(My apologies. I suspect this is not the correct forum for this post but I didn’t know where to put it and since I’ve spent the majority of my “lurking” time on this forum I decided to put it here. Please accept my apologies.)

THANK YOU FlyerTalk. I’ve been a lurker for about a year, just registered a few minutes ago.

I’ve been accumulating FF miles for over 25 years, pretty serious about it for about 7-8 years and a complete nut about it for a year or 2. Never been a business traveler, best I can do is 2 or 3 trips a year which I pay for that are tax deductible as continuing education/business expenses. Happy with Prem Exec (1P?)(requires 2 or 3 MRs each year) on United for the past 7 years and Hilton Gold on and off for the past few years. Learned the “Dorothy” way (for yourself) a little about MRs and double EQM and credit card churning. I’ve experienced the “look” from friends and family and co-workers when talking about it. Obviously hooked!

This place is outstanding. I’ve learned many things here that I otherwise never would have known and accumulated many miles as a result. Most significantly I learned about a bunch of credit card bonuses and lifetime AA status (which I’m seriously working toward thanks to generous credit card offers and BankDirect even though as far as I can determine I’ve only flown on American twice in 1988 and twice in 1991).

I’ve been agonizing (and called 3 different times) the past few months because 50 miles from SuperShuttle hasn’t posted to my US Airways account only because I haven’t had any activity in that account for 8 months and I like to have activity at least every 6 months so I don’t worry about losing the miles. I was ecstatic to see the post today about the no fee US Airways credit card for which I just applied and was approved and even called customer service to verify approval and choose a billing closing date.

I was so happy as a result of that thread and the credit card approval that I decided to finally register. Thank you very much to all the wonderful people here who have been so helpful in assisting this newbie. I’m psyched to be a member!

Welcome to FT and great story! Hopefully you'll be able to give back to some of those that need assistance as you did in the past.

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FT is a great place with a wealth of information for anyone who would like to travel more for cheaper. Thanks!

Could you please say more about how you are obtaining lifetime AA status and how long it is taking? I have just signed up for the 75k bonus mile AAdvantage credit card and am wondering what I want to wind up doing with them. What made you decide to go for lifetime status vs. taking sooner free flights?

Your story inspires me!

One does not preclude the other. Lifetime status is based on total earning - what you spend does not reduce your lifetime total.

Though I am curious as to why someone who has only flown AA four times in the past 25 years cares about status.

Most importantly: Exactly. In other words, if I’m understanding it correctly, you could earn and spend (for example) 990,000 miles and then with your next 10,000 miles earned, get lifetime status even though you only have a balance of 10,000.

Doing many of the things that are discussed in these forums:

- BankDirect. I’m fortunate enough to have the funds to maintain significant balances in 2 accounts there, one solo, one joint. (I sure hope they don’t limit it.)

- Citi Credit Cards. Personal Mastercard Oct 09, 25,000 bonus, first year free. First statement had solicitation for linked AmEx, 5,000 bonus, which I got in Nov 09. Bummed in fall 2010 when 100,000 bonus personal applications were rejected. Decided to start a business, 100,000 bonus business card, sole proprietor, approved. (BTW, I called in Nov 2010 to cancel personal cards to avoid fees, rep said they could give me a “statement credit” equal to the annual fee. Since Citi churning might be a thing of the past I chose to keep the cards. As I read here a month or 2 ago “every mile on AA is an EQM”!) Called yesterday to ask about available promotions, got 2 miles per dollar for 3 months. Said they couldn't do better cause the annual fee was credited. (BTW 2, that business never did get very far, what a bummer. )

- Charity Donations. Started about 3 years ago. I was in the military so USO was a no brainer. Did a couple of others also. Just required a change in which charities I gave to (always with a credit card!).

- Citi Savings and/or Checking accounts (although as chronicled elsewhere in the forums, Citi is a pain about coughing up these miles).

- Starwoods Pref AmEx a year or 2 ago. 10,000 point bonus and 15,000 bonus for $15,000 in 6 months, used it for charity donations. $15,000 spend netted 40,000 points (10k bonus+15k spend+15k bonus) which equated to 50k AA miles with the 25% Starwoods to airline transfer bonus.

- Ameritrade add to existing account. I’ve had an Ameritrade account for many years and for the past 2 years or so I get a call every few months from a local rep who wants to chat with me. I called him last fall and said I’d be interested in adding to my account if he could get me approved for an airline program even though I’ve gotten those promotions in the past. At the time there was a Delta promotion, met with him and said I’d “really prefer” AA. He made some calls and made it happen. 5 minutes of paperwork and a month later, 75k miles to my AA account, for transferring some mutual fund positions that I’ve owned for 10 years and will probably own for another 10 years.

- Fidelity. Had an account there a few years ago, probably miles thing. Went to the local branch last month and asked if I could take advantage of the “miles for account opening” promotion. Rep looked in the computer and said no record of prior account and I could do the promotion. Transfer completed yesterday, hoping to see the miles in a week or 2. (Also some mutual fund positions that I’ve owned for many years)

Like I wrote, all the ways to do it are in this forum. Each of us has his/her own way of making it happen. I’m single, with no business travel or spending, so my credit card spending is not that high. (Although I think I've finally convinced my sister, who hates credit cards cause she got into some trouble with them years ago, to let me charge some of her expenses and she'll pay me back by check or cash. I think I've finally convinced her to let me use some Delta miles to upgrade (if I can, it's a group trip and unknown availability) her for a flight to Europe next month. She's a fearful flyer so any talk about flying is difficult.) On the other hand, I’ve been working and saving for a while so my assets are significant.

Hard to believe I inspire anyone but thank you very much.

I live near NYC, can easily fly from LGA or JFK and with a bit of a drive from EWR. Once I have status with AA I’ll probably start flying with them and I won’t have to do the MRs on United anymore.

It’s funny as in all honesty I never even thought about status on AA. I needed to get to Buenos Aires 3 years ago and had enough miles with US Air and United and Delta (I've been more of a saver than a spender although in the future I hope to be more of a spender.) to go first or business on an award ticket. Made lots of calls trying to find a ticket and finally got lucky. Saw that AA flies non-stop to Buenos Aires from JFK so I decided to make it a mission to accumulate enough miles with AA so next time I could try to get an award ticket with them. A year or so into that “mission” I read here that all AA miles counted toward lifetime status and decided to continue the mission further.