challenge snafu fixed, but another issue arises
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Our nation's capital
Programs: UA 1K & 0.6 MM
Posts: 781
challenge snafu fixed, but another issue arises
I signed up for the Gold challenge 1/1/2006. Did a MR last week to fulfill the miles in the 30 days.
Due to invol re-route, my fare codes were changed and I thought I'd have a shot at platinum. So I called AAdvantage to see if I could boost the challenge to the Plat level.
The CRS informed me that I was never signed up for the challenge in the first place. After panicking, trying to explain to him that I truly had called, etc. with him just saying, "So sorry," I told him to check Mr Big V's account (I had signed him up, too). His challenge status was reflected, which convinced the CSR that I wasn't a lair.
He said that "it was a gesture of goodwill" that he was going to take me at my word. (Nevermind that the first CSR who never truly signed me up screwed the pooch on their job.) According to this guy, I didn't have enough points for the platinum challenge. I left things at that, grateful that I just hadn't spend 16 hours in coach for naught.
The miles/points for that trip just posted and I have over 10,000 Q-points for the 30-day period, which means (a) I could have made plat, and (b) the CSR I talked to last week was incorrect (or flat-out lied to me) about the fare codes. He said that they were W/Q, whereas I was looking at the screen and they said Y. He helpfully explained to me that Y meant coach, not the fare code.
Do I call AAdvantage again and try to see if they would consider making me platinum? I did everything I was supposed to do with getting the miles and calling to get the plat challenge added to my account. Part of me feels grateful that I made gold, but it wasn't my fault that the first CSR made a mistake that I very nearly had to pay for. So part of me feels that I'm truly not asking for more than I deserve.
Your thoughts? I'd appreciate the insight of fellow AA aficionados.
many thanks,
big V
Due to invol re-route, my fare codes were changed and I thought I'd have a shot at platinum. So I called AAdvantage to see if I could boost the challenge to the Plat level.
The CRS informed me that I was never signed up for the challenge in the first place. After panicking, trying to explain to him that I truly had called, etc. with him just saying, "So sorry," I told him to check Mr Big V's account (I had signed him up, too). His challenge status was reflected, which convinced the CSR that I wasn't a lair.
He said that "it was a gesture of goodwill" that he was going to take me at my word. (Nevermind that the first CSR who never truly signed me up screwed the pooch on their job.) According to this guy, I didn't have enough points for the platinum challenge. I left things at that, grateful that I just hadn't spend 16 hours in coach for naught.
The miles/points for that trip just posted and I have over 10,000 Q-points for the 30-day period, which means (a) I could have made plat, and (b) the CSR I talked to last week was incorrect (or flat-out lied to me) about the fare codes. He said that they were W/Q, whereas I was looking at the screen and they said Y. He helpfully explained to me that Y meant coach, not the fare code.
Do I call AAdvantage again and try to see if they would consider making me platinum? I did everything I was supposed to do with getting the miles and calling to get the plat challenge added to my account. Part of me feels grateful that I made gold, but it wasn't my fault that the first CSR made a mistake that I very nearly had to pay for. So part of me feels that I'm truly not asking for more than I deserve.
Your thoughts? I'd appreciate the insight of fellow AA aficionados.
many thanks,
big V
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: STL
Programs: AA 2MM, AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,966
Originally Posted by big V
I signed up for the Gold challenge 1/1/2006. Did a MR last week to fulfill the miles in the 30 days.
Due to invol re-route, my fare codes were changed and I thought I'd have a shot at platinum. So I called AAdvantage to see if I could boost the challenge to the Plat level.
The CRS informed me that I was never signed up for the challenge in the first place. After panicking, trying to explain to him that I truly had called, etc. with him just saying, "So sorry," I told him to check Mr Big V's account (I had signed him up, too). His challenge status was reflected, which convinced the CSR that I wasn't a lair.
He said that "it was a gesture of goodwill" that he was going to take me at my word. (Nevermind that the first CSR who never truly signed me up screwed the pooch on their job.) According to this guy, I didn't have enough points for the platinum challenge. I left things at that, grateful that I just hadn't spend 16 hours in coach for naught.
The miles/points for that trip just posted and I have over 10,000 Q-points for the 30-day period, which means (a) I could have made plat, and (b) the CSR I talked to last week was incorrect (or flat-out lied to me) about the fare codes. He said that they were W/Q, whereas I was looking at the screen and they said Y. He helpfully explained to me that Y meant coach, not the fare code.
Do I call AAdvantage again and try to see if they would consider making me platinum? I did everything I was supposed to do with getting the miles and calling to get the plat challenge added to my account. Part of me feels grateful that I made gold, but it wasn't my fault that the first CSR made a mistake that I very nearly had to pay for. So part of me feels that I'm truly not asking for more than I deserve.
Your thoughts? I'd appreciate the insight of fellow AA aficionados.
many thanks,
big V
Due to invol re-route, my fare codes were changed and I thought I'd have a shot at platinum. So I called AAdvantage to see if I could boost the challenge to the Plat level.
The CRS informed me that I was never signed up for the challenge in the first place. After panicking, trying to explain to him that I truly had called, etc. with him just saying, "So sorry," I told him to check Mr Big V's account (I had signed him up, too). His challenge status was reflected, which convinced the CSR that I wasn't a lair.
