My grandpa once told me he had some version of status with PanAm in either the 70s or 80s.

He also had a Hilton Preferential card dating from the '60s. Apparently he did some work for Hilton then (he started/ran a CPA firm in Chicago) and told them he'd do the work for free if he could get a Preferential card, which at the time had to be individually and personally approved by Conrad Hilton. I think its main benefit was that you could show up at any Hilton worldwide without a reservation and they had to give you a room.