It's called a mileage run.
I agree with the earlier post, call NW and chances are they will give you the status or as some airlines do, allow you to "buy in" to a status that you are near getting on your own.
I was looking at missing NW Platnimum status, being @ 73,500 projected miles as 12/31/04 - however a last minute business trip from MSN to AUS will get me over the 75K hump. If it where not for this company paid trip, then I was going to call the Elite line and inquire what the least cost trip was that I could take within a day RT out of MSN to get me to 75K+. Mileage runs, I wonder how many of these (mileage runs) are done in the name of achieving or keeping Elite status?