Perhaps this could become a sticky?

I thought it might be good to produce a summary thread of the various Lifetime Status threads rather than add the summary to page 12 of an existing thread where it will quickly get buried. (To read the discussion thread see http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9366).

Note: This summary only covers CURRENT lifetime programs that are still achievable and not historic programs that may still have members but are not open to new enrollment.

LIFETIME FREQUENT FLYER STATUS

Air France / KLM

(Published Program)
http://www.airfrance.us/X04/en/local...e_platinum.htm

Lifetime Platinum (SkyTeam Elite+)
- 10 consecutive years as Flying Blue Platinum

Air China

(Published Program)
http://ffp.airchina.com.cn/EN/gyzy/gbhy.htm

Lifetime Platinum (Star Alliance Gold)
- 1000000 flown kilometers on Air China operated and CA coded flights.

Alaska Airlines

(Unpublished Program)

Lifetime MVP Gold
- 1 Million Flight Miles on Alaska & Horizon

American Airlines

(Unpublished Program)

Lifetime AAdvantage Gold (OneWorld Ruby)
- 1 Million AAdvantage lifetime miles from any source.

Lifetime AAdvantage Platinum (OneWorld Sapphire)
- 2 Million AAdvantage lifetime miles from any source

Asiana Airlines

(Published Program)
http://us.flyasiana.com/Global/US/en...?fid=CLUB13500

Platinum (Star Alliance Gold)
- 1000000 Asiana and Star Alliance Miles or
- 1000 Asiana Trips

BMI

(Published Program)
http://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/rewa...embership.aspx

Lifetime Gold (Star Alliance Gold)
- 10 consecutive years as gold member

Continental Airlines

(Announced on flyertalk)
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=830159
{*Note, Continental announced June 19, 2008 that it intended to leave SkyTeam and become a member of Star Alliance. As such, the alliance elite levels will change to Star Silver & Star Gold however it is not known at this time which level will apply to each Onepass level.}

Lifetime Silver (SkyTeam Elite)
- 1 Million Elite Qualification Miles (EQM's) (from Continental and select partners)

Lifetime Gold (SkyTeam Elite)
- 2 Million Elite Qualification Miles (EQM's) (from Continental and select partners)

Lifetime Platinum (SkyTeam Elite+)
- 4 Million Elite Qualification Miles (EQM's) (from Continental and select partners)

Delta Airlines

(Published Program)
http://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_...ance/index.jsp

Complimentary Annual Silver (SkyTeam Elite)
- 1 Million Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM's) (from Delta and select partners)

Complimentary Annual Gold (SkyTeam Elite)
- 2 Million Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM's) (from Delta and select partners)

Complimentary Annual Platinum (SkyTeam Elite+)
- 4 Million Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM's) (from Delta and select partners)

Egypt Air

(Published Program) - Scheduled to join Star Alliance mid 2008
http://www.egyptairplus.com/CraneJSP/levels.html

Platinum (From 2009, Should be Star Gold)
- 1000000 Miles (In context appears to be flight miles. Unclear if miles on other Star Alliance airlines will count)

Korean Airlines

(Published Program)
http://www.koreanair.com/local/na/gd...g_sp_cb_mp.htm

Morning Calm Premium Club (SkyTeam Elite+)
- 500000 flown miles on Korean Air and/or SkyTeam

Million Miler Club (SkyTeam Elite+)
- 1000000 flown miles on Korean Air and/or SkyTeam

Lufthansa

(Unpublished Program)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=626541

Lifetime Senator (Star Alliance Gold)
- 10 years uninterrupted SEN (at age > 60 & at the time of application to be 'granted' that lifetime status) &
- min 1.000.000 status miles accrued
- customer must apply (ie it is not Automatic)

Philippine Airlines

(Published Program)
https://www.mabuhaymiles.com/mabuhay...nmilerpage.jsp

Million Miler
- 1000000 cumulative flight miles on Philippine Airlines

Qantas

(Published Program)
http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/...ivileges#jump3

Lifetime Silver (OneWorld Ruby)
- 7000 Lifetime Status Credits (earned from flying QF and select airline partners)

Lifetime Gold (OneWorld Sapphire) (inc. Qantas Club Membership)
- 14000 Lifetime Status Credits (earned from flying QF and select airline partners)

