WestJet has just announced a status match campaign, which entitles passengers with existing status with Air Canada or Porter to match with various tiers of WestJet Rewards status.

By enrolling between March 27 and April 30, 2023, you’ll enjoy an equivalent status with WestJet through to June 30, 2023. To extend the status through to the end of 2023, the spending requirements have been dropped to just 25% of their usual levels.

There’s no requirement to do any flying to get a status match in the first place, so this is an easy in-road to leveraging status with WestJet for any upcoming trips.

Matching Status with WestJet

Depending on your current status with Air Canada or Porter, you can status match to various tiers of WestJet Rewards. By matching status during the promotional period, you’ll enjoy complimentary status with WestJet until June 30, 2023.

The equivalent status tiers are broken down as follows:

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

If you already hold status with Air Canada or Porter, and you have an upcoming flight with WestJet this spring, you shouldn’t hesitate to enroll in this status match opportunity.

Rare are the occasions such as these, so be sure to submit your application by April 30, 2023. Simply fill out a form and upload proof of your current status on WestJet’s website, and you’ll be all set.

Easily Extend Your WestJet Rewards Status

Once you’ve matched your status with WestJet, extending it through to the end of 2023 is very easy with the current promotion. In fact, the qualifying spend requirements are only 25% of what they usually are under this promotion.

Indeed, this makes renewing WestJet Rewards status quite easy through to the end of 2023. 

• To renew Silver status, you’ll only need to have $750 in tier qualifying spend, down from the usual $3,000.
• To renew Gold status, you’ll only need to have $1,250 in tier qualifying spend, down from the usual $5,000.
• To renew the top-tier Platinum status, you’ll only need to have $2,000 in tier qualifying spend, down from the usual $8,000.

This represents a very easy fast track to elite status with WestJet for anyone with qualifying statuses with other airlines.

WestJet Status Benefits

While WestJet hasn’t received a lot of press for its status offerings, with such a low barrier, it’s worthwhile to take a look at what’s in it for you with this status match offer.

If you match to WestJet Rewards Silver, you’ll benefit from a higher 3% WestJet Dollars earning rate on WestJet flights, four advance seat selection vouchers, free first and second checked bags on WestJet flights, Zone 2 priority boarding, and four airport lounge passes at WestJet-affiliated lounges in Canada and internationally.

If you match to WestJet Rewards Gold, you’ll earn 5% in WestJet Dollars on WestJet flights, six advance seat selection vouchers, free first and second checked bags on WestJet flights, Zone 1 priority boarding, and unlimited airport lounge access with up to five immediate family members travelling together.

Moreover, you’ll also have upgrade priority as a Gold member when flying with WestJet, giving you the chance at paid or complimentary upgrades to WestJet’s business class on their Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

If you match to WestJet Rewards Platinum, you’ll earn 8% in WestJet Dollars on WestJet flights, unlimited advance seat selection, free first, second, and third checked bags on WestJet flights, Zone 1 priority boarding, and unlimited airport lounge access with up to five immediate family members travelling together.

Obviously, the more you fly with WestJet on a regular basis, the more useful these perks will be to you. I imagine that WestJet’s objective with the status match is to entice travellers who mostly fly with Air Canada or Porter Airlines to give WestJet a try instead.

It will be interesting to see if this has any effect on Porter’s expansion plans, as the airline has been launching a number of new routes on its new fleet of jet aircraft.

Meanwhile, Aeroplan Elite Status members might be tempted by this status match to switch some of their business over to WestJet, particularly when the fares are lower on the routes they fly. They’ll continue to enjoy a level of elite benefits similar to what they’d have as an Aeroplan Elite member.

With status match campaigns, the rule of thumb is always to take advantage of them even if you don’t have a pressing need for it.

Who knows, another status match promotion might pop up at any moment somewhere in the loyalty space, and they might well pay more attention to your WestJet Rewards status earned through this status match opportunity.

Conclusion

WestJet’s latest status match opportunity is a great way for you to curry some extra perks on your WestJet flights. These perks include lounge access, priority boarding, and free checked bags.

WestJet has also been quite generous this time around by reducing the tier qualifying spend to only 25% of the norm to extend your newly earned status through 2023.

If you have any flights with WestJet over the coming months and can benefit from this status match, be sure to take a few seconds to enroll before April 30, 2023.