This may be a dumb question to experienced FTers. If you finally do get all the miles required for EXP, etc. is it a permanent status? Or do you need to maintain the status with miles per year like with the hotels?

Like the hotels. Requalify each year.

Most programs have a lifetime level once you reach a certain plateau, e.g., once you fly 1,000,000 actual flight miles on United, you get Premier Executive status for life (the 50,000 annual mileage level).

On Northwest when you fly 1,000,000 actual flight miles your frequent flier card get the words "Million Air" Added and you get two Million Miler luggage tags.

There is no future Silver, Gold, or Plat Elite status for life on Northwest.

AA offers lifetime Gold for 1MM account miles (any FF miles earned, not just flight miles) and lifetime Platinum for 2MM account miles.

DL has just revamped their scheme and now offers lifetime Silver for 1MM flight miles, Gold for 2MM flight miles, and Platinum for 4MM flight miles.

As mentioned above, UA offers lifetime Premier Executive for 1MM flight miles.

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More Room Throughout Coach: the Website of Free Miles and Free Markets

IncredibleDeals, for some additional input, I believe this is how Continental handles Elite qualification:

For Elite qualification purposes, the clock starts at zero each January 1st.[*]Silver - 25,000 miles or 30 segments[*]Gold - 50,000 miles or 60 segments[*]Platinum - 75,000 miles or 90 segments

Silver, Gold or Platinum Elite status must be earned during a Calendar Year* toward the next Elite Program Year.** As you qualify during the current Calendar Year, you are upgraded usually the next day to the appropriate Elite level, and your Elite status will continue through the entire next Elite Program Year! As you qualify during the current calendar year for each higher elite level, your status is automatically upgraded immediately.

Elite level qualification base miles or segments accrue during a Calendar Year. For qualification purposes, Calendar Years may not be combined, and base mileage or segments which determine elite status (or a higher level of your existing Elite status) start over each January 1st.

* A Calendar Year is January 1-December 31 of the same year.
The current Calendar Year is January 1, 2002-December 31, 2002.

** An Elite Program Year is March 1-February 28 (or 29).
The current Elite Program Year is March 1, 2002-February 28, 2003.
The next Elite Program Year is March 1, 2003-February 29, 2004.

Happy Travels!

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Never ask a question that you don't want to know the answer.

You usually have to qualify for it each calendar year, but sometimes like this year, United is ectending it if you pay $25 till March. In most cases, you have your status through February of the following year.

So if you qualify in 2002 you will have status for all of 2003 and January and February of 2004. To continue that status you have to qualify again in 2003.

Million miler status is different, if you were near that you wouldn't be asking.