dstan

traderprofit, your thread has now been merged into the Help Desk thread that we established for these questions. Please be sure to post here in the future & good luck with your Challenge!


Now that this thread is part of the Help Desk, Help Desk guidelines now apply and some meta-discussion has been removed.

/Moderator

mentat

Ok, so I've done all my research and I'm about to enrol in the AAdvantage program online, I'm UK based if that makes any difference. I'm wondering if there are any promotion codes I should enter at time of signing up? My first flight will be LHR-SMF return Feb 11-15.

Also I want to do a Challenge to expediate my progress, is step 1 sign up online, step 2 call about the Challenge?

Thanks

mvoight

Well, yes, you have to call AA to ask about the challenges
The question is whether you plan to earn 5000 points or 10000 points (Elite Qualifying Points) in a 3 month period. The challenge starts on either the 1st or 16th of the month, and ends 3 months later on the last day of the month or the 15th.
The amount of points you will receive depends on

1. distance traveled
2. fare class (for economy that would generally be .5 to 1.0 points per mile)
I guess the question is whether or not it will be worth it to you to pay for a challenge if this will be your only trip on AA this year.

otherside

how much costs challenge for platinum status?

mentat

@mvoigh yes I will be doing 8-12 trips this year LHR to various US locations I've already discussed this here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...y-program.html

My questions is more about the use of the promotional code field on signup? should I be putting something here?

Also the order to do things, sign up, call about the challenge? Actually I just called the UK office they told me I have to get to Gold before I can enrol in a challenge? so 25,000 miles before I can enrol? that is a bit annoying as I will easily achieve Platinum if not Platinum Exec this year even without a challenge, but I want to use a challenge to get there earlier and reap the rewards for my remaining trips.

Gamecock

I would suggest:

1. Sign up for your AAdvantage account.
2. Read the sticky/wiki on the challenge.
3. Call and register only after you understand the part about points/start dates
and then 4: Fly!

Welcome to FT!

Gamecock

Never heard that before.

It's time to implement the primary rule of FT: Keep calling back until you get the answer you want.

mentat

Can anyone else confirm this? so

1. I signup to AAdvantage online
2. I should be able to call and immediately enrol in the Platinum Challenge?

imagineertobe

Yes, you will have to be a member of AAdvantage to do anything with their program (i.e., a challenge).

Enrollment is free, so go ahead and do it. I haven't seen promo codes floating around here in the last little while, so don't worry about filling that in.

Then call for the Challenge. You have read the AA Challenge Wiki article, haven't you?

zski1

1) You should sign up online. There is a promo code valid for an extra 1,000 miles available on aa.com/mismillas

Find the code on that page, then choose the button marked "Inscribase en Ingles*". The site is targeted at Spanish speakers but there's no reason to believe you wouldn't be able to use the promo code while signing up on a page written in English.

I don't know if posting the promo code here on FT violates the T&C of this website, so if you can't find it on the page that's in Spanish, PM me and I'll send it. It is NOT hard to find on that page, especially since "promotional code" is translated with close cognates.****

2) Multiple sources have reported that you can enroll in the Plat challenge starting from zero (i.e. not having any Gold status). Review the following link: http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/index...lenge_%28AA%29

As always, since the challenge is an unpublished program, the terms could change at any time. However, you may have encountered an uninformed agent; the longer you're around on the AA boards at FT, the more you'll learn that if you don't like the answer that a particular agent is giving you, politely end the call and try again. If you are calling a European number and aren't getting anywhere, I'd suggest trying a US number.

Welcome to FT and AA!

-z

**** I just read the fine print (in Spanish) and it says that the promo code is "valid for new AAdvantage accounts for residents in the continental United States who sign up for the AAdvantage program for the first time through www.aa.com/mismillas, using the promotional code xxxxx." (I didn't add the redudnancies, it seems pretty clear that new AAdvantage accounts would be for people signing up for the first time.) Fine print also mentions that the miles don't count towards elite status and will be credited to the account between 4 and 6 weeks after sign up. Typical boilerplate continues after that.

You could still try the code and see what happens. The worst thing they could do would be to not award the bonus.

mentat

Thanks, I have now enrolled online, the spanish code came up as invalid. I've read the Challenge Wiki entry, the operator I got from the AA UK line may have been uninformed I think so I'll try calling back shortly and hopefully I can enrol in the Platinum challenge starting Feb 1.

mentat

Ok I got through to someone who knew what they were talking about this time, I paid the $150 to enrol starting February 1.

Other than that phone call and the money coming up off my credit card, does something show in my online account at aa.com to indicate I'm on a challenge also do I get sent a welcome email or something in the mail?

Thanks

zski1

You should get a boilerplate email that welcomes you to the challenge and goes over all of the finer points. You should get it soon.
-z

dstan

Greetings, mentat, and welcome to FlyerTalk! Your thread has now been merged into the Challenge Help Desk thread, which is here to answer questions you might have about the Challenge. Please review the OP and feel free to post here if you have more questions.

/Moderator

LSunbury

I got PLAT by challenge in the second half of 2008, so drop down to Gold next month. My planned 2010 miles will only get me Gold again.

There are currently some good W fares on offer from London and I have on hold a trip which could be an PLAT challenge run at the end of June.

I have read the Wiki but am unclear what 'end of the downgraded year' actually means.

So can I do a new challenge at end of June 2010 and get PLAT until Feb 2012, or does my next challenge have to wait until March 2011?

Apologies for this question but I did find the wording a little ambiguous, and want to be sure before confirming the booking.

Thanks,