Originally Posted by
seks
I thought the 21k is only towards 2018 status. I didn't think you can carry it over for 2018 and use it towards 2019 status?
Right - I meant, take the 21K and end the year as Tangerine for 2018. (They are still redeemable miles, for what that's worth...)
If you plan on flying a lot in 2018, the thread suggests two options. One is to just take the Tangerine and try to early qualify for 35K in 2018. If your high-mile trips are earlier in the year, it could make the rest of the trips more comfortable, even, than P25K from March 1 would do.
For the option of MR, it was suggested by others to consider MR for 14,000 rather than 4,000 as P25K is not worth much. In my experience, E35K is also not that valuable unless most travel is domestic and transborder, as it gets no international lounge access and of course the upgrade window only beats P25K. So then, the challenge escalates to E50K at least, for *G, more than double the miles your natural travel accrues.
I'm of the mind that status could reasonably motivate consolidating travel to the same alliance/operator but should not make most people travel (and $pend) unnecessarily. I've certainly been swayed by miles-earning when making a decision whether to attend an event, and once considered the UA-J-December-Hawaii-weekend play, and mentioned it to a friend slightly short of 50K, but for me, the line is drawn. A pure MR takes considerable time, money, and often (if not J) discomfort just to get a luggage tag (and P25K doesn't even get luggage tags). Amex gives many of the same benefits for $500 (net of the travel credit).