Oh, add me to the list of those who have pursued a status "illogically".

- I have done two airline status-matches in the past, solely to have a low- or mid-tier status while I flew a single trip. There was zero purpose to it besides some degree of IRROPs insurance and being able to access priority queues or lounges. They were international itineraries with family in tow, so it was worth it for peace of mind - even though I was 100% sure I wouldn't requalify the status and fairly certain that airline would frown upon future status match requests. (Most are once per five years, once per lifetime, or once per computer system upgrade.)

The trips operated normally and I was happy to not really *need* the status.

- I've done hotel status matches for similar purposes...just to ensure a good room for a particularly-important trip. Those have actually paid off greatly: it was how I first discovered Hilton. Thought they did such a nice job for me as a mere Gold in Hawaii that I ended up becoming pretty active in the program over the 10-15 years that followed.

- I've paid cash for a US Airways status...$430 for Gold status for 90 days which dropped to Silver for the following year. Timed it to hit a few international lounges and obtain enough baggage allowance for a golf trip for 4 people. Also took quite a few family trips where we checked bags. The kicker on this one was that - much to my surprise in 2012 - US Airways actually upgraded us a *ton* with those low/mid-level statuses. Had over an 80% success rate in about 30 eligible person-segments when I completely did *not* expect it. Lots of successful 2-person upgrades.

So while my initial motivation might have been barely "logical", that one ended up paying off on the back end in a big way. Likely the product of my home airport being somewhat of a US backwater.