IMHO, anything below *Gold is not worth caring about. *Gold gives you lounge access, priority everything and of course the coveted baggage allowance. When bad weather strikes or things go mechanical, J pax and *Golds have priority over everyone else for rebooking, accommodation, etc. And that's not even getting into the airline specific program benefits!

You should also look carefully at the *A programs. Just because you primarily fly AC doesn't mean Altitude is the best program for you! In particular, UA, OZ and A3 all offer some advantages relative to Altitude:

• UA (United) : Virtually all fares on AC/UA/LH/LX/OZ/NH/NZ will earn 100% milage, even the cheapest STLK fares (only exception is AC where if it's Domestic and you're STLK you'll only ear 50%). Since you're Canadian you just need to tick 50,000 miles, 4 flights a year on UA then UA Gold (and hence * Gold) is all yours. They also offer a ton of UA specific benefits like complimentary upgrades and free seat selection to name but a few.
• OZ (Asiana): Lifetime *Gold status once you hit 500,000 miles of flight across all *A partners (not just OZ) making it an achievable goal for many on the forum. You'll also earn a minimum of 2 years (up to 4 years) of *Gold once you accumulate 50,000 miles across *partners within 48 months. Accruals are similar to Altitude.
• A3 (Aegean): Earn *Gold with only 48,000 miles of flights across * partners then keep your *Gold status by flying 24,000 miles every year. Those amounts are halved if you end up flying 4 segments on A3 during a calendar year.

I myself have chosen UA, I fly them almost exclusively since I can find cheap fares for them when I need them (i.e. $500 CAD fare between LHR and LAX return) and really appreciate the benefit of having Economy+ seating during booking for free. As for how to achieve mid to top-tier status with the least amount of money, I'd recommend looking at cheap Y fares to Asia (i.e. I've flown to HKG from YOW for $850 CAD return on UA and to SIN from YYZ for $800 CAD return on UA. Those two trips alone netted me 40,000 miles!) There are tons of opportunities to fill in the missing miles your employers can't provide you - you'd be surprised what a flight to HNL will do for you emotionally and to your milage balance in December!


Safe Travels,

James