hotels PlatinumMember

What is the purpose of this “race” for status? In addition to ensuring that I am always greeted very well in any hotel that is a member of a group, it allows me to achieve the status of another program. And sometimes, it even allows you to climb the ladder faster!