HNL

This thread in the Mileage Run - Discussions forum will be helpful

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...ser-guide.html

ILAZXFE

great! found fare compare has a map that I can choose departure and airline. please let me know if there's a better one. thanks a lot!

ILAZXFE

is there a place for people to find AA MR partners? not fun to travel alone and maybe can share hotel cost. I'm from Bos btw.

salesflyerguy

New here but lurked for a while.

I am curious, why do most people seem to prefer to not rent SUVs and want cars instead?

IADDCA

Is there a thread out there that covers this subject...?

When it comes to status matching, am I supposed to be making the first step by flying before they do a status match? I recently earned a United 1K status. On an application that AA sent me, one of the questions was 'What is the flight number of my next flight?'.

I haven't flown on AA for a while. The last two times that I've flown on AA, I was in the back of the plane between the two engines of an MD-80.

Does it make sense for American to expect me to make six flights with AA w/o any Gold/Platinum privileges in order to do a status match? Here is my choice:

• Keep flying on United to Austin with 1K privileges
• Go back to American and let them make me sit again in the back of an MD-80 as if I were (what are they called...?) a kettle

Which would you choose?

Maybe I don't understand their program.

IADDCA

They usually cost almost twice as much. My employer will only reimburse me for the rental cost of a full-size car. They won't pay for an SUV. The only time that they did allow me to rent an SUV was when I landed in a city where there was already several inches of unplowed snow on the ground an I wasn't going to get out of the airport unless I had a 4x4.

But the main reason is cost and company policy.

JDiver

Well, then, welcome down from lurkerspace.

Please take a moment to look over our forum - it is about American Airlines and the AAdvantage program; it has a FAQ, where information, links and resources can be found,, as well as a Wiki and - at the top of the page - an Announcement: NEWCOMERS: PLEASE READ FIRST.

FlyerTalk has many fora - for rental cars, Avis, Budget, Dollar,Hertz, National, Sixt and Other Car Rental Programs (ie. Alamo, Enterprise). These are the appropriate fora to inquire about car-rental issues, unless they are very general, and then TravelBuzz! might be a good place for a non-specific travel topic.

The top of the forum page usually has a statement about what the forum is intended for.

So, as this is the American AAdvantage Forum, though this is a flame-free "NEWBIE LOUNGE" thread, it is not likely you will get a lot of responses, and may attract some negative commentary - it's not allowed and will be deleted, but it can happen.

Feel free to settle in and get a good look at which fora will be useful to you. Your favorite airlines, car rental companies, destinations and more - they're probably covered, often in depth by some very knowledgeable travelers.

As to your question, I prefer better mileage and a lower profile, and if on business, my clients will rarely pay for SUVs - I have even had interesting times convincing an Orange County based client to pay for an SUV rental if they send me to their facilities in Minnesota in the winter (not so much snow and ice in Irvine, I guess).

JDiver
senior moderator

Pinned

A question in regard to status/how quickly the change takes place.

So I'm registered for the AA elite status promo they offered last week. It requires 6k EQM for Gold. Gold and up receives 500 EQM per segment minimum, correct? So I'll cross the threshold to Gold (6k EQM) part way through a flight to LAX. From LAX I'm going to SFO, will I receive the 500 EQM for the LAX-SFO flight on the same day?

Thanks!

Apieinthesky

Yes. Although it's not really a question of how quickly the status change takes place.

The status will definitely not have posted when you're boarding LAX-SFO, but when the miles for your XXX-LAX flight posts, that's when the status will post.

tujum

My question concerns the paid AA Elite Status Challenges. I couldn't find anything directly related
by searching, so I thought I would give this thread a try..

I've understood that besides AA (and AA codeshare flights), also any suitable flight (with or without an AA codeshare) on BA, QAT, IB or JAL has counted towards the chosen challenge. I was wondering that since Finnair recently announced a more tight co-operation with AA/BA/IB and has also been popping up in some of the recent AA promotions as an eligible carrier, would somebody have recent information if AY flights (without the AA codeshare) would count towards the AA Challenges aswell?

Thank you.

pandaperth

Welcome to FT tujum

One small problem with the elite status challenge is that it is an unpublished benefit, so any "rules" are discovered piecemeal by users, and reported here for us all to know

So, no one has reported that AY marketed flights are eligible for the challenge (AA marketed flights on AY metal will of course be eligible).

The most recent post, that I could find, giving feedback on which marketing carriers are eligible is this, from April this year And by the way

• there is a whole thread on the challenge - help-desk-aadvantage-elite-status-challenge-gold-platinum
• by QAT did you mean Qantas(QF)?

JDiver

Welcome to FT, tujum.

Not long ago, it HAD to be AA; with the Joint Business Agreements, they have extended eligibility to flights by BA, IB (the IAG symbionts), JL and QF. AB, AY, CX / KA, LA and family, MH, RJ and S7 will not count for the Challenge by all accounts (according to e-mails members have received and reproduced - check the thread you were referred to). I don't expect that in the near future LATAM - JJ, QR or UL will count either.

ILAZXFE

another newbie question: I'm trying to book this trip and wonder if they are the same flight?(so I don't have to worry about delay). Also, wonder how AA thinks about MR like this? is it safe to book for the fast track deal?

4:00 pm – 7:40 pm
American 279 · Dallas to Anchorage DFW-ANC
6h 40m
Economy – Boeing 757
Anchorage – BostonMonday, September 30
8:55 pm – 6:05 am+1
American 278 · Anchorage to Dallas ANC-DFW
6h 10mOvernight flight
Economy – Boeing 757

jfarnsworth43

All - I've got a family of four. I want to take them to Japan (NRT), ideally in Business Class - home airport is IAD. My goal is to have enough AA miles to do this in 2 years through a combination of Citi and SPG miles and points, participating in a Bank Direct account for 1 year. I've got a 1st year line of site to 170k miles with this. It looks like this trip will take 400k miles. I've initially decided to accrue miles under my name with additional cards for my wife. I get to travel at most 3 to 4 trips a year domestic US. My primary interest in going on such a long flight in Business Class is to avoid the misery of coach class for a 17 hour plus journey.

Question 1: Given my proposed strategy, is 400k miles in 2 years time considered a slam dunk simple, intermediate level of difficulty or no way on earth from the professional mileage earning experts? Tough love appreciated.
Question 2: Is AA the best program for my goal journey? I would like to subsequently go from IAD to CDG every other year as well and save some with award travel (Business class not necessary for that journey due to shorter length).
Question 3: If I plan enough in advance with my IAD to NRT proposed itinerary, is finding 4 BC seats on one flight a fool's errand? I looked at the AA site and was surprised because this didn't seem to be the case - depending on when I looked there seemed to be lots of availability.
Question 4: What bonus mile opportunities come up for mere mortal level members of AAdvantage throughout an average year?
Question 5: What's the real verdict on the value of the AA dining program as a viable way to earn max miles?
Question 6: Assuming good credit for both my wife and I, how many miles are viably earnable via Citi Card bonuses during an average single year's time - I'm getting my Citi Personal in the mail today.

Thanks very much for your time in reading this.

JDiver

I'm not exactly how your MR would work, as it seems there may be a segment missing and I'm having difficulty reading your itinerary. But if you can buy it and it's not nested tickets violating TOS, no problem. They're domestic flights, don;t see a problem as you do not have to do Immigration and Customs or go back through security.

Why would they care about a MR (AA has already demonstrated they don't think much anyway - ) ? They want your business / money.