A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,565
I would think if anyone did this in 2019, the rest of their alliance partners would not be happy.
I reached AA LT Gold on the backs of a few Marriott Travel Packages (plus a few years of legit Plat flying). They counted *all* miles, and there were definitely people churning Citi and doing MS to get LT status. Plus "unusual" mileage partners and promos were way more common back then, creating some fun stories like Pudding Guy. But it was still mostly underground: not something done by huge numbers of people.
AA wisely cut it off before churning and MS really hit the mainstream. Now, with dozens of bloggers pimping cards through paid links all over the Internet, I'm very glad they've tightened the rules.