Westjet and Air Canada have taken a bit of a beating lately in the post pandemic return to travel era. As a result of frequent flight cancellations, and reductions of service in Eastern Canada, we are now seeing Westjet return to the market place with an effort to attract some of Canada’s most frequent fliers. Their latest promotion is by offering a status match and challenge to select Canadian frequent fliers.

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Westjet (again) Offering Status Match and Challenge to Westjet Rewards Silver, Gold and Platinum for Air Canada and Porter Elites.

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Westjet Airways has announced a spring promotion that allows for a status match and challenge for its Westjet Rewards program. This is similar to the fall 2022 offer, with the exception that it is no longer being made available to British Airways Executive Club elites.

The Essentials of the Promotion:

Status Match to Westjet Silver / Gold / Platinum for rest of 2023:

Westjet is presently offering a status match to Westjet Silver / Gold or Platinum levels.

The details are as follows:

Experience benefits such as lounge access, priority services, complimentary upgrades and more while WestJet takes you where you want to go. With proof of status in Aeroplan or VIPorter, you can receive Platinum, Gold or Silver status with WestJet Rewards until June 30, 2023.*

• Silver will be awarded with proof of Aeroplan 25K or VIPorter Venture
• Gold will be awarded with proof of Aeroplan 35K, Aeroplan 50K, Aeroplan 75K or VIPorter Ascent
• Platinum will be awarded with proof of Aeroplan Super Elite or VIPorter First

Keeping your new status is easy. Travel with us between the date your status is approved and June 30, 2023 to extend your status for all of 2023. Your required tier qualifying spend during this timeframe will be 25% of what you would normally need.*

Registration needs to be completed by April 30, 2023. Westjet is promising that all applications will be reviewed within 10 days.

It’s hard to say whether this is a “once in a lifetime” offer. While we see sometimes see status match opportunities limited to once in a lifetime, there is no indication on whether Westjet considers this to be limited accordingly.

I generally don’t advocate taking advantage of status match offers, unless you actually plan on using the benefits. There is always the possibility that your travel plans can change into the future, and you might be prevented from accessing a similar opportunity in the future, if you’ve already taken advantage of it in the past.

The full terms and conditions of the promotion are also posted within the registration page.

Status Challenge for Rest of 2023 with a lowered minimum spend:

In addition to the status match promotion, Westjet Rewards is offering a status challenge for the 2023 year, with a reduced qualifying spend of 25% of the usual levels.

• Keeping your new status is easy. Travel with us between the date your status is approved and June 30, 2023 to extend your status for all of 2023. Your required tier qualifying spend during this timeframe will be 25% of what you would normally need
• Spend $750 to Obtain Silver Level (Usually $3,000)
• Spend $1,250 to Obtain Gold Level (Usually $5,000)
• Spend $2,000 to Obtain Platinum Level (Usually $8,000)

You must Join Westjet Rewards before completing the registration form and proceeding to sign up for the status match or status challenge.

While this particular promotion isn’t as generous as the fall 2022 promotion (by about 5% less generous), it still represents a good deal for someone who has a lot of flying coming up on Westjet, or wants to accelerate their earnings in advance of the summer 2023 travel season.

What Can You Use Westjet Rewards for:

Westjet Rewards can be used as a cash back type program offering dollars off of a cash component of any eligible fare with Westjet. The program markets itself as cash back being an easier method than calculation of points. The higher your status level yields a higher amount of cash back earn rate.

• Platinum benefits are comprised of 8% WestJet dollar earn rate, highest eligibility for complimentary upgrade to Premium and Business with eligible fares, early access to purchase an upgrade, unlimited airport lounge access, unlimited advance seat selection, first, second and third checked bags free, no fee for same-day flight changes, priority security screening at select airports, priority support number, priority check-in, priority baggage and priority boarding will be awarded to the member immediately after achieving Platinum status and noted in the member’s WestJet Rewards account.
• Gold benefits are comprised of 5% WestJet dollar earn rate, higher eligibility for complimentary upgrade to Premium and Business with eligible fares, early access to purchase an upgrade, unlimited airport lounge access, advance seat selection vouchers, first and second checked bags free, no fee for same-day flight changes, priority security screening at select airports, priority support number, priority check-in, priority baggage and priority boarding will be awarded to the member immediately after achieving Gold status and noted in the member’s WestJet Rewards account.
• Silver benefits are comprised of 3% WestJet dollar earn rate, eligibility for complimentary upgrade to Premium and Business with eligible fares, airport lounge access, advance seat selection vouchers, first and second checked bags free, priority check-in and Zone 2 boarding will be awarded to the member immediately after achieving Silver status and noted in the member’s WestJet Rewards account.

My Thoughts on the Promotion:

While I have flown Westjet domestically and internationally, I haven’t found much use for their frequent flier program Westjet Rewards. This is indeed a program that requires you to be “all in”, instead of one that allows for occasional earning.

My goals of a rewards program offers the ability to redeem access to international reward redemptions in business or first class. Westjet Rewards doesn’t participate in any meaningful airline alliance like Star Alliance, One World or Skyteam. It does offer some limited reciprocal relationships with Delta Sky Miles and Air France / KLM Flying Blue, but I haven’t found that these programs deliver a lot of value for my travel needs on the earning and redemption side.

While in our days before the pandemic, we saw Westjet service some unique routes not offered by Air Canada such as Calgary – Comox and Calgary – Brandon. In today’s environment, that advantage has mostly disappeared or has been severely limited by schedule, thanks to the general contraction of routes and frequencies to mostly core, fundamental and profitable routes.

Lastly, while it does offer some international routes on their state of the air Westjet Boeing 787 aircraft, most of these routes are through Calgary to European destinations; a destination that is highly competitive from my home base in Vancouver, Canada.

In addition, the program does not offer much in the way of a lounge network. Aside from Westjet Rewards access to the Westjet Elevation Lounge Calgary, and the Plaza Premium Lounge network. I generally get access to these lounges through Priority Pass courtesy of the American Express Platinum Card.

Despite this, there are some that may be further ahead by simply signing up for this promotion. Perhaps if you’re got travel planned ahead for this fall, there is a slim chance that signing up for this promotion may put you further ahead.

Naturally, if you’re a regular Westjet traveller, or perhaps a Westjet RBC Mastercard holder, you’ll want to take advantage of the program assuming you meet the qualifying terms and conditions as an elite flyer.

In Summary: Westjet Rewards Offering a Status Match.

Westjet Rewards is offering a time limited status match offer for Canadian residents in Elite levels in the Air Canada Aeroplan, Porter VIP and British Airways Executive Club programs. This is a time limited offer and you need to sign up by September 30, 2022.

Registration is easy through the link and demonstrating proof of status through. a photograph of a screen shot of your frequent flier account.

Unfortunately, I haven’t found Westjet Rewards to be super useful for my travel patterns. Their lack of partners for international travel and a meaningful program that offers lounge access and access to premium cabin awards makes this a non starter for me.

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Do you see the value in a current status match over to Westjet ?

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