Thanks for the suggestions. I was hoping against hope that CO would take my America West miles, and now I'm depressed. What I want to do is start buying HK - USA coach tickets on CO and use my HP miles to upgrade. But if CO won't let me exchange the miles, can I do that? (I told you I'm a newbie.) And when you say I should ask AA or CO to comp me gold status, where do I begin? Do I just call their offices here in HK and ask who to talk to? Should I go there in person and try to charm them? Again, pardon my ignorance here. Thanks truly.