It looks to me like it will be far more difficult to obtain UA elite status without flying than it has been in the past.

I thought that renewal of my United Platinum Visa would bring 5K of EQM this year, but it seems that that is a first-year, one-time only benefit, so forget that non-flying 5K EQM. (I believe that until a few months ago, one could get 5K of EQM by opening new accounts and spending as little as $1, but Chase/UA has put an end to this.)

Last year, there was no cap on the "double miles" for paying taxes with the Visa card opportunity, but this year that offer is good for much smaller payments, making it more difficult to hit a $35K spend and get the 5K of EQM for it.

There is still EQM for up to 5K with $s spent on united.com, but that is essentially about buying UA tickets, which in turn amounts to earning status with flying, just a bit faster.

So are there otherl ways to achieve UA elite status without flying, or flying less, or are they all drying up?

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True, this thread did start 3 years ago. It is an ongoing one, though, with the OP periodically updating his original post, most recently a few days ago. And there have been relevant changes in the course of the past 3 years.

can you purchase elite status with delta?

itsme, youre not taking into account CHOICE redemptions from the chase visa..

US american express centurion card

benefits include >
gold status on DL, CO, US, VS

requirement >
$250K/year credit card spending

cost >
$5000 one-time fee
$2500/year

you can also get the personal and business delta platinum cards from amex (average fees), and come VERY close to getting platinum, if you spend enough. there was discussion in this thread, as well as the amex forum regarding that.

I'm not sure what you have in mind. Are you referring to the option of buying UA EQM with Choices at 1:10, up to 5K of EQM? That has been and remains a way to "elite status without flying," the subject of this long-running thread, but it is a limited and very, very expensive one. And my point remains that some opportunities may be disappearing, like the possibility of RDM and EQM (5K with $35K spend) from paying taxes with the UA Platinum Visa.

exactly, but it does exist..

Yes, it does exist, but it existed last year too (actually created in 2006 IIRC). I don't know of any new opportunities for UA EQM, while I do know of disappearing or shrinking ones (limits on EQM from multiple CC and newly capped double mile offer). I expect these developments will mean fewer 1K-lites next year.

Can someone explain this? I'm not understanding it. I searched for more info here, on united.com and on Google and couldn't find any leads (I'm not exactly sure what search terms I should be looking for).

Do I read this to mean that an elite member with >75k EQM in a year (i.e. a 1P) can confer 2P on another person, or do I read this to mean than any elite can, for a cost of 75k miles, give elite status to another member?

Sorry for the confusion.

The fromer is correct "Do I read this to mean that an elite member with >75k EQM in a year (i.e. a 1P) can confer 2P on another person"

The milestone (EQM or EQS) at which you get to get someone else 3P or 2P status may vary according to your own status at the beginning of the year and whether you are or are not an "international" MPer.

How do you go about getting AA to offer an extension of status? Can you call and request it or do they have to offer? I'm platinum but may not make it next year and I received it through a challenge.

Reviving an offer from several months ago, DL again is offering 1000 status miles for each Hilton stay, and Avis or Budget rental, from June 15 through August 31, 2007, up to 10K status miles, with registration required at www.delta-offers.com.

For $549 (which seems like a lot of money), NW is offering Silver status for six months, plus some other travel and lifestyle benefits, from membership in its "White Tie" club. www.whitetie.com/nwa.html .

Welcome to FT!

They announce it publicly around year-end. See several threads in the AAdvantage forum (none of them recent, it's the wrong time of year) or the Stickies there for details. You can't purchase status extension two years in a row; if you Challenged this year and don't expect to requalify via the normal route, you may not fly AA enough to make it worthwhile.

P.S. Just a suggestion: quoting a very long post in full, especially one whose contents are not relevant to your question, makes threads harder to read with no offsetting benefit - not just on FT, but on every similar BBS. You may want to edit most or all of the quoted post out of yours.