Gold/Platinum Challenge sanity check please!?!

 
Old Mar 16, 2005, 7:02 am
  #1  
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Gold/Platinum Challenge sanity check please!?!

Hello AA experts,

I have a few trips to Europe planned in the next couple of months and am planning to do one or both of the Challenges. I was hoping some kind soul would do a sanity check of my plan before I take the plunge and call AA.

Here's the deal:

I am definitely going to Paris business class, leaving March 19. My corporate travel agent is booking the flight. I believe I will get 150% miles for the RT which should be just over 10,000 Q-points.

I am PROBABLY going to Paris business class again, leaving April 9 or 10 and returning April 22. This trip is confirmed but not booked so who knows if I'll end up flying AA. It's not guaranteed.

I am definitely flying AA again in May to Rome, departing May 27, and returning June 1. I booked this flight myself but had to use an AA agent so I didn't get any extra points or anything for booking it online.

It seems to me that I could go straight to Platinum just with the first flight, right? I could also go Gold after the first leg so I'd be Platinum for the return but I can't think why I'd bother - are there any benefits to being Platinum over Gold when flying Europe-->US? There is no separate First Class on any of these flights I will be taking.

Am I thinking about this the right way? Have I left out some important fact? Experts, my status is in your hands ...

Thanks so much,

Truly
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 7:08 am
  #2  
dmc
 
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If the round trip will net you you 10k points, then yes, you *could* beat the gold challenge on the outbound leg solo....but why?

For me, I would just sign up for the plat challenge and call it a day.....and congratulations on when you finish!
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 8:35 am
  #3  
 
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Round trip NY-Paris in business is enough for the PLT challenge. The only benefit to signing up for a simultaneous GLD challenge would be a 25% mileage bonus for one leg of the flight. Not really worth the effort. If it were me (and I've challenged to PLT based on a r/t to Europe), I'd just sign up for PLT.

By the way, getting through CDG on arrival is usually very easy. On the return it can be a real mess - leave plenty of time.
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 8:51 am
  #4  
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Thanks guys - I can't believe this is so easy.

So once I go Platinum, will that help me at all on my next two trips (Paris business class and Rome coach)? I've never had status before on ANY airline so I have no idea what to expect. I wouldn't get upgraded from coach on the flight to Rome for example, right?

- Truly
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 9:07 am
  #5  
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One small pause for thought: if you have more flights planned later this year, and Challenge on or after June 16 (2005), you get Platinum through next year and Feb 28 2007, rather than merely Feb 28 2006 as you will when you Challenge in April.

To retain status past Feb 28 2006, you will have to fly 50,000 miles / earn 50,000 points / fly 60 segments this calendar year - though OTOH, with THREE of those flights, depending on where you are flying from and the fare class you are flying to Rome, you may earn enough points (or get close to it if you add a domestic flight or two) this year to carry status over into 2007 anyway.

One of the several benefits of Plat will be status over Golds if you choose to upgrade to F with miles... or upgrade from Coach to Business to Rome. (As to your question about signing up for both Challenges concurrently, 1) sign up for the Platinum Challenge first, so if you get the occasional miles guardian on the phone, they won't deny you because you are already signed up for Gold, 2) some of us would just to get the 25% bonus on the flight to Paris.

It sounds to me you are occasionally confusing points and miles, BTW. You get 1000 bonus (non-elite qualifying) miles for booking on line, not any points. In Business Class, you do earn 1.5 points per EQM (Elite-Qualifying Miles) and you will earn a 25% class-of-service bonus (non EQ) and when you become Platinum, even on the qualifying flight, 100% Platinum bonus (non-EQ) miles. The Challenge, as you have implied, is all about EQP (points) and not miles, earned within a ninety day period of beginning your Challenge.

Yeah, this is verbose - but IMO it helps to strategize once one has a goal, so one can maximise it. Good luck!

Last edited by JDiver; Mar 16, 2005 at 11:00 am Reason: correct detail on beginning Challenge
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 9:20 am
  #6  
 
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Originally Posted by JDiver
One small pause for thought: if you have more flights planned later this year, and Challenge after June 16, you get Platinum through next year and Feb 28 2007, rather than merely Feb 28 2006 as you will when you Challenge in April.
Can you sign up for a challenge starting June 16 and stay PLT to 2007, or do you have to sign up for a challenge starting July 1 or later? You say challange after June 16.
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 9:22 am
  #7  
 
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Originally Posted by Truly
I wouldn't get upgraded from coach on the flight to Rome for example, right?

- Truly
You have that right.
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 9:49 am
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The only thing I would say is that, if you sign up for GLD and PLT simultaneously, your ~5000 miles on the way home will put you halfway toward your first set of 4 upgrade stickers. Plus, 1250 GLD bonus miles are 1250 GLD bonus miles. You also get a small bonus for finishing each challenge.
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 9:54 am
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I am in a very similar position - starting 1-2 monthly J trips LAX-FCO. I called to sign up for both, with the knowledge that shold there be any resistance by the CSR I would not bother for the Gold Challenge at the same time purely for the 25% bonus on the outbound leg. She had no problem and enrolled me in both.

I had no issue with challenging post Jun 16 as I will most certainly attain Plat on qpoints this year anyway, and in fact should attain EXP by Jul (in combination with the DONE4 I am doing for leisure).
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 10:37 am
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Originally Posted by AAND
The only thing I would say is that, if you sign up for GLD and PLT simultaneously, your ~5000 miles on the way home will put you halfway toward your first set of 4 upgrade stickers. Plus, 1250 GLD bonus miles are 1250 GLD bonus miles. You also get a small bonus for finishing each challenge.
Actually I guess I was slightly wrong - if your GLD status posts after the first leg, you will get the GLD bonus for the first leg and the PLT for the second. By signing up for both, you would have your first set of 4 stickers upon returning to the US.
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 10:52 am
  #11  
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Thanks all. One more question - if I want to sign up for the Challenge effective March 16, do I have to call before March 16 (because that is today!) or can I call tomorrow?

- Jennifer
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 10:57 am
  #12  
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Jennifer,

You MIGHT be able to call tomorrow, but you will be safer if you call today. Retroactivity has been allowed, but I think it's about the agent and their disposition that day.


richarddd,

You can sign up and begin your Challenge June 16 and get the status you earn through February 28, 2007. FewMiles' Challenge page states that as well.

Specifically, FewMiles says: "Start date - You can choose to start your Challenge on the 1st or 16th date of any month. The start date you choose determines how long your elite status will last. Challenges started in the first half of the calendar year (01Jan - 01Jun) will give you elite status to the end of the current membership year only. Challenges started in the latter half of the calendar year (16Jun - 16Dec) will earn you elite status for the remainder of the current membership year as well as for the following membership year."
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 11:42 am
  #13  
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Originally Posted by AAND
Actually I guess I was slightly wrong - if your GLD status posts after the first leg, you will get the GLD bonus for the first leg and the PLT for the second. By signing up for both, you would have your first set of 4 stickers upon returning to the US.
No, no, no. Bonus miles do NOT count as "Miles Towards Gold / Platinum / Executive Platinum Upgrades", only butt-in-seat miles, and only miles earned after you qualify for Elite. So assuming Truly is flying JFK-CDG (she never states her domestic origin), that's about 3,635 miles each way, so only 7,270 miles toward upgrades after the first round trip, IF she signs up for Gold and Platinum simultaneous challenges. A good reason to push for the dual-track challenge.

Originally Posted by Truly
So once I go Platinum, will that help me at all on my next two trips (Paris business class and Rome coach)? I've never had status before on ANY airline so I have no idea what to expect. I wouldn't get upgraded from coach on the flight to Rome for example, right?
Platinum won't really help you on your CDG trip in J, except the 100% bonus miles. However, on your coach trip to Rome, you will get to use (a) business class check-in, (b) priority security line, and (c) the Admiral's Club lounge. All very valuable perks. Obviously you get all these perks as part of the J ticket to CDG. In terms of an upgrade on the FCO trip, your Platinum status puts you higher in the pecking order of operational upgrades, if they need to do them because coach is oversold, but don't count on it. There are apparently a number of factors that go into who gets these op ups and it's often at the gate agent's discretion.
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 4:26 pm
  #14  
 
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Originally Posted by ijgordon
No, no, no. Bonus miles do NOT count as "Miles Towards Gold / Platinum / Executive Platinum Upgrades", only butt-in-seat miles, and only miles earned after you qualify for Elite. So assuming Truly is flying JFK-CDG (she never states her domestic origin), that's about 3,635 miles each way, so only 7,270 miles toward upgrades after the first round trip, IF she signs up for Gold and Platinum simultaneous challenges. A good reason to push for the dual-track challenge.
Who ever said they did? And let's assume she's flying DFW-CDG (4,948) instead, since you kindly point out that she doesn't mention it. That would give her 9,896 miles toward upgrades on her return... if she signed up for both challenges (making GLD status post on the way over and thereby counting those BIS miles toward upgrades), which is exactly what I said. Let's all try to read posts before we criticize too openly - a simple "I think it actually works this way" would have done nicely, and in this case the reply is not even applicable.

Last edited by AAND; Mar 16, 2005 at 4:28 pm
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Old Mar 16, 2005, 5:52 pm
  #15  
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Ah, well, if AA can have flames in a 777 port engine at EZE, we can certainly have a few here...

Cheers, all!
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