#9: Get elite status fast

A lot of newbie business travelers get bogged down by the fact that it feels like it takes forever to get frequent flyer and hotel statuses which unlock expedited security, check-in, upgrades, etc. In reality, there’s almost always a way to fast track your ability to get status. For example, American, Delta and United airlines offer status challenges meant to entice frequent flyers to shift loyalty by giving them a quicker route to obtaining status. If you can prove that you’re a valuable customer by flying a certain number of legs or miles within a 2–3 month period, you can gain status relatively quickly. Most major hotel loyalty programs offer similar challenges as well (SPG, is a good example).

In order to participate, you may have to prove that you already have elite tier status with a competitor. Since they have no way of verifying this information however the burden of proof is pretty low.

Read more about status challenges and match programs here.