RustyC,

There are two elite years.

Elite Qualification year is a hard calendar year 1/1 thru 12/31.

The elite benefit year runs from 3/1 thru 2/28 of the following year.

So the answer to your question is No. You do not have until March to make elite using this years mileage. The counter resets to zero on 1/1.

However, when you make elite for the first time, you get elite status for that benefit year and the next benefit year as well. For example, if a member who has no status flies 25,000 miles in March of next year, they are Silver for the remainder of the 2001 eilte year (3/1 thru 2/28/02). They also will be Silver for the following elite year (3/1/2002 thru 2/28/2003). They would need to fly at least 25,000 miles between 1/1/2002 and 12/31/2002 to remain elite beyond 2/28/2002. Of course if at any time they fly enough miles to be Gold or Platinum, they will jump to that catagory.

It is not as confusing as it sounds. Just slightly less confusing than the tax code.