long story short- I was non-elite at the time & registered for the promotion to become PLT b/w 9/15-12/15 if i flew the necessary miles (essentially the challenge rules, but not the official challenge). I qualified for GLD and then emailed about PLT. I was told that I wasn't targeted (others have posted on this) for the PLT promotion so they couldn't give it to me. They invited me to register for a new Challenge. I kindly responded and said I couldn't sign up for the challenge. They responded saying they reviewed my records and figured that if I had registered for the challenge as opposed to the non-targeted promo, I would have qualified. So, the rep said upgraded me instantly. Got the email about an hour ago & sure enough my account status shows PLT.

Rep also said I'd be disqualified from doing the challenge again to qualify for 2008 status.