I know I have most of the posters above beat with status for the fewest dollars because of the Kelloggs promo (circa 2001) and other low or no cost means which allowed me to go from 1 million miler to 2 million miler and lifetime platinum on AA in less than 1 year. Although my flights were reimburseable business expenses, I was a bottomfeeder and never bought a Y, business or first ticket. I did not use the AA Citibank card that much (maxing out GM and Ford cc's at the time) and was not using AA as often as other airlines, so I accomplished lifetime platinum without ever achieving executive platinum on AA. I estimate my total spend out-of-pocket for 0 miles to lifetime status at less than $2000, excluding routine cc use for 2 adult household retail/revolving payment items.