How do I Get All My Elite Statuses in A "Short" Period of Time?

Introduction

Recently I have been asked by a lot my colleagues and friends about how can I have so many elite statuses as well as points in all different hotel, airline and credit card programs. In this blog, I will be covering the major steps to score all those statuses and evaluate is it really worth it or not (from my own perspective).

My Statuses Overview

Below are the major statuses I have ever owned as of 3/18/17:

My first flight status earned is with United because I flew back and forth between China and US a lot and United had some very convenient routes between EWR and PVG. Back then there was no direct flight between BOS to any major city in China so I scored my united Gold status in one year by simply flight ~4 round trips to China (Good old days when the elite qualifying miles are actually earned by miles you fly not the price you pay).

My first hotel status came a little bit later when I did my internship as a consultant in Tampa in 2014. It was the Pre-SPG-Marriott Merge Era and my whole team persuade me in any single possible way on how SPG is far better than Marriott and that's how I ended up with choosing SPG and earned the Platinum status through "Status Challenge"(Will be covered later how to do that).

I'm super late on the premium credit card club not only because of I did not realize how this can be so beneficial but also I was pretty shy on my credit score before. I got my CSR (Chase Sapphire Reserve) Card in late 2016 and has been enjoying the benefits so far.

How to Get Elite Statuses Fast?

No.1 rule before you continue to read: You DO NEED TO TRAVEL a decent amount in a year to get the status. I will be providing the tricks and tips to make it less challenging as it was written in the official in the website but still you do to spend some time in the air and hotel. Moreover, if you do not travel that much, why bother getting the status lol.

My strategy to get all those statuses can be concluded in two simple ways: Status Challenge and Status Match. Status Challenge is normally offered by the hotel or airline themselves to facilitate the the process of getting status for new joiners. Status Match on the other hand is used to acquire elite member from other program. By simply took advantage of those two program, I was able to get most of my status relatively quicker and enjoyed the benefits.

Status Challenge - The Break-in Point

One quick example for status challenge (which I personally did in 2014):

For SPG program, normally you will need 50 nights or 25 stays within a year to reach the platinum level. However, with the status challenge program offered by SPG, you will only need 18 nights within 3-months window to get Platinum for almost 2 years! (Program Details)

Same thing you can do with your airline status and get your first elite status a lot quicker than usual. Trust me, once you get your first elite status, the later ones will be much more simpler :) I will be compiling a list of all the Status Challenge programs later on. Stay tuned!

Status Match - Play Around the Systems

After you score your first elite status in one big chain, the rest statuses will be much easier to score because they will know that you are indeed a frequent traveler and a good revenue stream if they can persuade you to switch. Most of my status are acquired in this way and I will be giving you the concept and some example on how to play with it.

Example for instant status match:

The smoothest status match I have ever experienced is status match from SPG to Marriott. Because of the merge, if you holds any status in one of the program, you can just match the same level to the other. Since I was the SPG Platinum member before, I got my Marriott Platinum right away after using this link.

Example for status match challenge:
Most of the status match program I used before are offered more like a different version of status challenge. For instance, I got my American Airlines Platinum Status through matching from United gold. The condition I got is that I need to fly 8 segments to get the match. Same thing you can do with hotel programs. The website I usually used to track those program are called "Status Matcher". This website summarize all the successful and unsuccessful Status Match from all over the world and is a perfect record book if you try to match from one to another.

Is it really worth it?

Statuses are great especially when you are lucky enough to get a free upgrade to first class or suite room. However it is really not necessary to have too many of those because you will not be able to maintain them all. The reasons for me to try so many status is to pick the one that fit me the best. Being located in Boston area, I finally settled myself with JetBlue ,Delta for airline (BOS is their focus city/hub) and SPG for hotel (2 years away from lifetime gold). I would probably just let the rest status expire as time goes and I will probably write a more detailed program comparison when I get time in my later blog and gives a more in depth review on each of those program.