If you charge that much and could use an AmEx-family card at those places, you might look into an AmEx Centurion card. It's not cheap, you may have to establish a track record with a lower-level AmEx card before you can get it, but it comes with mid-tier status in a few airlines. Lots of threads on it in the AmEx forums.
Originally Posted by corporate666
I used to work at a place years ago that required employees taking company-paid biz trips to give the miles to the company. Are miles transferred from others considered qualifying miles? Or does it include cases where I buy the ticket but it's in another persons name? I.e. company pays for Bob and Sarah to go to a show in Seattle but the points are retained by the company because during the booking it asked which FF account to use and I put my account in since I'm purchasing the tix? Or do the miles only go to the actual traveler as qualifying miles?
Airlines will only give miles to the traveler, not to someone else he/she designates. The way those deals generally work is that the miles go into the employee's account, the company tracks how many miles the employee should earn through business travel, and requires him/her to get an award ticket for his/her next trip (or for someone else's) when the balance is high enough. No miles are transfered, so the question about transfering miles is moot.
Some airlines (e.g., but not only, AA) have small business programs where a company can also earn points (not FF miles, a different kind of points) for its employees' travel. The award list for those sometimes includes elite status for someone who otherwise wouldn't have it. Company points are in addition to, not instead of, regular FF credit for the traveler.