South African Airlines

(Published Program)
http://ww3.flysaa.com/voyager/Progra...ier_frame.html

Lifetime Platinum (Star Alliance Gold)
- 6 Consecutive Years of Platinum Status (with a minimum of 100,000 Tier miles on SAA per year or the appropriate tier sectors)

United Airlines

(Published Program)
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52380,00.html

Lifetime Premier Executive (Star Alliance Gold)
- 1 Million lifetime base flight miles (United, United Express and Ted flights only)

Lifetime Premier Executive (Star Alliance Gold) + Lifetime Red Carpet Club
- 2 Million lifetime base flight miles (United, United Express and Ted flights only)

Quasi-Lifetime Frequent Flyer Programs

AirTran A+

(Published Program*)
http://www.aplusrewards.com/a_reward...rewarding.aspx

Elite
- 20 Credits (base flight credits only) in 90 days or
- 50 Credits (base flight credits only) in 365 days
T&C's state: "If an Elite member earns fewer than 12 A+ Rewards flight credits in any given 12-month period following the member’s initial 12 months of Elite status, the member’s Elite status will expire at the beginning of the following calendar month and the member will be issued a Base member card. The member must then re-qualify for Elite status following the original rules. No exceptions will be made under any circumstances." However, this does policy does not appear to be enforced. It does however mean that the AirTran program cannot technically be defined as a lifetime program.

LIFETIME CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Continental Airlines Presidents Club
- Lifetime & Senior Lifetime options for sale with elite discounts available
- http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...nge/rates.aspx

Northwest Airlines Worldclub
- Lifetime for sale with elite discounts available
- https://www.nwa.com/services/bustrav...ubs/fees.shtml

Qantas Club
- Earn 14000 Lifetime status credits and receive lifetime Qantas Club Membership together with lifetime Gold Frequent Flyer Status
http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/...ivileges#jump3

United Airlines Red Carpet Club
- Earn 2 Million lifetime base flight miles (United, United Express and Ted flights only)
- http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52380,00.html

LIFETIME HOTEL STATUS

Hyatt Gold Passport

(Unpublished Program)

Lifetime Diamond
- 10 consecutive years as Diamond + 1 Million Points earned.

Marriott Rewards

(Unpublished Program)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139588

Silver Emeritus
1.5 Million earned points + 600 nights + 12 years as a member + at least 1 year as an earned Silver

Gold Emeritus
2 Million earned points + 800 nights + 12 years as a member + at least 1 year as an earned Gold

Platinum Emeritus
3 Million earned points + 1000 nights + 12 years as a member + at least 1 year as an earned Platinum

Hilton HHonors

(Published Program)
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthrea...time&page=5#75

Lifetime Silver
- Purchase and maintain ownership of any HGVC timeshare

Lifetime Gold
- Purchase and maintain ownership of $50,000+ in HGVC timeshare or
- Purchase and maintain ownership of $20,000+ in The Hilton Club New York

Credit Card Sponsored 'Life of Card Membership' Programs

JAL & ANA

JAL and ANA both maintain programs that offer extended elite membership to holders of specific credit cards - http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9366

Hilton HHonors

Silver Status
- holders of the US Citibank HHonors Visa card, US American Express HHonors card, German HHonors Credit Card from Bayerische Landesbank, Japanese HHonors Classic Card from Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. Ltd for the life of their card membership -
US Visa - https://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/c...o?screenID=933
US Amex - http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/about/creditamex.do
Germany - http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/...editgermany.do
Japan - http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/...creditjapan.do

Gold Status
- holders of the Japanese HHonors Gold Card from Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. Ltd or the Chairmans Card from Citi (US) for the life of their card membership
Japan - http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/...creditjapan.do
US Chairmans - https://www.citicards.com/cards/wv/c...o?screenID=945

Marriott Rewards

Silver Status +
- holders of the US Marriott Rewards Visa Signature card from Chase receive 10 nights credit towards elite per year (silver = 10 nights). (Also available with Business Visa)
Personal Card - http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webc...cont&mkid=64F6
Business Card - http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webc...cont&mkid=64F6

Silver Status +
- holders of the US Marriott Rewards Premier Visa Signature card from Chase receive 15 nights credit towards elite per year (silver = 10 nights)
http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webc...cont&mkid=64F6

Status from Platinum and Centurion American Express Cards

Both the American Express Platinum Charge Card and the Centurion Card offer complementary status in various programs. Both cards have high annual fees. Both cards require no specific activity with the airlines/hotels for this status. Note that the programs and levels offered by these cards do change from time to time. Also note that benefits vary by country of issue.

