What do people think about the new Australian Star Alliance credit card? It costs AUD450/year (currently USD290) and with AUD60,000 (currently USD39,000) of spending grants Gold status.
Presidential Plus cards earn 500 PQPs for every $12k in spend, so that means that to earn Gold would take either 24 Flights + 8,000 PQPs or 10,000 PQPs. At 500 PQPs per $12k in spend, that would imply spending at least 8000/500=16*$12,000 or $192,000 to get Gold with 24 flights or 20*$12k=$240k to get Gold with no flights. Makes the returns from the PP card look less favorable.