aiseri

I just did an American Airline Challenge. I wanted to share what happened while it is fresh on my mind. I put a lot of charges on credit cards each year, but I found that using a dedicated airline card like American, Alaska or Delta card is not the best of all deals. I use “Gift” cards like Quicken, US Bank, Jupiter, American Express Accolade and First Hawaiian. Generally, each of these cards will give you $100 credit toward any airline any time. When I purchase tickets on American, the card uses a travel service and debits my account for the cost of the ticket. I receive FF points for the ticket. In a way I am double dipping by getting mileage for my use of a credit card. My wife and I fly together on the same ticket. Our situation is Jan 1 to Mar 28, 2010 we travel 7 legs of LAX to HNL for 2556 miles per leg. All were set up by the travel agent above. Here is what I learned:
• The cost of a gold challenge is $80 and the platinum is $150.
• The first rep was new and signed both of us up for a gold challenge at $80/person.
• I called again and the second rep gave us “Immediate Gold Status” for $150 by was of a platinum challenge for me only. She left the gold challenge for my wife because she could not change it. As it turns out I don’t need my wife’s gold challenge and I paid $80 more than I should.
• When you use a credit gift card above to pay for the tickets, you get fares in “Q” class for .5 points per mile.
• One of the travel agents used the Alaska Airline site to book the American flights. This resulted in a ticket that was not qualified for the challenge. Be careful if you use the above credit card methods.
• I mentioned that I was a MVP gold on another airline and she gave me the gold status for signing up for the platinum challenge although I know that I will fail it. She stated that the gold status would be good for the entire year. We will see. If it fails, my wife will qualify for Gold Status.