He said that "it was a gesture of goodwill" that he was going to take me at my word. (Nevermind that the first CSR who never truly signed me up screwed the pooch on their job.) According to this guy, I didn't have enough points for the platinum challenge. I left things at that, grateful that I just hadn't spend 16 hours in coach for naught.
The miles/points for that trip just posted and I have over 10,000 Q-points for the 30-day period, which means (a) I could have made plat, and (b) the CSR I talked to last week was incorrect (or flat-out lied to me) about the fare codes. He said that they were W/Q, whereas I was looking at the screen and they said Y. He helpfully explained to me that Y meant coach, not the fare code.
Do I call AAdvantage again and try to see if they would consider making me platinum? I did everything I was supposed to do with getting the miles and calling to get the plat challenge added to my account. Part of me feels grateful that I made gold, but it wasn't my fault that the first CSR made a mistake that I very nearly had to pay for. So part of me feels that I'm truly not asking for more than I deserve.
Your thoughts? I'd appreciate the insight of fellow AA aficionados.
many thanks,
big V
Very late in your Gold challenge, you were re-routed. It appears that when you were re-routed, instead of putting you in your purchased fare class, they put you in Y. This often happens, as the only difference is in Q-points. You are asking if you can be retroactively registered for a Platinum challenge. The answer is generally no. You must be registered for a challenge when Q-points post for those Q-points to count for the challenge, and I gather that you have Q-points that go back to 1/01 that you want included retroactively.
The challenges have never been offered on a retrospective basis (you look back, realize that you have accumulated enough points in a 3 month period to satisfy a challenge, you register for that challenge and get status). They have always been on a prospective basis (you think you can qualify in the future, you register, you fly, you qualify). So even if the agent who gave you gold had given you the correct information about the fare class, he should not have registered you for a Platinum challenge, because you already told him you had tried to sign up for a Gold challenge.
You can sign up for a Platinum challenge at any time that you think there is a good chance of completing it. In the future, if you drop from Gold to Dirt on March 1, 2007, it is possible to register for both challenges at once (although AA will make it difficult to do sometimes).
Welcome to Gold.
#3
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
First of all, it feels to me like there's a lot of external blame-laying here, more than I care to accept... It may be the first CSR did some signing up, or neither of the Big Vs would have been signed up. "Human factors" happen, but so do computer glitches and the like... and the second CSR was neither wrong nor lying to you, and he did indeed extend you a "gesture of good will."
When you look at your account on aa.com, it reflects the cabin in economy, not your actual fare code. E.g. if you bought an Q or W code, it shows as Y on your account - I doubt anyone lied, that's the way it works. You likely did not buy a full Y fare - you'd have paid lots and lots of money, for one thing, or it may have been a posting error - I have had D post as C and have to undo the wrongs. And do pay attention to gemac's post above...
In the future, be sure to check the detailed fare rules scrupulously as you buy (or use the refund site to start the process - but not finish it!) to read what you have purchased - as these are likely the ones that will stick on your record. Also be sure you know the difference between miles and points - you earn anywhere from 0.5 to 1.5 points per elite-qualifying mile (bonus miles, etc. don't count,) and for a Challenge you need to earn POINTS - 5000 for Gold, 10,000 for Platinum, in 90 days' time. (This may be redundnat, but I am not convinced you know this intimately.)
If you did indeed earn 10k Elite-Qualfying Points in under 90 days and you have been credited for signing up for a Platinum Challenge during the time period they were earned, I'd definitely call and request the status that is due. But check carefully first...
One thing you might consider is downloading the helpful McFlyPHL spreadsheet (do a search, the link will come up) to keep track more closely than aa.com. Good luck, and hopefully, welcome to status.
When you look at your account on aa.com, it reflects the cabin in economy, not your actual fare code. E.g. if you bought an Q or W code, it shows as Y on your account - I doubt anyone lied, that's the way it works. You likely did not buy a full Y fare - you'd have paid lots and lots of money, for one thing, or it may have been a posting error - I have had D post as C and have to undo the wrongs. And do pay attention to gemac's post above...
In the future, be sure to check the detailed fare rules scrupulously as you buy (or use the refund site to start the process - but not finish it!) to read what you have purchased - as these are likely the ones that will stick on your record. Also be sure you know the difference between miles and points - you earn anywhere from 0.5 to 1.5 points per elite-qualifying mile (bonus miles, etc. don't count,) and for a Challenge you need to earn POINTS - 5000 for Gold, 10,000 for Platinum, in 90 days' time. (This may be redundnat, but I am not convinced you know this intimately.)
If you did indeed earn 10k Elite-Qualfying Points in under 90 days and you have been credited for signing up for a Platinum Challenge during the time period they were earned, I'd definitely call and request the status that is due. But check carefully first...
One thing you might consider is downloading the helpful McFlyPHL spreadsheet (do a search, the link will come up) to keep track more closely than aa.com. Good luck, and hopefully, welcome to status.
#4
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP/4MM, UA GS, AS MVP GOLD 75K
Posts: 3,362
Originally Posted by JDiver
One thing you might consider is downloading the helpful McFlyPHL spreadsheet (do a search, the link will come up) to keep track more closely than aa.com. Good luck, and hopefully, welcome to status.
#5
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Originally Posted by big V
...Part of me feels grateful that I made gold, but it wasn't my fault that the first CSR made a mistake that I very nearly had to pay for. So part of me feels that I'm truly not asking for more than I deserve.