Boost your Star status for $880

Which alliance makes it easiest to earn elite status? The answer changes constantly as individual airlines introduce special promotions, but at the moment Star Alliance looks like a strong contender, thanks to the “Hop, Skip & Jump” promotion from US Airways.

The program is a little complicated, but basically you are awarded for flying a variety of routes. Each different route type counts as either a hop, skip or jump, and once you’ve completed four such flights, you’re automatically bumped up one elite level for all of 2011.

What does that mean in dollar terms? We played around with various itineraries, and in less than 30 minutes discovered a way to boost our elite level for just $880. Needless to say, individual results will vary based largely on your originating airport. Here’s what our itinerary looks like:

• “Hop” within the Eastern US — Fort Lauderdale to Washington National for $195
• Continue to Boston with a “Skip” aboard the US Airways Shuttle for $179 (booked as a separate itinerary)
• Next weekend, “Jump” on a new route — Melbourne, Fla, to Charlotte for $177
• Continue with a “Hop” to the Caribbean — CLT to Nassau, Bahamas, for $329 (booked as a separate itinerary)

That works out to two nights, eight flight segments and 5,060 miles to earn elite status that lasts through Feb. 29, 2012.

As we’ve noted before, Silver-level status doesn’t amount to much in the Star Alliance, so if you’re starting from zero, this might not be worth the effort. But if you are already Silver and looking to upgrade to the valuable benefits of Star Gold, we don’t know of a quicker, cheaper way to do it.

(Note: Our thanks to Frequent Flyer Bonuses for alerting us to this promotion.)