ARCHIVE: AAdvantage Gold & Platinum Elite Status Challenges 2004 - 2011

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Jul 9, 2010, 9:35 pm

#4876

zzzzz28

Join Date: May 2010

Programs: AA PLT UA GLD

Posts: 21

Platinum Challenge for Current Gold Status

Does anyone know if the cost of doing a platinum challenge is the same ($240/$250) if one already has gold status?

Jul 9, 2010, 10:33 pm

#4877

augustz

Join Date: Dec 2008

Posts: 14

Quick follow-up.

No backdating was allowed, though there does seem to a small chance if you are perhaps IN the period (ie, go from June 30th to June 16th).

Good to know

Jul 9, 2010, 11:19 pm

#4878

oklAAhoma

Join Date: Mar 2004

Location: OKC/DFW

Programs: AA EXP/2 MM

Posts: 9,999

Quote:

Originally Posted by zzzzz28

Does anyone know if the cost of doing a platinum challenge is the same ($240/$250) if one already has gold status?

Cost is the same either way.

Jul 11, 2010, 9:38 am

#4879

mvtm

Join Date: Aug 2008

Location: Caracas

Programs: Former AA PLT/GLD, A3 *G, Priority Pass

Posts: 1,144

Mission complete. Thanks FT

My badge just posted. Now i have to cross fingers that Platinum cards arrive at Venezuela. As a side note i'm not quite sure why i need a card to be treated better. While i was Gold, i entered Flagship OW lounges along other things. I guess it's a matter of personality. Nevertheless, its a nice touch to be Plat for the first time.

Jul 11, 2010, 3:28 pm

#4880

JohnAx

Join Date: Jun 2000

Location: LAX

Posts: 3,639

I-class points for all segments?

If I book a published I-class fare e.g. DEN-SJO and route e.g. DEN-MIA-SJC will I get I-class points for both segments? What if DEN-MIA is an Eagle flight without business?

Unrelated, that particular example exceeds MPM by about 200 miles. Do I understand correctly that the base fare is simply multiplied by 3900/3700 (or whatever the real numbers are)?

Jul 12, 2010, 10:11 pm

#4881

btwayland

Join Date: Feb 2010

Location: NYC

Programs: AA ex-Plat

Posts: 425

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebutlerdidit

I'm sitting around wondering whether to attempt a challenge to Platinum. Maybe someone can check me on my math.

In a two month period September-October this year, I have the following 18 flight segments on AA booked:

[...]

Actual miles 16,773. I'm now Gold, and if I get minimum 500 miles per segment on the short runs that would bring it up to 18,625. But these flights are all booked N, O, and Q so I'm credited at .5. So I'd be at 9312.5, short of the 10,000 for a Platinum challenge.

[...]

At this rate I'll have Gold nailed but I'm still way short of platinum without some kind of double elite qualifying promotion.

And even if I order up a challenge, I still need at least 1,400 more actual miles' worth (one more mileage run?) to hit the Platinum 10,000 challenge requirement.

Is it worth shooting for the challenge, at $240, assuming I'll have at least one additional MR to make? Or just stand pat with Gold for another year? Am I missing something here?

my math shows the following for your trips:

Regular member:
16,825 miles flown / EQM
8,413 EQP
1,587 EQP still needed to obtain platinum via challenge

Gold member (your status per the post):
16,825 miles flown
18,680 EQM
9,340 EQP
660 EQP still needed to obtain platinum via challenge

depending on how much you would be flying after gaining platinum status, i'd say it was worth the challenge fee, if not just for the 75% extra RDM. also, if you hit 50k EQM by 12/31/2010, but not during 2011, AND they will still follow the "soft landing" policy, you'd be platinum through Feb 2012, and gold through 2013.

international lounge access would be the other benefit many here cite as making it "worth it" over gold status, but if most of your flying is domestic, like the segments posted here, that may not be a factor for you.

Jul 12, 2010, 10:21 pm

#4882

btwayland

Join Date: Feb 2010

Location: NYC

Programs: AA ex-Plat

Posts: 425

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumesha

I signed for the Platinum status starting 07/01-09/30. I have the following AA trips planned so far and was hoping someone can verify my calculations.

- SFO-DFW - Booking class S - 1464 miles - 0.5 mile credit - 923 EQP miles
- DFW-JAX - Booking class S - 918 miles - 0.5 mile credit - 459 EQP miles
- JAX-DFW - Booking Class W - 918 miles - 1 mile credit - 918 EQP miles
- DFW-SFO - Booking Class W - 1464 miles - 1 mile credit - 1464 EQP miles
- SFO-ORD - Booking class W - 1846 miles - 1 mile credit - 1846 EQP miles
- ORD-CLT - Booking Class W - 599 miles - 1 mile credit - 599 miles
- CLT-ORD - Booking Class W - 599 miles - 1 mile credit - 599 miles
- ORD-SFO - Booking class W - 1846 miles - 1 mile credit - 1846 EQP miles

By my calculations, I should have 8654 EQP miles by the end of these trips (BTW, did I mention they are happening in 4 days between 7/12 and 7/15?)
So I would only need an additional 1346 EQP miles to make Platinum. can someone confirm this?

