Kenya Airways Asante Rewards: Status Match to SkyTeam Elite Plus (Valid for 12 Months)

The African SkyTeam member, Kenya Airways, has been relying on Air France & KLM dominated Flying Blue as its frequent flyer program for years. This collaboration ended this summer, and Kenya Airways has now introduced its own program called Asante Rewards.

The exciting part is that they are offering an open Status Match at the launch. Participants can secure a SkyTeam Elite (Plus) status with validity until the end of August 2024. This comes with benefits like alliance-wide lounge access, additional baggage allowance on every flight, and much more.

A reference to the status match promotion can be found in the FAQs on the Kenya Airways website. There are numerous reports of successful status matches, not only from Flying Blue. We tried it ourselves, and a United Premier 1K status was matched to Platinum status at Asante within a few hours.

Confirmed Matches

The following matches have been confirmed so far:

• Aegean Miles+Bonus Gold → Asante Rewards Gold
• Air Canada Aeroplan 50K → Asante Rewards Gold
• British Airways Executive Club Silver → Asante Rewards Gold
• Finnair Plus Gold → Asante Rewards Gold
• Finnair Plus Platinum → Asante Rewards Platinum
• Iberia Plus Platinum → Asante Rewards Platinum (Source)
• Miles&More Senator → Asante Rewards Gold
• Miles&More HON Circle Member → Asante Rewards Platinum
• Qatar Privilege Club Gold → Asante Rewards Gold
• Qatar Privilege Club Platinum → Asante Rewards Platinum
• SAS Eurobonus Gold → Asante Rewards Gold
• SAS Eurobonus Diamond → Asante Rewards Platinum
• Singapore KrisFlyer Silber → Asante Rewards Silber
• TAP Miles + Bonus Gold → Asante Rewards Gold
• United Premier 1K → Asante Rewards Platinum
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Gold → Asante Rewards Gold (Source)
• Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Elite Plus → Asante Rewards Platinum
• United Premier 1K → Asante Rewards Platinum
• United Premier Platinum → Asante Rewards Platinum

If you have participated, please feel free to leave a comment with your experiences.

How to Proceed

The process is straightforward. Here’s a brief description of each step:

1. Registration with Asante Rewards

First, you need an account with Asante Rewards. There are two options on the website: a Quick Registration with just your name, email address, and password, or a Full Registration where more information is requested.

I opted for Full Registration and included my address directly, as Kenya Airways might occasionally require a passport copy. However, you can certainly try it without this information. Subsequently, you will be sent the frequent flyer number by email. You’ll need this for the next step.

2. Email to Asante Rewards

While there isn’t a direct form for the Status Match, you can easily request it via email, sending asante@kenya-airways.com the following information:

• Photo or screenshot of your existing frequent flyer card
• Your frequent flyer number with Asante Rewards (as mentioned above)
• One or two sentences stating your interest in using the Status Match (and possibly why you want to use it)

3. Wait – and Enjoy the Benefits

You should receive a response stating that the Status Match was successful within a few hours to days. For me, it took about 2 hours for the response to arrive. The status was then immediately updated and is valid until August 2024:

As for using the benefits, there aren’t many reports yet. On Flyertalk, it’s reported that Delta has not yet accepted the frequent flyer number.

Unfortunately, there seems to be no way to retrieve a digital membership card (not even in the app). So, it might take a while until the benefits can be truly utilized.

Benefits

There are three main status levels in Asante Rewards. Even a match to Silver could be worthwhile, as it offers benefits like free baggage on all SkyTeam flights.

Here’s an overview of the key benefits:

Silver

• SkyTeam Elite status – with the following benefits on all SkyTeam flights:
  • 1 additional piece of baggage (usually 23 kg), even in the Light fare
• Further benefits for flights with Kenya Airways:
  • Dedicated hotline
  • 50% more miles (probably only with Kenya Airways)
  • Complimentary seat selection 24h before departure (Preferred Seats)
• Miles do not expire

Gold

• SkyTeam Elite Plus status – with the following benefits on all SkyTeam flights:
  • Lounge access including 1 companion (except for domestic flights)
  • Sky Priority: Preferred check-in, security, boarding, and baggage handling (where available)
  • Complimentary seat selection (usually excluding seats with extra legroom)
  • Higher priority on waiting lists
• Further benefits for flights with Kenya Airways:
  • Dedicated hotline
  • Complimentary seat selection 72h before departure (Preferred Seats)
  • 75% more miles (probably only with Kenya Airways)
• Miles do not expire

Platinum

• SkyTeam Elite Plus status (as in Gold)
• Further benefits for flights with Kenya Airways:
  • All benefits of Gold status
  • Immediate complimentary seat selection upon booking (Preferred Seats)
  • 100% more miles (probably only with Kenya Airways)
• Miles do not expire

Sources: Vielfliegertreff and Flyertalk

Cover Picture: © Kenya Airways Asante