Yes, many thanks to FewMile's great site, and FlyerTalk... without both I would have never known of any Challenge... 21 December is the date I win the challenge for Platinum. Without any Challenge, I would have been about 3,000 miles shy of Platinum the old fashioned way.

Maple - sounds better if you can't make a longer flight for cheaper than the 3 round trips. I do sort of the same on my end... I fly PHX-SAN via LAX... fare is only $10 more than PHX-SAN non-stop (of which AA doesn't even fly) and rack up tons of minumum points.

If you look at it, PHX-SAN is about 400 miles. When flying via LAX roundtrip, it's 4 segments, 2,000 miles/Q-points. Add to that 1,000 miles online booking, and 25%-100% for elite status, and it can be anywhere from 3,500-5,000 miles, with 2,000 Q-points. Sure, it's $10 more per trip, and it takes 3 hours as opposed to 55 minutes nonstop, but 3,500-5,000 miles for a 400 mile trip isn't bad, eh? Plus, don't have to deal with WN or HP!

Many thanks to you FT'ers for showing us newbies all the tricks!

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preez mine da pratform gahp.