Update: Kenya Airways Asante Rewards Status Match (SkyTeam Elite Plus) Now Open For Most Competing Programs
Last month we wrote about Kenya Airways’ new Asante Rewards program and the status match they had for Air France Flying Blue members, but now they seem to accept members of other programs as well.
Kenya Airways, which had used Air France – KLM’s Flying Blue frequent flier program for years, launched its own Asante in mid-June (read more here and here).
As it has become quite customary over the years, programs that switch loyalty schemes either due to a change of alliance or simply implementing a new scheme, offer their previous customers a status match to move 1:1 into the new benefits portfolio.
You can find John’s article about the Air France status match here:
Kenya Airways Asante Status Match For Air France – KLM Flying Blue Members
Now several travel blogs, such as Travel Dealz and Reisetopia in Germany, are reporting that readers were able to match other programs to Kenya Airways Asante as well, independent from the Air France Match.
This Flyertalk thread also confirms various matches Kenya Airways has approved to new members.
Asante Rewards is part of SkyTeam now, but just like with ITA Airways Volare, many SkyTeam Airlines don’t even recognize the SkyTeam membership of Kenya Airways in order to confer benefits.
I have not the slightest idea what’s going on with SkyTeam on these ongoing issues of not having new members recognized alliance wide. There seems to be absolutely no urgency on the part of SkyTeam to take of this. I’m now in the loyalty game for a good 25 years and never encountered any of this with Star Alliance or oneWorld.
If you want to roll the dice and still go for it, according to these reports, the status match is good for 12 months (application month +1), and you follow these steps:
- Sign Up for Kenya Airways Asante Rewards
- Send an Email to asante@kenya-airways.com containing your account number, FFP card/screenshot to match, and obviously, a quick few words about what you want to accomplish (status match)
- Wait for a reply which seems to come rather fast
Once approved you can keep it in reserve and see if there is anything you can do with it. Many moons ago I flew a lot of Korean Air itineraries in Economy issued by GOL and then use a SkyTeam status (Alitalia) to get Elite+ benefits. But Alitalia was recognized throughout SkyTeam and Kenya Airways/ITA Volare isn’t so there’s already headache on the horizon.
Conclusion
Whether it makes sense for you to initiate a match to the Asante program depends on your plan for SkyTeam flights. Benefits are one thing but then you also have to consider if you’re actually able to redeem the miles at some point. If most of your elite qualifying flying has been on Kenya Airways and you live in Kenya or visit there frequently, it might be a good solution.
It’s still unclear how easy it is to earn and use miles on Kenya Airways and its SkyTeam partners compared to Flying Blue or other programs. The same goes for application of elite benefits despite the status being officially Skyteam Elite/Elite Plus.
