Hi all:

Until last month I hadn't flown on AA in years - I did UA a lot and then pretty much stopped flying altogether for the last few years, except some occasional flights to see family on CO which I bought with amex miles.

Since I'm making frequent trips LAX to JFK, I decided to look at my options for getting status and upgrades and decided (after scanning through FT) that doing the AA PLT challenge would be the easiest way to get there.

I checked my AA account online, not expecting to find much. Instead I was pleased to discover that I had 97K miles sitting there! At first I thought it must be a mistake, but I started looking through some of the previous month summaries and I figured out what was happening. Apparently, some years ago I signed up for AAdvantage Dining, and several of the restaurants that I frequent in town are members of this program. I've been getting miles and "elite eating bonuses" for the past several years without realizing it. Even better, it's kept my old AA miles from expiring.

BTW, I signed up for PLT challenge on 8/16 and was PLT within 2 weeks. I used some of those surprise miles to get J upgrades while I was non-statused, to ease the pain. I just used my PLT status successfully to get sticker upgraded last week; life is good. I will take the wet naps over the $3 snack boxes any day.

I'm glad I found this truly great forum.