I paid the $240 for the PLT challenge because of this concentrated travel. A couple of questions
- is the PLT status effective immediately?
- do I get any free upgrade credits as PLT?
- can I upgrade to PLT Exec during the same period if I have more travel coming up?

Thanks for your help.

my math shows the following:
9,654 miles flown
8,463 EQP
1,537 EQP still needed to gain platinum status

the error is in the first line, SFO-DFW should be 1,464 miles flown, S class would yield 732 EQP.

upfaring the first 2 segments from S to W class would still only yield 9,654 EQP, leaving you 346 EQP short of gaining platinum status, so it may be cheaper to just add in another segment (or 2 if you have to do a R/T and to add just a few more points to make sure you pass the 10k EQP threshhold).

Jul 14, 2010, 2:20 pm

#4883

sschultzie

Join Date: Jul 2010

Posts: 1

Will this work and which one should I do?

I have a three week trip planed to Australia here are all of my flights:

QF 3086 IAD to LAX 2280 (operated by AA)
QF 12 LAX to SYD 7490
QF 728 SYD to AYQ 1340
QF AYQ to SYD 1340
QF 926 SYD to CNS 1220
QF 703 CNS to MEL 1440
QF 131 MEL to AKL 1640
QF 25 AKL to LAX 6510
QF 3085 LAX to IAD 2280 (operated by AA)

The total would 25,500

Jul 14, 2010, 2:37 pm

#4884

miamigrad

Join Date: Oct 2006

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Programs: AA 1.5 MM Exec Plat, WN A-List, DL Silver, UA nonrev

Posts: 2,593

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschultzie

Welcome to FT.
Take a look around, read lots and you'll soon get the hang of this all.

One of the first places I suggest you check out is the AA Wiki. Many people have devoted a lot of time to put the information there for all to research.

In the case of the challenges, you should know that that the challenges are based on Elite Qualifying POINTS (EQP), not miles.

Second, only EQP from AA coded flights are eligible for the challenge. Are those flights being booked as AA codeshare (i.e., AAXXXX operated by QF)?

The AA Wiki - Challenge section has additional information that you should look through

Jul 16, 2010, 2:49 am

#4885

btwayland

Join Date: Feb 2010

Location: NYC

Programs: AA ex-Plat

Posts: 425

Quote:

Originally Posted by sschultzie

if you credit all of those flights to your AA account, then you'd be gold at the end of the trip due to the amount of miles, no challenge required, assuming the math is right on the miles (i didn't bother checking it).

as miamigrad points out, if they are all really QF flight numbers, none of them would count for the challenge.

Jul 16, 2010, 12:27 pm

#4886

becket5

Join Date: Oct 2001

Location: Barbados

Programs: AA PLT 6MM

Posts: 633

Quote:

Originally Posted by btwayland

That depends on the fare code. Discount economy in M,V,L,G,O and S only earn 50% of the miles flown I believe.

Jul 16, 2010, 3:07 pm

#4887

pssteve

Join Date: Jun 2010

Location: PSP

Programs: AA Executive Platinum, United

Posts: 1,081

And as I learned the hard way Q fares don't count at all.

Jul 16, 2010, 5:18 pm

#4888

oklAAhoma

Join Date: Mar 2004

Location: OKC/DFW

Programs: AA EXP/2 MM

Posts: 9,999

Quote:

Originally Posted by pssteve

And as I learned the hard way Q fares don't count at all.

You are referring to Q fares on QF, correct?

Jul 17, 2010, 1:59 am

#4889

Supersonic Swinger

Join Date: Aug 2007

Location: SYD

Posts: 1,738

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hagbard Viking

Oneworld RTW tickets in business class book in D class (or A on domestic AA two-class flights). LHR-YVR on BA does earn AA miles, it's only BA flights to/from USA that don't.

How do you find this out? I'm interested to know what code OW RTW tickets in economy book into.

Also, just to confirm, if you complete a PLT challenge in January 2011(qualifying thru Feb 2012), and then fly enough to earn PLT the regular way during the balance of 2011, that gets you PLT thru Feb 2013....?

Jul 17, 2010, 3:11 am

#4890

pandaperth

Join Date: Mar 2008

Location: used to be PER, now it's nowhere/eveywhere

Programs: QFF NB, AA GLD

Posts: 3,467

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supersonic Swinger

OW RTW Economy mostly books into 'L' - see Rule 5 for the One World Explorer ticket and Rule 5 for the Global Explorer ticket.

A successfully completed PLT challenge started between 1-Jan-yy and 1-Jun-yy will give you PLT status through to 28/29-Feb-yy+1
Then, if during the year yy, you complete the requirments for PLT status the regular way (i.e. IIRC 50K EQM or EQP or 50 segments) then your PLT status will be through until 28/29-Feb-yy+2