Just to make sure the newbie doesn't get too excited over what AA calls "Gold"... It's just any other US carrier's Silver, but it is nice that all program miles count toward MM.
Good point, but not every other carrier calls it "silver," either. The important message is that there are no universal standards for elite tier names. BA's Gold, for example, is all the way at the other end of the spectrum; well above most U.S. carriers' Gold levels. And what is one to make of names like "Chairman's Preferred" or "Premier 1K?" Lufthansa's three tier names, "Frequent Traveller" (often used elsewhere as a generic term for any member), "Senator," and "HON Circle," mean nothing to me. And what of Air New Zealand, where "Gold" and "Gold Elite" are different? We have to take each airline's naming scheme as it comes, and not be confused when two of them happen to use the same term. The likelihood is that they use it to mean different things.