I have never been elite/gold/silver anything. Over the years I have collected miles both by flying and the occasional opening of a CC and once in a while it has yielded an award ticket or UG with miles...I did this after randomly receiving a UG on NWA years ago for reasons i did not and still do not understand....and it was sweet...i wanted to try to make it happen more often for myself.

I recently discovered FT and have become fascinated by the possibilities.

Reality is that I fly one or two big trips per year. And a few weekend trips per year. I have done some math (with my recent new skymiles AMEX and Milage pluse Visa bonus miles for new accts, and my new chase OP checking with CO. and HH AMEX) and i dont think I fly enough to warrant actually trying to attain any real status. Even at my best of collecting 25k here and there each year by credit cards and special offers, I will never actually fly or spend enough to crack 50k-100k/year. I got to 65k on UA, 65k on DL, will have 25k once the chase checking offe ris complete, hope to merge that with UA miles next year. but the whole premise doesnt seem realistic for "status"

It seems that it does not make sense to try so hard to get status when I dont fly enough to milk it, and it only lasts for the following year.

My goals are such that I would like to enjoy upgrades and access to lounges on my long trips. As I learn more about the awards systems it seems things have changed over the years, now upgrades are less reliable, are more of a gamble, and awards tickets cant get upgraded, so I start thinking "whats the point?" Perhaps I should just suck it up and by upper class fares when I want them and shop around for sales on them...Its either that or I dedicate more energy to befriending and networking with people with status who can help sponsor upgrades for me. I have found that I like UA and *A and those should help me over the next few year for me to go on the 2 big trips/year that I can go on and try to reap some UGs here and there to make it nice....

does anyone else have experience with these thoughts?

Sounds like you have too many credit cards for you purpose (4 if I counted correctly). Since you don't fly often, the annual fee on those cards isn't worth it. I would recommend getting rid of most of the credit cards and try to focus on one account. You said that you wanted access to lounges, and I assume you mean airport lounges, but if you have the HH Surpass and spend 40K a year you get Diamond which can have it's benefits especially overseas.

I have all my stake in my HHonors Amex. I don't fly often, so an airline card wouldn't be of any value. With the free HH card, I put all of my spending on it and receive some rice returns. I'm not the road warrior most people here are, but I do like good deals and you'll find plenty on here.

Welcome to FlyerTalk cotter77. I agree with Cholodewitsch about pairing your cards down to one, maybe two.

One way to earn miles, not MQMs, is to purchase dollar coins from the US Mint and then deposit them into your checking account.

Another option are the (in)frequent MQM bonuses offered by the airlines and or partners. Here is one from DL and another from Hilton. Both of these require registering before making reservations.

I am sure, as you continue to read through the various threads, you will find other ways to easily earn miles.

Good luck and travel safe!

guess i left out some of my strategy.

The CCs are new and no annual fee for first year. concentrating on UA MP visa and will ditch next june or call and complain about annual fee and try to get it waived (i got this to work once several years ago).

...new revelations as I read two websites:
http://www.travbuddy.com/travel-blogs/6625/Status-9
and
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/

then I realized my plans for 2011
BUF-OGG RT in january
BUF-SAN RT in march
BUF or YYZ to ATH in august
and prob some weekend trips could potentially get to 25k if i can manage to put it all on UA

so could potentially make premier UA for 2012

I have another take on the situation: if you want access to the lounges, etc., just buy the biz class fare. Yes, miles are fun to collect and have, but unless you're doing a lot of flying on somebody else's dime, it's not worth it. Why? Because fares are so low, even the unemployed can afford to fly (OK, not up front, but you get my drift). You did a good job getting the freebie cards- make sure you cancel them before the renewal fee hits. You also have enough miles for a few cattle domestic flights- use them up. As for the pointy end of the airplane, either dream about it or pay for it- that's what I do (I don't get to travel on somebody else's dime any more!)

The $400 lounge membership is much more affordable than a premium cabin international ticket.

Show up to the airport later so you don't feel the need to use the lounge.

I'm serious.

chase has a spphire card that offers 25k for 3k spend I did this months ago and just now got around to transferring points. the points are totally seperate from the airline cards so you wont be disqualified from getting bonus points by having a UA or CO card....they do transfer into CO points at 1 to 1. I put 28k worth into my wifes CO account today...I also noticed they offered single day presidents club passes for 2500 points which would be good once they merge for *A lounges (I think) they usually give a year expiration on the passes...so thats one way to get into the lounge for points or cheap. Anyway if your into CO and UA then check out the Sapphire card at chase it can boost your points some...it also transfers into amtrak, British airways, marriott, hyatt, PC, and a couple of others. Or you can get a 25% bonus on travel booked with points through them so 28k points gets you a $350 ticket on whatever airline you like.

chase sapphire sounds interesting

...showing up late for flights...not that good....and doesnt help you with the long layovers at big hubs

i have a friend who started doing that when his firm stopped business class travel for everyone who worked there....he ended up missing a couple of flights due to getting to the airport late....so after a couple of months he dropped the idea....

You sound pretty much like me in terms of flying habits. You realize that 1 international trip a year and a few small weekend trips here and there, and you will qualify for elite on UA just like that? I fly DEN-KUL-DEN (well, it ends up being DEN-SIN-KUL-SIN-DEN) and that's 18k miles right there. Add one or two more flights and I qualify for elite on the spot. The DEN-KUL-DEN is an annual thing, too, so enrolling in M+ is a no-brainer.

If you don't fly that much (not everyone goes international), then wouldn't the $400 or so for a Red Carpet membership be worth it anyway? If you have a UA credit card, that $475 means 475 more miles, too...