Hi there,
I am a new member but long time lurker on FT. I'm completely overwhelmed how to achieve my travel goals and was hoping someone could help steer me in the right direction.

-We travel to Hawaii and Europe each year in Y class and would like upgrades to first or business. I'm not a current member of any frequent flyer programs. If I understand correctly, you need elite status in a program for free upgrades to better cabins.

-I'm not looking for free travel. I'd just like upgrades to better cabins and occasional lounge access.

-I currently use a Costco AMEX and spend approximately $150,000 annually. I also have a 5/3 Business Visa that I'd like to get rid of that we spend between $150,000 - $200,000 on annually. Balances are paid off on-time each month.

-Do most credit card programs give you 1 mile for each dollar spent?

-Would it be possible to achieve elite status with my spending patterns? If so, would that achieve my goal of cabin upgrades?

-Any advice on good airline or hotel programs that would be most beneficial given my spending patterns? We like Hyatt, Ritz-Carlton and Mariott properties.

Thanks for your help. I really have no idea where to begin and appreciate the experience that FT members have!

Not looking for free travel!

Dear OP, you are on the wrong site.

But seriously folks:
Get a couple of AA Citi cards and collect the 50K bonus on each, get an Amex SPG, collect bonus, put all spending on SPG card for later conversion to AA. Fly free in biz to Hawaii.

Of course, spouse and other family members can do the same.

OP, why don't you belong to any FF programs? Sign up right now!

What is your 'home' airport and which airline(s) do you typically fly? Do you want/value lounge access? Do you take any additional flights or is it just the 2 (hawaii and europe). And when you say we, is that just you and a partner or are there kids as well?

Oh, and for that $150,000 annual spend, do you know roughly how that breaks down across different categories (gas, groceries, travel, dining, etc.)?

Do you have reasonable/good credit?

You can try to diversify if you want, but the SPG Amex is a very good primary card for everyday use, and the Chase Sapphire Preferred for non-SPG travel and dining.

If your AMX spend is mostly at Costco then get an AMX that is associated with an airline or hotel program. Since Costco only accepts AMX you can maximize your spend at Costco into airmiles or hotel points.

Don't forget you can stay free in a hotel for a few weeks a year by gathering hotel points. Airmiles isn't the only game in town....lol

+1 yeah like yesterday

In short, if you are spending $300K+ a year on credit cards, you should be able to get free First/Business class airfare and Hotel once a year to Europe and Hawaii, without too much effort. You should be able to easily earn 200-300K miles or points based purely on spend and another 200-300K miles or points for a few good bonus offers each year (100K credit card deals, Fidelity promotions, Hotel or Airline giveaways, etc.).

In order to determine how to do that, we would need to know what airport is closest to you and where you go and stay in Europe and Hawaii. Based on that, it is easier to suggest which airline and hotel programs would work best for your situation.

Ike
p.s. Welcome to FlyerTalk!

"Free" upgrades to the next class of service is a feature offered by USA based airlines on domestic flights. This does not apply to transatlantic travel. Instead you would need to redeem miles for the upgrade. Some airlines would require that you purchase an "upgrade eligible" fare (which means the lowest fares are excluded), others offer upgrades from any fare, but require a "co-payment" when redeeming miles for the upgrade.

In general, miles earned through credit card spending do not count toward elite status, but some airlines do offer elite qualifying credits if your spending on their affinity card reaches a threshold. These incentives make it easier to achieve status, but you'll still need to earn many miles by flying.

Airline status won't get you free upgrades on flights to Hawaii either; that only works on flights within the 48 states on a space available basis.

Small quantities of elite qualifying miles can sometimes be earned from credit card applications, but usually not enough to get you status all by themselves.

You can buy upgrades with miles, if you purchased a qualifying fare code. We would need more information on your home airport, destination, and preferred airlines to help you with that.

Wow! Thanks for all the responses. To answer some of the questions and provide additional details:

-Home airport is GRR. No problem driving to fly out of DTW or ORD.

-Total of 4 cards. Me, Wife and 2 kids.

-YTD spending on the Amex is currently $188,462.43. Breakdown: 19% transportation. 19% travel. 37% merchandise and supplies. 12% other. 5% restaurants. 2% entertainment. 4% business services. 1% communications. (Fuel was most of the transportation at $21K)

-I don't have access to my 5/3 online banking. I have the password written down in the office at home and we're in Hawaii now.

-Very little actual spending at Costco. We just like the EOY cash rebates.

-In Hawaii, we fly into OGG and stay at the Hyatt, Marriott or Ritz. We do Hawaii at least once per year.

-I don't know if we will be doing Europe anymore since one of the kids is graduating college. I guess we'll see how things go.

The only reason we don't have FF programs was because we take random airlines for every trip. Pretty silly in retrospect not to at least accumulate a few miles.

Cash rebates are fine, but travel rewards can give you a good return per dollar spent if that is something you value.

I would highly recommend applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card as it will give you 50,000 points for spending $3,000, and it gives double points on restaurants, travel, and transportation. These points can be transferred instantly to United/Continental, BA, Korean Airlines, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, and Marriott. With the ability to fly out of ORD, you should be able to redeem miles on United easily, whether for upgrades or free first class international tickets. If you have the ability to get a business card, I would also recommend applying for the Chase Ink Bold Card, also part of the Chase Ultimate Rewards program with a 50,000 point sign up bonus, giving 5 points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent annually on office supply stores, cable, wireless, and landline services, 2 points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent annually on gas and hotels, and one point per dollar on everything else. If you just apply for those two cards, you will have 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points, enough for one business class ticket to Europe when transferred to Europe, and your annual spend would get you to a second free ticket soon (taxes on each ticket might cost you $100-$200). I'm not familiar with using points for upgrades, I just know it can be done if you book the right fare class.

Many people collect miles in one program in each of the three main alliances, for example United or US Airways in Star Alliance, American in OneWorld, and Delta in Skyteam. You can fly on different airlines within an alliance but still credit your miles flown to one airline frequent flyer program. Diversifying gives you more options for redemptions and allows you to collect more credit card bonuses.

I think your spend categories would be best served by the Chase Sapphire Preferred (a visa) and Ink Bold Card. Start there and then decide whether you want to earn in any other programs.

The possiblity of a free domestic upgrade for elites does include flights to/from Hawaii in UA/CO programs, with the exception of flights from DFW that have CO business/first. (+EWR flights?)

Edit: oops - as noted below I meant IAH CO flights not DFW (had been looking at AA recently, so thought of IAH)

It's IAH/EWR-HNL on CO that do not offer free upgrades. HNL-GUM too.

Chase Sapphire Preferred is good, as it offers 2.14 points per dollar spent on travel and dining, however all "misc" spend should still go to the Starwood Amex (and don't rush into converting them to AA or whatever like another poster suggested), the main benefit of SPG is their flexibility to convert to whichever program suits your needs at that time, which may vary depending what type of award you need.

+1 Good advise and you may look at Citi.