Originally Posted by
cova
A few more points:
1. The OP doesn't indicate how many of those 8MM were real BIS miles (not Elite bonus, CC spend, etc. This only changed to BIS maybe 5 years ago)
2. On the side of the OP - history shows that Airlines have increased their Liftetime Status from what was once published. CO/UA is an example. One might have thought there was a chance that AA would add more LT tiers. I think AA might have - just that I don't think they had/have the lifetime AAdvantage BIS miles saved anywhere.
Continental only added counting and showing lifetime miles when their IT contractor at that time told them they had all the OnePass data archived on tape. I guess EDS at the time was looking for more revenue and it took about a year and CO added in the LT miles and created the MM'er program. I believe CO paid over a Million $ to have this data put in a data base. Which then added status match for significant others, and the LT threshold levels at 1 to 3 MM. Later after merging with UA - the MM program was updated (from UA) to more closely match CO's program and then it added LT Global Services as an option at 4 MM. I know people who have earned LT GS from flying 4MM (none of which is CC or bonus). If I haded switched to AA to UA 6-7 years ago - I would be on my way to those 4MM on United.
Once CO completed the effort - they sent out emails to a MM'ers with their LT status. This was about 10-11 years ago.
CO has had lifetime elite status members in and from the 1990s. Back then it was Infinite Elite but became lifetime Platinum from the late 1990s onward. But for around a decade (c 1997/99 — c 2008) they may have stopped allowing for new lifetime elite status members, but then again they opened the gates to add new lifetime elite status members.
I think the first time I heard about lifetime elite status on Continental was in the mid or late-1990s when I was told it exists and a NY-area, InsideFlyer magazine-reading male porn star already had it from flying back and forth to California a lot.