Elements of this post have been made elsewhere, but I figure they justify their own little corner.

The first is that 2T (Canada3000) flights (complete with COS bonuses) do qualify for tier status on AA -- for details see: http://www.aa.com . (Sorry, I tried the URL, but it was so grotesquely long, well, you know. Anyway, it just confirms what I said above.)

Secondly, here is a short table showing routes and costs for attaining different AA status levels:

AA Gold, 2 trips on YVR-AMS, $1128 + minimal taxes
AA Platinum, 4 trips on YVR-AMS, $2256 + minimal taxes
AA Executive Platinum, 10 trips on YVR-MUC, $5690 + minimal taxes

All of these are walk up "Instant Purchase" fares in Economy, with no minimum stay, meaning you could get back on the same plane to come home immediately.

Need I say more?

[This message has been edited by Ken hAAmer (edited 05-29-2001).]

Ken, what are you doing to us!

You are going to make all of us FT's exec. plat on all of the major airlines.

Keep up the good work, before our wives find out and keep us locked inside the house.

Love it when Ken puts the hAAmer down.As always,no pun intended.

I've just been looking at fewmiles' AA summary pages and I had one clarification question. Is it the case that AA Platinum do not get AC access in NA lounges unless they have purchased a lounge membership? That's the way it looks, but I wasn't certain.

I think he's trying to make us all AA converts to avenge AC's killing the MHD

Correct. I believe it is for some legal reason that the airlines cannot give you a lounge membership with elite status. At any rate, non of the major U.S. airlines do.

Does AA waive the 4-flights-on-AA (re)qualification rule for Canadian members? I have to add a CDG-JFK-EZE run to get the mileage and flight requirement (minimal stay (can arrive Sunday, leave Sunday) for USD 780 inc. taxes.

Regardless of where you live, you need at least 4 segments per year on AA metal in order to maintain/earn your AA elite status. So, to make 10 trips on 2T to earn EXP does not get you there at all.

AAdvantage Platinum provides oneworld lounge access when travelling on any oneworld carrier to any destination outside of North America.

As for free lounge memberships, TWA provides free Ambassadors Club access to their top tier members, and US Airways has been known to provide free memberships to their top tier members.

I don't think AA will waive the "minimum 4 AA segment" requirement. It doesn't matter though, as this is easy to achieve. Just do one of your trips via the US, e.g. YYC-ORD-LHR-ORD-YYC and that'll get you the 4 segments in one trip.

Do it on a Net sAAver fare and you'll get plenty of bang for the buck.

Better yet, go for a Gold or Plat challenge and the "minimum 4 AA segment" rule doesn't apply for the challenge. Just get 4 AA segments to requalify for the next year. This is your shortest route to elite status on AA.

FewMiles..

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FlyerTalkers' Resources on the Web: http://fewmiles.tripod.com/
Unofficial Guide to AAdvantage: http://fewmiles.tripod.com/AA/
Unofficial oneworld Info Desk: http://fewmiles.tripod.com/oneworld/

Perhaps if the AC lurkers carefully read these postings, they will realize that FF now have alternatives. Keep it up gang and put the pressure on AC. We will all be winners... I too am AA Platinum. I love to hedge my bets.

Indeed! "Don't get mad, get even."

I presume that in this case, AC=Admirals Club.

In any case, that is true. AA members do not get access to North American lounges, AA, oneworld, or otherwise, unless in J or F class on a trans-oceanic flight. However, anyone can purchase an Admirals Club membership, which can be used at any time, regardless of which airline you are flying or even if you are flying at all. This is essentially the same as the AC SE MLL lounge benefit, except that it can be purchased.

No, but as others have suggested it should be easy to achieve. Keep in mind that essentially any flight with an AA flight number will qualify, regardless of the carrier or fare paid.

Here's an example that took me about 5 minutes to find: YYZ-NYC-BOS, for about $350CAD return, taxes in. You'd have to stayover a Saturday night, but you'd have your 4 AA flights for little money and little time. Note that this is not a special fare, but a published fare on a scheduled flight.

So in the end, you might need to do a little bit of fine tuning, but you could have full lounge access and AA status, still for very few dollars.

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Options. Try one today.

[This message has been edited by Ken hAAmer (edited 05-29-2001).]

For people that buy J tickets, BA Executive Club is the easiest program to hit top tier with North America travel. For example, an existing Silver card holder needs 500 points to requalify. F class on CX between JFK and YVR gets you 180 points PER SEGMENT. And BA's top tier members get free lounge access (and unlimited free drink chits) in all Admirals Clubs, and Flagship Lounges when travelling internationally.

Food for thought...

[oops]

[This message has been edited by Fly Boy (edited 05-29-2001).]

Problem is, that 3 ow F tickets on that route would cost over $13,000.