Via Passageiro de Primeira, Avianca Brazil is offering status matches good through March 2017. The offer for status matches is valid from October 1st (today) through November 30th, 2015. That means you can potentially get 17+ months of Star Alliance status.
According to the website, you can status match from any other airline program – I don’t know if this means you can match from another Star Alliance program, but it’s worth finding out. I have Aegean Star Gold good for 3 more months, but I’m going to try to match from American AAdvantage Executive Platinum just in case. It seems I should get AMIGO Diamond (the highest tier) because I’m matching from American’s highest tier.
The main benefit of Star Alliance status from a foreign carrier comes with Star Alliance Gold status – you get lounge access, even on domestic United Airlines itineraries, as well as priority services (such as priority check-in, extra baggage allowance, and priority security in many places).
The website is mainly in Portuguese, so I gleaned some information from a Google Chrome translation. Even then, much of the website remains in Portuguese, so here are the steps I took in trying for the status match:
Sign up for an Avianca Brazil frequent flyer account
First, sign up for an Avianca Brazil Amigo account. I would recommend opening this link in a browser like Google Chrome which has a built-in translator.
Click Register on the top left (“Cadastre-se” in Portuguese).
You’ll see the registration page – the first thing to do would be to enter your Nationality as “US” so that you don’t have to enter a Brazilian ID number.
From there on, it’s pretty self-explanatory, as you’ll enter your name, passport number, date of birth, e-mail address, and home address. I had to put in a ZIP+3 number (instead of ZIP+4) for my ZIP code, so just entered “-000” as the +3. Make sure to check the box at the bottom stating you agree to the program.
You’ll soon have your Avianca Brazil Amigo number!
E-mail Avianca
After you have your Amigo number (which Google Translate might call your “Friend number”), you can email Avianca at promo.amigo@avianca.com.br
I have my AAdvantage Executive Platinum card, so I took a photo of the front and back and attached that to the e-mail, along with my full name and Amigo number.
Now I just have to wait!
