Well when I say that I have a "very low base" on QFF, I'm talking about just under 14,000 points, 280 lifetime SCs with none in the past year and 1 UC. I don't know whether that would qualify as substantial or not around these parts, but obviously it's something to build upon for the future!

My reasons for taking AA over the Atlantic? Well MRTC isn't really something I care about on daytime flights - the main reason is that I'm likely to be doing this the week after September 11, and if there's an atmosphere of high terror alert BA's record of yanking US flights at the last minute during such periods isn't encouraging. In any event the flight schedules on AA are more convenient for me, but if you strongly recommend BA Economy instead I'm prepared to consider it.

And can I ask what the AA Platinum Challenge actually is, or is the answer something obvious that I've missed?

Thanks for the advice, BTW.