Guy, I sit corrected. Thought it sounded too generous a promo, but read the very fine print and you are correct.

I did a bit more digging as per your suggestion on the AA Plat challenge option and looks like a real winner. My friends will earn approx 10628 miles YVR-HKG-BNE and therefore qualify for plat and enjoy some perks on return. The friends are not FF types, so had to explain it in layman's terms, which was harder than it sounds. I'm used to dealing with quite knowledgable FT types who know what Q miles are or have comitted the elite levels to memory.

I'd forgotten about that little AA Plat challenge gem as not an active AA flyer (since they don't serve YEG anymore). So thanks for the tip!