I read about RJ above by benberg2013 but state I need to credit 1 flight - is that RJ flight or an AA paid flight will do.
It needs to be a RJ paid flight. This is what they sent me when I requested a match:
Dear Sir,
We hope that you would always continue to choose Royal Jordanian, and we look forward to see you on board Royal Jordanian frequently , kindly be noted that your gold membership card with Turkish Airlines and Gold Aegean Airlines equals the Gold status with Royal plus to be offered based on the below conditions : Holding a ticket on Royal Jordanian for a forthcoming trip; noting that the card and benefits would only be activated as of your first trip with RJ.
•Status match will be approved one time only for the same passenger.
•The processing and approval of each status match request would be at the sole discretion and judgment of Royal Jordanian Airlines.
Please check below link for further info regarding the Gold level benefits :
http://www.rj.com/en/ffp_gold_plus.html
Regards
Royal plus
Also, I read somewhere (maybe here) that doing an AA Challenge will get you temporary status for 90 days, is this true?
This may be true, but AA requires payment to be enrolled in their challenges - I think $140 for the gold challenge, and $250 for the Platinum.