Earning Elite Status with three US Airlines

American Airlines

New to 2017 for the Aadvantage program is a spending requirement to earn Elite status. To qualify, passengers must earn at least 25,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) and spend at least $3,000 in Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs).
American Airlines will let you earn up to $6,000 dollars in EQDs by spending at least $50,000 on their branded credit card. If you only spend up to $25,000 on the card you’ll have to make do with $3,000 in credit. So if you’re looking to earn Executive Platinum status with American Airlines, you’ll have to fork out over $12,000 before taxes to meet the threshold, or $6000 to American + $50,000 spend on your credit card.

Delta

To qualify for medallion status on Delta you will need at least 25,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) and you’ll have had to spend $3000 Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs). So that doesn’t mean that all the miles you earn on your flight will automatically count towards elite status, nor does it mean that your entire ticket cost will count as your MQD spend. The fine print defines MQMs and MQDs pretty rigidly so you’ll have to do your homework to make sure you are going to qualify.
One thing delta does do, is give its SkyMiles members outside of the US a break. These customers don’t have to meet the MQD requirements. Holders of a Delta-branded American Express card can also be exempt from the MQD requirements for their tier if they spend at least $25,000 on the card in a year.
Delta will also roll-over miles earned above the qualification threshold to next year.

United Airlines

To earn premier status in United’s frequent flyer program, Mileage Plus, you’ll need to earn 25,000 Premier Qualifying Miles (PQMs), and spend $3,000 Premier Qualifying Dollars (PQDs) within the calendar year. Pretty much the same as Delta, but the website doesn’t list exemptions for non-US residents and credit card customers.