Originally Posted by oklAAhoma

Is this a trick question? Or am I just so tired I am missing something obvious?

If I understand correctly you have a round trip scheduled that will consist of 4 segments. STL-DFW, DFW-EGE, EGE-DFW, DFW-STL. As you mentioned, each segment earns a minimum of 500 EQP. According to my calculations 4 X 500 = 2000 EQP. If you are 1998 EQP short before the start of this trip, you should have 2 extra EQP at the end of it. Don't spend them all in one place.