US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Silver AND Gold in one quarter?

My associate was never preferred before. Did the Silver challenge fot the 4th quarter and is now listed as Silver. Is it possible for my associate to get Gold if he flies another 12,500 miles in the remainder of the year or can he only go up one level from DM? If he can get Gold where would they start counting the 12,500 miles or would they just look for a total of 18750 miles(12,500+6,250)in the 4th quarter?

Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the counter doesn't restart once you get the initial silver status. At least that's the way I understand it. I'm in the middle of the silver/gold challenge right now. During the quarter of the challenge if you fly 6,250 miles you're awarded silver status. Fly a total of 12,500 and you get gold status. Should you reach either milestone before the end of the quarter your status is upgraded at that time.

I just finished STL-PHL-MAD-PHL-STL and should have around 9,000 miles, enough for silver status. I'm now debating whether to take a cheap mileage run before the end of November to get the remaining 3,500. Apparently they sweep accounts around the end of the month, so by getting gold prior to the end of November will get me a gold package with SWU's etc sometime in December. (I hope)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tfjim:
Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the counter doesn't restart once you get the initial silver status.</font>Hmmm... quite interesting this is. I would think and hope that if you were "To go for the Gold" and only flew 9000 miles, you'd be up the proverbial creek.

US gives you the opporunity to Challenge for Preferred Status w/ IMHO very easy targets, and if you don't do it, that's poor planning or bad luck.

I think it should be the policy that once you set the goal of Gold, you get it or you don't.

When I called to sign up for the challenge it wasn't presented as an "either-or" proposition. The CSR didn't ask me if I was going for Gold or Silver.

It seemed to me to be "fly between 6,250 miles and 12,500 miles (or segments) and get Silver, fly more than 12,500 in the quarter, get Gold. If you get to those levels prior to the end of the quarter you can call and they will enter the miles into the challenge counter and you will be afforded the appropriate status level.

So the key would seem to be to not call prior to the point you have the points requisite to the status level you want. Otherwise, wait to end of the quarter and I assume the system will "sweep" for qualification.

Personally, I think it makes sense to go for Gold. It should cost me about $200 more than Silver, I believe I get more domestic upgrade certificates (which I most likely won't use as my company flies us first class anyway), and if I don't qualify next year for status hopefully they'll only "downgrade" me to Silver for 2003.

I was under the impression that the counter didn't reset. Can anyone answre this definitively?

I have 13 segments on US now. I'm flying 4 more at the end of the month. Without calling, it already bumped me up to Silver Preferred on their web site, so I definitely made that level. Assuming my counter doesn't reset I'm good for gold. If the counter resets after making silver, though, I'll be at 7 segments and 9800 miles.

I just checked the website and I have been moved to Silver status as a result of the flying I did this past weekend. Got 8,990 miles STL-PHL-MAD-PHL-STL. Ticket was $527, no bargain, but I bought it on Tuesday and left Thursday and returned Monday.

So now anticipating that I only need 3,510 more miles to make Gold I've got STL-PIT-PHX-PIT-STL reserved for the 23rd. That's worth 4,733 miles. Bought that ticket tonight for $231 using Turkey fare, going and returning on the 23rd, a pure mileage run.

In addition to the base miles I presume I'll get the double miles bonus. When will that post?

And the Madrid flight was my first online purchase, and the Phoenix flight will be my second online purchase. That's 3,000 miles each.

And I get 50% mile bonus for Silver for the Phoenix flight, right? So that's another 2,300 miles.

Grand total is 35,746. I get Gold (hopefully a package in December with SWU, then another next year) status for $750. Please note I've been a TWA flyer up to now but don't feel any particular affinity for AA so there's a good chance some of my flying will go US' way thanks to the Gold status.

Thanks US and everyone on this board. This promo works for me and hopefully US, too.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ebell:
I was under the impression that the counter didn't reset. Can anyone answre this definitively?

I have 13 segments on US now. I'm flying 4 more at the end of the month. Without calling, it already bumped me up to Silver Preferred on their web site, so I definitely made that level. Assuming my counter doesn't reset I'm good for gold. If the counter resets after making silver, though, I'll be at 7 segments and 9800 miles.</font>

Look, Ma, I'm responding to my own post, a sure sign of madness.

Just for the sense of posterity, the counter on the silver/gold challenge does not reset after you make silver. I flew 13 segments to reach silver, it registered silver on the web site, then a few weeks later I flew 4 more segments, and it soon after registered gold on the web site.

ebell,

Glad it worked out correctly for you, better than having to fly more miles. From the sound of it there is a possibility you will get a Silver welcome package in the mail (I did) due to the timing of your qualification. I'm now waiting for my Gold card in the mail. Wondering what will be in that package? And then another package next year.

Well, I have to say I really like it when things work out this way. I signed up for the Silver/Gold challenge prior to my flights to Madrid in early November. I returned from there on November 12th and was almost immediately upgraded to Silver.

Because I was really shooting for Gold I didn't really consider the possibility that I would receive a Silver card and package. I even bought a ticket to Phoenix over Thanksgiving weekend to make the 12,500 miles. I flew those flights and my status on the website was upgraded to Gold by November 29th. I was pleasantly surprised when on December 1st I received my Silver card and welcome package with (2) SWU's and (2) upgrades. I wondered if this would affect the contents of the Gold welcome package I expected to receive.

Well, this afternoon my mail contained my Gold welcome package complete with (2) SWU's and (2) upgrades. This is a good thing, and I'm sure a fluke of timing with the Gold/Silver challenge here at the end of the year. Thanks USAirways.

Now, the Gold card I received says valid through 02/28/03, will I still receive another annual package sometime in February or March? If that's the case, great! 6 SWU's will keep me busy flying to Europe this year.

I received the following this year:

Silver I: Jan 2001 (qualified 11/2000)
Silver II: March 2001
Gold: August 2001 (qualified July 2001)

Should get Chairman's in about 4-6 weeks (just qualified a couple days ago)and one more kit in March 2002. All the Silvers & Gold each had 2 SWU's for a total of 6. Used all of them for upgrades to Envoy to Europe this year. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif