I apologize in advance for what's probably a question I already know the answer to, but I figure you all are the most knowledgeable, so before I give up, I'll ask the experts.

I've been a Gold elite member for a couple years now. Unfortunately, in 06 I missed Gold by 7000 miles because I missed the fine print, and flew to Asia on the wrong class Continental ticket, and got only 50% Elite qualifying mileage. I wrote a letter, didn't do any good.

Anyway, today I received a letter offering to upgrade me to Gold if I fly 5 qualifying roundtrip tickets in P F J C Z Y S X or B class before May 15. So I was fairly happy. I have two trips already booked for March, one of them is B, the other is K (roundtrip to Philly). I asked how much it would cost to upgrade from K to the cheapest class listed above, the agent said $530... the original ticket is only $290. She said that basically, I had to buy my way into Gold elite.

That's fair enough, I've got to give kudos to NWA for trying to help me out. But my question is, based on the above, can anyone suggest the least expensive way for me to achieve Gold Elite in '07? Is there some trick I'm maybe not aware of? Is there some other way that works on occasion, talking to supervisor's, etc? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!