How to reach Star Alliance Gold status with just 3 flights?

Star Alliance Gold status is probably the most coveted multi league status ever. Star Alliance Gold status is equivalent to Miles&More Senator status and offers the holder a number of benefits on flights with Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners. From a German perspective, however, Senator status is difficult to achieve with 100,000 status miles per year. There are countless articles circulating on the Internet about how and with what effort a Star Alliance Gold status can be achieved. An interesting option to achieve Star Alliance Gold status with manageable effort is the combination of an American Express Platinum Card* and 3 flights with Singapore Airlines. Reason enough to try it out and implement it.

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What needs to be done to achieve Star Alliance Gold status?

Requirements: 

The bonus programs of Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer) and the Shangri-La hotel chain (Golden Circle) work together. Those with Shangri-La Golden Circle Jade status can earn KrisFlyer Elite Gold status, equivalent to Star Alliance Gold status, after only three flights with Singapore Airlines. So far so simple. 

However, Golden Circle Jade status requires a stay of 20 nights or 10 stays in Shangri-La hotels, which will be particularly difficult from a European point of view due to a lack of such hotels.  This is where the American Express Platinum Card* comes in. The card offers, among other things, a Golden Circle Jade status, so that this hurdle can be overcome after receiving the card without the necessary number of overnight stays.

Procedure:

Step 1: Apply for an American Express Platinum Card*. The cost for this is 600 euros gross. There have been many reports about the services of the card so we do not want to go into it anymore ( services of the Amex Platinum ).  

Step 2: Register for the KrisFlyer frequent flyer program with Singapore Airlines

Step 3: After receiving the card, register for the Shangri-La Golden Circle Program via American Express.  After receiving the Golden Circle number via Amexco, it must be activated via the Golden Circle website. After that, you have the Jade status. You must also inform Shangri-La that you are a KrisFlyer member.

Step 4: Shangri-La Golden Circle Jade members receive KrisFlyer Elite Silver status thanks to the cooperation of Singapore Airlines. The KrisFlyer and Golden Circle accounts must be linked. Please login to KrisFlyer under “Profiles” > “Partner Programs”. It is important that first name, surname, and date of birth are identical for KrisFlyer and Golden Circle.

Step 5: After linking accounts, you have to register for the status match. ( https://www.shangri-la.com/corporate/golden-circle/online-services/register-infinite-journeys/ ). After a few days, you will receive a confirmation email and in the KrisFlyer app, the Silver status is visible.

Step 6: Complete 3 flights with Singapore Airlines within 4 months. In our case, it was a flight from Frankfurt via Singapore to Hong Kong that brought 4 flight segments.

Step 7: Approximately 1 week after your return you will receive a confirmation email that you have reached KrisFlyer Gold status and the goal to reach Star Alliance Gold status is achieved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Effort, advantages and benefits

The status match can only be used once to get the gold status. The gold status is then valid for one year. After that the regular status requirements of the KrisFlyer program have to be fulfilled. KrisFlyer Gold Members enjoy the following benefits, which apply to all Star Alliance flights:

• Free lounge access to more than 1,000 Star Alliance Gold Lounges worldwide in conjunction with a Star Alliance ticket. A guest may be taken on a Star Alliance flight, provided he or she is also travelling on a Star Alliance flight.
  Additional baggage allowance – 20kg extra or 1 extra piece of baggage depending on airline.
  Priority Checkin – Bypass queues: Check-in at business or first class counters
  Priority Boarding – Boarding with Business and First Class Passengers
  Gold Track: Faster through security control
  Priority Baggage Handling – Baggage lands first on the baggage conveyor belt
  waiting list priority
  standby priority

The following costs apply to Star Alliance Gold status:

American Express Platinum Card*: 600 Euro annual fee ( the subsidies are only valid for the 1st year )

3 flight segments with Singapore Airlines: approx. 800 – 1000 Euro

That’s around 1,400 – 1,600 euros in total.

Usefulness

The Gretchen question par excellence – Why spend more than 1,000 euros to earn Star Alliance Gold status and which target group is the right one?

Everyone has to answer this question for themselves and decide whether the path presented here is the right one. For us, who travels regularly to Asia, it was worth it, especially since we also use the American Express Platinum Card* for Apple Pay.

Conclusion

The presented approach works and is an interesting alternative for Asia travelers.

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