2004 rules: 27,234
2005 rules: 25,456

But, I basically "bought" silver medallion status by paying higher fares toward the end of the year than I normally would have because I was sick of seeing all those 375's on my spreadsheet from my LUT fares from TPA-ATL!

I think I could have made status with fewer $$, and less stress, under the 2005 rules.

Not bad though, I'll end the year with 27,234 on Delta and 25,185 (on about 15,000 BIS thanks to promos) on United. But, I look at those numbers and think about how easy it is for somepeople to make status when they're traveling to Asia every other month or more often. It's a helluva lot more working doing TPA-ATL.