Unless if i am mistaken, transferring your Amex MR to an airline is not going to get you elite status with any carrier.

When talking about FF programs you have two types of miles. Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) and Redeemable Miles (RDMs). EQMs cannot be used to obtain upgrades or to obtain awards whereas RDMs can. EQMs sole purpose are to measure your goal towards Elite Status. Most airlines use a 25K, 50K, and 100K EQM tier for their different elite levels. To obtain EQMs, you must actually have butt in seat flying miles. The EQMs that one is able to get from a credit card is minimal when taken into consideration what is required for elite status qualification. Another thing to keep in mind is that not all fare classes earn the same amount of EQMs. On some airlines, the deep discounted economy fares only earn 50% EQMs vs 100% that you might earn with a more expensive fare bucket. If I remember correctly, CO EQMs work that way whereas when flying United all economy class tickets (regardless of fare bucket) earn 100% EQMs.


In short, it's highly unlikely that you will be able to obtain top-tier elite status without a lot of BIS (butt in seat) miles.


Halothane