Getting Star Alliance Gold Status easier.

[Rockheart]

Star Alliance Gold Status is great to have when travelling around the world.
You get priority boarding and check in plus extra baggage allowance on all Star alliance airlines.
Best thing is you can get into all the lounges for free with Star Alliance Gold in pretty much any major airport.
More opportunities for upgrades and other perks.

I had Star Alliance Gold for years through Air Canada and had to get 35000 miles at that time.
Recently they raised the minimum for Star Alliance Gold to 50000 miles which is hard for me to Achieve.
So now I only have Star Alliance Silver which isn't much, although I get additional benefits and upgrades on Air Canada.
Also 25% of my flight miles need to be on Air Canada.
Star Alliance Gold has saved my bacon a couple times when Suvarnabhumi Airport was super busy and i was able to bypass the economy line.
It is also the largest and best of the Airline networks.

Here is a good link describing easier ways to attain Star Alliance Gold. Some of it has change due to pressure from the other airlines.
Agean was super easy but still can be leveraged to get the status easier.

http://maphappy.org/2012/06/quickest-way-earn-star-alliance-gold/

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/06/10/star-alliance-gold-status-aegean-airlines/

http://www.ausbt.com.au/aegean-miles-bonus-clamps-down-on-easy-star-alliance-gold-status

[Rockheart]

Avianca airlines recently joined the Star Alliance and they are now offering out right purchase of Star Alliance Gold.
They also have lower quotas for star alliance gold than many other airlines.

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2014/04/01/avianca-lifemiles-selling-star-alliance-gold-status/

The cost to outright purchase Silver status is $1,200, while the cost to outright purchase Gold status is $2,200.

https://www.lifemiles.com/eng/tra/pro/proofenot.aspx?D=NTI4

Not sure how valuable this is unless maybe you were taking a big world trip and had no airline status.
It doesn't take much to get Star alliance gold on most airlines.

I reached Star Alliance Silver this year by reaching Altitude 35K Status on Air Canada.
Then that allowed me to buy a Maple leaf club pass for half price ($300).
With Silver and the Maple leaf club I get pretty much the same benefits as Star Alliance Gold.

https://www.airclublounge.com/AIMSClubWWSSL/WebACClub/WebTransaction/Eng/

[northernguy222]

Another Option

I don't fly enough to get Star Alliance Silver or Gold, but one way to get very similar benefits is to get the AMEX Aeroplan Platinum card. You get free access to Maple Leaf lounges. You get access to Priority Pass lounges too, but will have to pay somewhere around $27 a visit. It comes with other perks too, like a 2 for 1 short haul flight, priority check in, and perhaps some free baggage allowance. (not sure about that last one)

It is a pricey card at $499/year, but you also get 40,000 aeroplan points. Collect another 35,000 and you have a trip to LOS)

[Rockheart]

I don't fly enough to get Star Alliance Silver or Gold, but one way to get very similar benefits is to get the AMEX Aeroplan Platinum card. You get free access to Maple Leaf lounges. You get access to Priority Pass lounges too, but will have to pay somewhere around $27 a visit. It comes with other perks too, like a 2 for 1 short haul flight, priority check in, and perhaps some free baggage allowance. (not sure about that last one)

It is a pricey card at $499/year, but you also get 40,000 aeroplan points. Collect another 35,000 and you have a trip to LOS)

It's not hard to get Star Alliance Silver since you only need 25000 miles on Air Canada.
One return trip to Thailand can give you nearly 20,000 miles.
2 trips to Thailand used to get me Star Alliance Gold when you only needed 35,000 miles.
Now Air canada raised it to 50,000 miles for gold.

Problem with access to Maple Leaf lounges is they are only in Canada, Paris and England basically.
You haven't lived until you have tried the Thai airways lounges in Bangkok and Hong Kong.

[Rockheart]

I'm getting fed up with Air Canada. You cannot get good upgrades at all anymore, and the upgrade points are just a farce. You can basically buy upgrades to business class for the same price with or without upgrade points. They make it harder and harder to get status every year and you get less and less.
My only problem is being stuck in a city in the middle of Canada there is not much other choice. There is cheaper and better airline options from Vancouver or Toronto but I have to get there first. Air Canada makes it a good deal to fly to Vancouver included in my international flight so it is tough for me to go with any other airline.

My last trip I paid for business class on my trip back from Bangkok flat out and it was not that great. Asiana airlines screwed up my itinerary by checking my bags out in Korea. So I had to mess around with immigration to retrieve my bags. When i complained to Air Canada they sluffed me off to Asiana airlines. It may have been Asianas fault but I bought the business class ticket from Air Canada. No support from good old AC. The business class suites on the new dream liner are much nicer but the actual service in business class has slipped. They are very cheap compared to just a few years ago.

I'll be exploring other options for my next trip. The urge to get star alliance gold with Air Canada is pretty low when you consider all the hassle now to get it.

[rxpharm]

Unfortunately to obtain status for 2017, Air Canada has introduced changes that will make it a bit more difficult. In addition to miles flown or segments, there is also now a requirement to have Altitude Qualifying Dollars. Basically this means spending enough on Air Canada tickets (can be code share although with AC as the primary carrier) to meet the new levels. I am attaching a screen shot of the new requirements.

AC Changes.JPG