So for the first time in my life, I stand close to achieving Gold status on an airline.

I currently have 22266 Qualifying miles this year, and stand to get another 2034 flying SFO->SEA, SEA->YEG and YVR->SFO on Alaska for Christmas, bringing me to a total of 24300. Close, but no cigar.

About two weeks too late I learnt about the Gold Challenge, since my Nov/Dec Q-points would have qualified me this way. I've dispatched an email asking for leniency and retroactive application of my flights to the challenge, but searching the forum reveals this has pretty mixed results (a call to Aadvantage customer service got me nowhere). The further kicker is I took a flight on Alaska earlier this year, and got Alaska miles for it. A little forethought and I could have had Gold status locked up - too bad there's no way to switch the miles around.

So the question is, is AA Gold worth it? Given that you earn 500 miles minimum per segment, a flight from SFO -> Anywhere will get me to Gold status, with the most likely (cheapest) candidates being southern california.

The reason I ask is that my wife has already obtained Gold status, and since we do the majority of our travelling together, am I better off just enjoying the benefits when travelling with her and trying again next year?

I know this is one of those questions with no one answer, but thought I would seek some advice from the more experienced here, especially on the matter of fringe benefits I get by travelling with a Gold status flyer.

Thanks for any thoughts,

msykes