Originally Posted by FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

I called AA several days ago to ask this same question (after not getting a definitive response here on the boards). They say it will nominally take 6--8 weeks for the double miles to post, but that it should take sooner and that the miles should count for this year's elite qualification. More importantly, for ELTRW, the January 9 deadline is just to prevent people from calling in April saying they flew but just never thought to check their miles until now and to do some retroactive magic to give them the rewards. The lady told me that ELTRW was designed with DBLEQ in mind and even if you fly on Dec 15, the double miles should post and count towards your count for ELTRW. If it doesn't, call them up and they'll gladly fix it right away, as long as you do it _before_ January 9.

It sounds like the wording for Jan 9 is just there to make their lives easier afterwards and prevent forgetful people from giving them headaches down the road.