I wonder if these are correct as they stand. There are several lower fare class inventories these could book in, but Search will reveal there are ways to upfare without cost.
The only tickets not qualified for a Challenge are O (Oscar) between North and Latin America, some consolidator fares and tickets not booked on American Airlines.
Five LAX-HLN r/ts (approx. 5,110 miles r/t) would grant one a minimum of 12,500 points, more or less - over five months insufficient to complete a Platinum Challenge (you'd have to complete them in three months.) Upfaring to a 1:1 EQM:EQP fare would certainly change this.
Originally Posted by aiseri
• 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.