What proof do you have that he or she is doing it? Have you been the victim? there are various corporate upgrades out there that Delta gives out all the time.

Unfortunately the DL forum is not the appropriate home for this topic. As the topic concerns an aspect of status matching, although in this case it really doesn't, I am moving this thread to MilesBuzz. Please don't be surprised if the moderators there decide to move it elsewhere.

RSSrsvp - Moderator

But CO status matches every five years

I believe loyalty programs should reward loyalty. Status matches for flying with a different carrier reward treachery. Whether you are status matching the right way or the fraudulent way, you're getting unearned status imho.

OP - whether your concern for your friend stems from ethical or legal concerns, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Sure sounds like wire and/or mail fraud to me.

This is a definitely a fraud and there are no two ways about it. The person could be indicted for forging someone's identity.

What are you talking about? He's not forging anyone identity. He's forging credentials which is most likely flight activity or hotel stay activity.

If you cant help a fellow flyertalker with a civil answer then maybe you should not post at all.

obviously the OP does care and is asking for opinions.

and yes I would think it is fraud.
but unfortunately its hard to stop someone on a roll

hope this helps.

I agree. The OP's friend is essentially selling "references", if you will, to those who don't have them. From what I have learned in my short time on FT, many airlines require the completion of a challenge for elite status to come into permanent effect (UA's 90 days; BD's 3 months during their recent *S give-away; AA's paid-for challenges...etc, etc.). If you don't fly the miles then the purchaser will be out-of-pocket for the reference and will not likely be able to have status matched in the future, and is therefore a loser. At most it will be a 3-month inconvenience to those who have earned status the hard way. I am not familiar with US law, so I cannot speculate as to which, if any, laws are being broken.

[As an aside, I watched a documentary entitled "Ryanair: Caught Napping" last night in which FA's admitted to providing false references for each other. Supposedly they also demoted a Captain on the spot because he refused to fly as he felt too fatigued!]

I've seen ads on Craigslist that off status for certain prices for both hotel and airlines. I always assumed it was some kind of status match and it might not be in a legit way.