Originally Posted by
timkirk
I called today and was told that it was too late to change it to a PLT challenge.
However, the AA customer service rep did tell me that if I reach 10,000 EQPs before July 31st, I can simply pay an extra $80, upgrade to the PLT challenge, and immediately get PLT status.
I think that is true as long as you call before the end of the challenge. OTOH, there was a report a while back that if you started a PLT challenge but only flew 5K, you could still get gold. Since the rep you talked to contradicted that, I'm not sure what to think. If it makes you too nervous, you can call back and try to get another rep to upgrade the challenge immediately.
Originally Posted by
timkirk
why would anyone pay the $180 upfront, with the possiblility of attaining nothing, when they could simply start with the GLD challenge
As pandaperth said, many people complete a PLT challenge in a single roundtrip. Others might have enough travel already booked that flying 10K is virtually certain.