mvoight

I am familiar with Entebbe, since former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's older brother was the only Israeli soldier killed on July 4, 1976 during Operation Entebbe. This was a bit interesting, since he was the commander of the operation rescue the airline hostages that were "guests" of Amin.

luminos24

Hello guys!

I am not sure if this question has been answered before..i apologize if it has been.

I had enrolled in the Gold Challenge in June and just after enrolling into the challenge i realized that i will be able to complete their platinum challenge. I called up the helpdesk and the CSR advised me that once i have 10k points under my belt i should contact them again and they will upgrade my challenge to Platinum.

I did that today and the CSR advised that they can not upgrade me for the platinum challenge (i have 10k points since June, after enrolling into the gold challenge).

Which CSR is correct? Is it possible to upgrade from Gold Challenge to Platinum? I read somewhere that persistance pays. Should i call them again and be "persistent"?

Thanx in advance, guys!

IMH

It sounds as though the first agent was either mistaken or did not understand what you wanted. She/he could have put you onto a PLT challenge. Whether it would have worked for you depends on when you went on to earn the 10,000 EQP, of course - you don't tell us exactly when "just after enrolling" was.

Given that you didn't get enrolled in a PLT challenge back in June, however, I don't think you are likely to get an agent or supervisor to agree to change things retrospectively. You can try, because - as you say - persistence can sometimes work. But if it were me I wouldn't bother. Concentrate instead on identifying the best start date for a new PLT challenge.

JDiver

Welcome to FlyerTalk, luminos24.

Sorry to hear you were given conflicting advice. We've had a few people report they were able to get switched from a Gold to Platinum Challenge during the Challenge; I do not recollect anyone ever saying they were able to do this retrospectively, unfortunately. (I think IMH is probably right in one of the two scenarios he offers.)

carruthers

Hi All

I know the answer to this is hidden in the thread, I equally know that I have probably just read the answer. Somehow I am still not 100% sure, so I'm going to ask anyway.

I am currently plat (through chalenge) and am assessing if I will make ExP this year or not (or if close if I need to plan a late run)

Do I need 100k qualifying points, or 100k qualifying miles?

My summary is below, if its miles I stand a good chance. If its points, I dont. If its miles towards Elite upgrades there is no chance!

YTD Elite Qualifying Points 38,863
YTD Elite Qualifying Miles 59,165
Miles Towards Elite Upgrades 33,377

I have gone through AA.com as well but still not sure.

Thanks

IMH

Yes

100,000 EQM or 100,000 EQP or 100 segments.

carruthers

Jolly good. Thats sort of what I thought, but then couldn't see the point in having both points and miles. Never mind.

Along the same lines, can I do a mileage run with an award flight? ie. do you earn miles on an award flight?

MichaelColey

You don't earn miles/points/segments on award flights.

IMH

Just AA's way of letting us qualify in different ways. Some people (you and I) accumulate EQMs faster than EQPs (especially given AADER earlier this year). Other people pay premium fares and get more points than they do miles. Yet others fly a lot of short segments and qualify the painful way.

No. Sorry. Have to disappoint you this time. AA isn't that generous. [As MichaelColey noted while I was typing.]

padaly22

Calling All MR Experts:

I am 1998 points short of my Gold Challenge (I know very lame) and have until 9/30 to complete it. I need to make a trip to Eagle Vail and am trying to figure out a way to utitlize that trip to gain all the points I need without paying through the wazoo for it.

In the deeply discounted fares, I will receive only 1270 total points for the roundtrip (STL-DFW: 550 plus DFW-EGE: 720). If I add a leg on the outbound via ORD, I'll pick up another 500 points because of the 500 minimum. Without having to sleepover in another city, how can I squeeze out another 228 points?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

benzguy80

why not just do a one-day quick turn MR to someplace like OKC or TUL apart from your trip to Vail? there's got to be someplace you get to/from for a reasonable price from STL on a Sat/Sun

JDiver

Maybe you shuold use FareCompare's tool for FlyerTalkers to find the cheapest flight and do an MR< as suggested?

padaly22

JDiver:
I am not quite certain what to make of all the info on FareCompare, but it certainly is interesting. I am wondering where to find some of these fares...I have not seen Vail under $375 in many months, while FC is showing a $260 fare. Thanks for the link.

Benzguy: Looks like a STL-ORD-STL afternoon coming up soon! Thanks also.

WanderingGent

Hi padaly22 -- I used to wonder the same thing you did... until I signed up for ExpertFlyer. Look at the fare rules that you find on FareCompare, note the booking class, and then do an availablity search for that booking class on ExpertFlyer. It will tell you the exact flights where that booking class is still valid; it is like finding the needle in the proverbial haystack.

oklAAhoma

Is this a trick question? Or am I just so tired I am missing something obvious?

If I understand correctly you have a round trip scheduled that will consist of 4 segments. STL-DFW, DFW-EGE, EGE-DFW, DFW-STL. As you mentioned, each segment earns a minimum of 500 EQP. According to my calculations 4 X 500 = 2000 EQP. If you are 1998 EQP short before the start of this trip, you should have 2 extra EQP at the end of it. Don't spend them all in one place.