NWAMileageSlave

Greetings All:

Thanks to the information on this board, I completed my AA Gold Challenge yesterday. The AAdvantage miles have not posted to my account and aa.com thinks I'm still a regular member. I've got a few questions for y'all:

1. How quickly do the miles post and how quickly is the elite status conferred? I've got a flight booked for Tuesday that I'd like to use the Priority Access Lane at LAX and dodge the bag fees. Im also comtemplating an Admirals Club membership and would like the elite discount.

2. Assuming the miles will post and the status conferrd by Tuesday, is there anything I need to do to have my new status reflected on the reservation?

Thanks in advance for your sage advice.

Rick

JY1024

Congrats on completing your Challenge!

Miles will post just like any other flight, about the third day after your flight. After your miles post, you can call up AA Customer Service and ask them to confirm that you've completed your challenge, but otherwise, your status should be updated within a few days. (You may be able to get an agent to manually update the system.)

As for your existing reservation, the most sure-fire way seems to be to have an AAgent remove your AAdvantage number from any existing reservations and then re-apply it; that should then attach your updated status.

You'll be cutting it close for Tuesday. Your Saturday flight would normally post on that day; your best bet is probably call an AAgent and see if he/she can manually post your miles and update your status before your flight.

As for the Admirals Club discount, you can always buy a $50 day pass first. Then if you buy a AC membership within 30 days, you can apply your $50 towards the fee and your status should already be updated in the system.

NWAMileageSlave

Thanks for your prompt response JY1024!

Rick

schoate

Greetings,

I have been reading through the forum, and still have a question about ticketing and the Challenges. My wife, infant son and I will be flying from FRA to DFW this summer. It will be round trip plus a "bunch" of hops while in the States. I currently have the tickets on hold at the AA.com website. They are for economy code V. The AA site shows the one way mileage at 5,143 mi. We are purchasing a ticket for our son who will be 1 year old during all the travel. I currently have him ticketed as a "child", because I heard an "infant" ticket might not receive EQP. We would like to have all 3 of us start the Platinum Challenge after June 16th.

Can I keep him ticketed as a child, or should I change his ticket to an adult?

Any help would be appreciated.

UPDATE: I spoke with the AA reservation desk, and they said that if a child has a paid seat and an AAdvantage number they are eligible for all AAdvanatge offerings (the Challenges).

I also found that an infant (in seat) ticket from FRA-DFW would be approximately $40 cheaper than a child ticket on the same flight.

NWAMileageSlave

This is a quick follow up on my experience. On Tuesday at 4:30 am PST, I logged on to my AAdvantage account. The flight that completed the challenge had posted overnight, and my status had automatically changed from dirt to gold.

I then called American Airlines. I got either an person of Indian origin in the US on the phone or a person in a call center in India (not sure which). She removed and reinserted my account number, confirmed that my status had been changed.

I checked in at LAX using the self service check in machine and it asked me if I wanted to stand by for an upgrade. I said yes. I bought some stickers, and then was added to the upgrade list.

I used the priority access lane at LAX and boarded shortly after the first class cabin.

Thanks to y'all for the information.

Rick

JY1024

Thanks for posting back with your experiences. Glad to hear that everything worked out for you! (i.e. miles posted on time, status updated online automatically, status re-attached correctly, upgrade went through, priority access, etc.)

Enjoy your new shiny status!

oklAAhoma

You can be sure you did not reach a call center in India.

mentat

I just completed my plat challenge from 0 miles on 1 trip. My status looks like:

02/15/10 PLT CHALLENGE BONUS-REG MEMBER 0 4,751 4,751
02/15/10 AMERICAN AIRLINES 50 Y DFW LHR 4,751 0 4,751
02/15/10 AMERICAN AIRLINES 1654 Y SMF DFW 1,431 0 1,431
02/11/10 AMERICAN AIRLINES 51 Y LHR DFW 4,751 0 4,751
Total Miles Posted 10,933 4,751 15,684

I didn't know that I would get a bonus 4751? that was a nice surprise.

The only problem is they are missing my DFW-SMF trip which was cancelled due to snow and I was booked on a later flight that day by the agents at the counter.

In this circumstance do I need to call them or use the online form to request credit? If this situation happens again in the future will this always be a manual process?

Also will I get sent a physical card and luggage tags automatically or I have to request this? and how long does it take to receive?

Thanks

aktchi

Welcome to FT and congratulations on your status! Yes it is true that the flight which makes you Platinum earns the bonus as if you were already Platinum.

As for your DFW-SMF trip, it has not been long enough to worry, it could still show up in your account. (From the account statement page: "Flights, awards and other eligible transactions processed within the last two weeks may not be reflected.") So wait a little and call or write if the miles remain missing; there is an online form at https://www.aa.com/AAdvantage/reques...reditAccess.do but it also requires a 15 day wait.

You will get a physical card in a few weeks. AFAIK there are no luggage tags in the package - unless they have been short-changing me.

oklAAhoma

You are correct; there are no luggage tags given for PLT, only EXPs and lifetime qualifiers receive free tags.

mentat

Thanks guys, is it even worth me getting the luggage tags? I just found the place online to order them.

Also regarding Admirals Club is it worth me joining this? or are all the benefits provided by Admirals Club already included in my Platinum status?

Anything else I should be aware of with regards to benefits or anything else? I am about to book a few different flights, LHR-IAD return; LHR-BOS,BOS-SEA,SEA-LHR; LHR-SAN return. Any advice on the best airports to route through on these? AA doesn't seem to the best for direct flights CO and UA seem much better actually....

Thanks

oklAAhoma

Have you had a chance yet to read the info in this forum on AC benefits? If not, I recommend you do so. Below are two of the threads on the topic.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

aktchi

That's a very personal decision. I like 2 distinctive tags per bag so at least one will be around and my boring black bags will stand out at the belt. Other than that, I don't care for the tags representing any brand.

All benefits of paid membership are certainly not included, but as a plat you can use most One World lounges (not just AA) when traveling internationally and the outbound flight is One World. That is good enough for many. Paid membership will allow access to an AC whenever you happen to be around, even if not flying AA. If you need such access only occasionally, one day passes sell for $50.

You have to know your flying needs and settle on one airline and its alliance partners. Otherwise, for most people frequent flyer benefits will be diluted. With several trips coming up, this may well be a good time to consider if AA or one of the others will serve you best. I wouldn't hop back and forth too much.

mentat

Ok thanks for the advice. I will try stick to AA as much as possible but given my uncoming travel this year I think I can grow in 2 programs AA and a program from Star Alliance as my secondary backup. I will use the Star Alliance carrier if its a Direct flight and is glaring better in terms of depart/arrival times and price. Any opinion on the best Star Alliance one to join? My flights are all leaving London to many US locations (all this year):

IAD
BOS
SEA
RNO
SAN
ATL
EWR
MIA
DFW
PHX
BUF
SFO
SNA
PIE or TPA
CIC or SMF
PSP

Thanks

aktchi

OK that's a lot of flying, so probably you can manage two alliances. In OW, I prefer AA but if you find yourself flying BA a lot, then it may be better to park yourself in their program instead. Generally you want to join the airline you'd be flying most. The question about *-alliance is best asked in their dedicated group. Good luck.