Spend your way to Elite Status

Usually people earns airline elite status by flying a lot, and they earn hotel elite status by booking many stays.  ThePointsGuy, though, shows that if you are a big spender, you can achieve elite status on several airlines and hotels simply by charging to the right credit cards: http://thepointsguy.com/2011/10/sunday-reader-question-how-can-you-spend-your-way-to-elite-status/