Centurion is said to offer Gold status on CO, VS, DL and SPG, and Platinum status with US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion_Card

Platinum Charge Card offers SPG gold (documented) and is said to offer VS Silver (undocumented)
https://www143.americanexpress.com/c...ARDS/137/1/0/8

Most 'Achievable' Airline 'True-Life' Programs

OneWorld

If flying premium classes Qantas Status credits allow fast status earning. eg - Lifetime Silver after 13 RT First Class LAX-SYD flights, Lifetime Gold after 26 (equivalent BIS mileage is 194,688 & 389,376).

Otherwise, AA status with miles from all sources is most achievable.

Star Alliance

10 years at gold with BMI is min 380,000 flight miles (38,000 min per year) from any Star Alliance airline.

SkyTeam

Korean Airlines Morning Calm Premium Club (SkyTeam Elite+) at 500,000 miles total on any alliance carriers is 8 times more achievable (for SkyTeam Elite+) than CO or DL programs.

pssst QFF lifetime silver is 7000 SCs and lifetime gold 14000 SCs

South African Airlines

(Published Program)

Platinum (Star Alliance Gold)
- 100000 Tier Miles (SA only) for 6 consecutive years

Ooops - I knew that, careless typo now fixed.

Added to table with link - and pleasantly surprised! (Note that it actually is 100,000 SAA tier miles OR six consecutive years as Platinum so 6 x 100,000 Star Alliance Miles). It seems that SAA lifetime Platinum is the easiest to achieve lifetime Star Gold of the listed programs.

100,000 SA miles is 7+ return JNB-NYC flights in any class! with a few thousand other miles from local or connecting flight (CPT etc) (Which at approx $2000 per return is lifetime Star Gold status for $14,000US!). MR anybody?

NOTE: I got the SAA info wrong. Its 6 years of the stated activity above so would cost (at current prices) $84,000 and take 6 years and require 7+ return JNB-NYC flights in each year. The BMI status is cheaper (although takes 10 years) - Star Alliance is definitely the hardest alliance to earn lifetime status on.

I was just thinking the same thing. I'll have to make up a few JHB trips and get this before it disappears!

Actually need six years of either {100k tier miles on SA only or required number of tier sectors for platinum}. Only SA counts for tier sectors.

Ah, - odd phrasing. Damn. The flysaa.com link states;

"To earn this coveted status, you will be required to earn 100 000 Tier Miles on the services of SAA only or the required Sector criteria for Platinum Status for six consecutive years."

Which I now see is meant to be;

6 Consecutive years at Platinum Status (earned via 100,000 Tier Miles or the required sector criteria EACH YEAR).

I'll correct the other entries.

Thought it was too good to be true

But with Asiana Club *G qualification at 100000 miles in 3 years, and re-qualification at only 40000 miles within the next 3 years, that is de facto lifetime in my eyes

These type of posts are some of the most useful ones on FT, in my opinion, and often require a considerable amount of work. Thanks to ANDREWCX for all the hard work in putting this together.

MS EgyptAir Plus (joins *A next month) is creating a lifetime status called Platinum for 1,000,000 miles in January 2009.

Link

Thanks,

I have updated.

Andrewcx, this is absolutely excellent ! Yes, it should be a sticky indeed... What can I say ? I guess we need you to also do a summary for status match. Well, whoever does them... another sticky I would really appreciate is on mileage expiry. I have so many smaller (but significant) quantities of miles in so many things (AZ, MS, ET, SQ, LA...) that I can't be bothered to check their expiry and sometimes get bad surprises.

Just one question: I assume that once you reach Lifetime Plat with AA, then any year when you qualify for Plat Exec, you go up to Plat Exec for the relevant year, and then down to Plat again for the rest, right ?

Cheers, and thanks again !

That's right. Lifetime status means "no less than," not "always exactly." You'll be Platinum in the second year for two or three reasons - lifetime status, AA's "soft landing" policy of dropping people no more than one level per year, and perhaps because you flew enough - but still just Platinum.

Wow, informative summary.
I am now intersted in learning more about Air China.
! million kilometers is 600,000 miles for lifetime *G. thats attainable. Their business class awards are also low, about 1.5 times the amount needed for economy class awards, compared to 2x that of many programs.

That is a lot of flying on Air China, especially if you are not based in north Asia