Originally Posted by gelatinousfury

I need 12,500 EQM's for an AA Platinum challenge and I'd like to knock it all out in one go. To this end, I'm willing to pay a little extra for business/first class so I get 2x EQM's and minimize my time expenditure.

Departure Airport: BNA, HSV, BHM, CHA
Miles Needed: 12,500 AA EQM'S
Required Spend or Budget: $1,200 or below
Available Travel Dates: 1/1/2017 through 2/10/2017, with total travel time minimized as much as possible
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: Anything that earns AA EQM's

So far, this is the best run I've found, bookable through AA's website:

HSV-CLT-PHX-SEA-LAX-ORD-HSV

Depart 1/30 at 6:03 AM
Return 1/31 at 12:18 PM

First class on every flight.

Ticket price $1,168.10 and 13,916 EQM's earned, which comes to 0.084 cents/EQM. If anyone can beat this, I'd love to hear about it!