Socalterp et al,

I'm also very curious about this because it looks like it is very worthwhile to make the jump from Elite 1 to Platinum in order to benefit from Executive Platinum benefits. I'm not so sure I'd be very comfortable relying on partner miles in order to get status. I think I'd rather fly the miles.

There is an interesting difference between the Aviators and AAdvantage that makes it seem that several mileage runs on TWA this summer and fall will pay off well. I refer specifically to the minimum "actual" miles flown as elite level frequent fliers in the two programs.

For me as an Elite 1, every 4 segment trip (ie: MCI-ORD) translates into ~7,000 miles. 4,000 actual flight miles, 2,000 bonus miles, and 1,000 online booking bonus. 25 such trips in a whole year get Platinum. Which also translates into 175,000 total frequent flyer miles.

If anyone has questions about how to put together trips like this I've posted in this forum before details on how to work through it or you can just email me.