ineedhelpwithmath

Hey all, looking to get started with a FFP as a new job will have me traveling quite a bit.

Over the years I've been using some CCs and letting points pile up, currently about 100,000 points w/ Chase and 50,000 w/ Amex that I believe I can transfer to an airline's reward programs 1:1.

When I pick an airline, most likely United due to SFO as my home airport, I'll be starting at the bottom of the heap, but could I transfer 150K cc points over to my Mileage Plus account and get a head start on status and upgrades?

Thanks in advance for the help, and happy to read any blogs or posts you can send me to if this topic has been covered already.

arollins

No, status is earned by flying, upgrades come with status.

ineedhelpwithmath

No exceptions, eh?

Any advantage to transferring my points to a program's miles beyond purchasing tickets?

I presume that flying on tickets purchased by points would count towards status, at least?

Thanks for your response!

LondonElite

No exceptions.

I don't really understand your second question, but my sense is that what you are asking returns a 'no'. Some programs have a 2-for-1 type of redemption for certain things, but I don't think this is what you are looking for.

No, you do not get status by purchasing tickets with miles/points. Only cash money, my friend.

You really ought to read this:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...faqs-more.html

and this

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...help-here.html

mikelat

IIRC, if you spend a certain amount on the Citi AA Exec card you can get 10k EQM. So, thats a bit of a jump start. It's possible other programs have similar offerings based on spend...

JDiver

Sure doesn't help much with United status, though.

s0ssos

The main way to jumpstart your status is start off with status. That may sound contradictory but you should find out about status matches/challenges. You want to try to quickly get status in one airline, as it can easily give you status in others.

Let's say your goal is status on United. You can first do a challenge on American (Delta and United only do matches, so if you don't have status it is a moot point), which means you can get elite status with fewer miles (say Platinum for 12,500) in a period of 3 months. You fly those miles, and then have American Platinum status. Then you can status match to United after you have American status, though you will also have to fly a certain number of miles in 3 months to keep it.

Someone else did mention that credit cards can help you earn status, but the United card that gives you that you cannot get (presuming you don't already have it). Delta and AA do have cards that give you EQM (miles toward status) though.

FirstInFlight

The status challenge - status match route is the most common option. If money is not an option, and you want status on Star Alliance, you can buy silver or gold status on Avianca.

Efrem

If your company does a lot of travel in total, it probably has a travel coordinator or travel agent. Have that person contact UA on your behalf. They can pull strings most of us don't even know exist. They may be able to get you status immediately, or perhaps after a relatively small amount of short-term travel.

United bases status on flying in a calendar year. So, if that turns out to be possible, make sure you get all of 2016 to requalify on your own, or that the requirements for requalifying in 2015 are prorated for the fraction of the year that's left.

FindAWay

OP - do you have Marriott Platinum status? If so, you can instantly (well, in practice, it takes a little bit to process), without flying, get United Silver status.

ineedhelpwithmath

Thanks, I'll be sure to read the provided links. Sounds like I'm SOL though, or at least in terms of getting there with a shortcut. I will reach out to my company's travel coordinator and if I learn anything interesting, I'll post back here.

MSPeconomist

Unless your company can give you one of their limited number of comped status offers, it's rather unreasonable and unrealistic to expect to enjoy the benefits of status when you basically haven't flown before.

Efrem

I'd say there's a good chance you'll get it if you ask for it, because most people don't know these exist and don't ask. Most top executives who get airline status in this way don't know what it is or what to do with it. (That's not just my opinion. This was a complaint of a woman I dated a few years back, an American Airlines Executive Platinum desk agent. She said that she and her colleagues couldn't stand working with these "executive platinum lite" people who got the top public AA status without needing to fly.)

arollins

Please remember that OP original question was that if he transferred points to miles will he get instant status and upgrades. No he won't, worth the exception of the UA Marriott partnership.

s0ssos

Another way! But likely not applicable to OP. When in the SkyClub I saw an ad for Delta Private Jet. One benefit is Delta Diamond Medlalion status (though with an asterisk).