Originally Posted by ContinentalFan
One good thing about joining FT was that I discovered that both AA and UA have an elite for life program. AA seems to count miles from any source (flight miles, credit cards, etc.), but elite is gained by air miles. UA, I am told, still has elite for life, but it doesn't seem to be published anywhere--at least anywhere I could find! It seems to be a hassle to get started as an elite with both carriers, so I won't try.
Not a hassle for some others
. Buddy of mine started two years ago, has flown only 140K miles on AA but has over 700K miles by charging everything in site, including fighting with me over who pays for meals, I usually let him win
.