BrewerSEA

I don't think they would count your past flight if you waited past today. I haven't heard of backdating except to the most recently begun start date. In other words today they would backdate to May 16, but as of tomorrow (a new start date) they would only backdate to June 1. I may be wrong, this is completely anecdotal (like much of the info on the challenge program).

folex386

Typically yes, however as an anecdote, I signed up for a Plat challenge on March 21st, but wanted to include travel on March 9th. They said they could only retro it back one start date (March 16th), however after a few calls they eventually allowed me to include the March 9th flights and had to mark it in their records. However, if you don't want to have to call over and over again I'd suggest signing up today because they can certainly backdate it to May 16th, unless you want to wait until June 16th to lock in the extra year.

BrewerSEA

Good to know ^

I would bet that they would not allow you to count your pre-March 16 dates if you chose to wait until June 16, however.

jh811

Do i understand this challenge correctly? For example if i wanted platinum, i call, signup and pay $200. Then pay for a regular economy fare (ie RT LAX-LHR) which should net me ~10,000 EQP. Challenge completed? Is that right?

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

You know that deep discount economy fares usually net 0.5 EQP per mile, right?

jh811

Yes i know. I actually changed my search to LAX-NRT RT and see "V" class fares available which are 100% point redemptions. RT for $1300 plus $200 for challenge fee aint too bad.....

Fawxer

Hi Everyone. I've got two quick questions about Gold Challenge that I couldn't find the answers to here or on the Wiki.

1) Is there a minimum EQP (250 miles?) for flights if I currently have no status? I remember that there used to be, but also think I remember that they changed it so that only members with elite status get the minimum EQP.

2) Is there a "close-enough-to-qualify" rule for challenges? Maybe I remember this being for regular re-qualification.

I'm planning out a Gold Challenge strategy for the summer, and my ideal routing has me 90 miles short. My routing can't get any more creative , and I plan to switch to using miles once I complete the challenge. I could just buy the next leg of my travel plans, but it would be way nicer if these last 90 miles weren't an issue.

Thanks for your help.

folex386

1) There is no minimum EQP on flights unless you have status because EQP are determined by the miles and you don't get the guaranteed.

2) I don't think they will give it to you if you are 90 miles short, I remember reading this somewhere, but don't have it immediately available. For re-qualifying there have been reports of being short, but for challenges I think that they're pretty strict.

Fawxer

Thanks for the answer, folex. Guess I'll just buy the next flight to get those 90 miles.

sarahjintexas

next month I'll be doing the SAT-DFW-BNE-SYD on QF8 and then returning 8 weeks later on QF7 going SYD-DFW-SAT
2 questions.
Will I be earning enough points flying PE to get Platinum, or should I just go for Gold?
Should I book with QF directly since I can buy PE online, or should I work out how to get AA to issue me with PE tix? I think I read that it has to be an AA flight number to be valid for status. Is there a way to book PE on QF on the AA website? I only see economy and bus/first.

Sorry, I guess that's 3 questions...

BrewerSEA

Unfortunately you cannot book PE with an AA flight number, as AA does not have an inventory code that corresponds to PE.

If you book in a 0.5 EQP earning fare class with an AA number you'd be a little more than 1000 EQP short of Platinum. In a 1.0 EQP earning fare class you'd nearly make it on the outbound. In a 1.5 EQP earning fare class you'd make it on the outbound and could enjoy the benefits on the return.

sarahjintexas

Wow, thanks for the quick reply.
So how do AA FF get to enjoy PE? Or is that a way for QF to get people to buy through them?

Microwave

AA frequent flyers can earn miles and EQM on QF-coded flights booked in premium economy, but these don't count toward challenges. Once you've got status, they will help you keep it, but EQPs that count toward challenges must be earned on an AA-coded flight.

sarahjintexas

so I'd have to buy a full fare economy or a business ticket?

BrewerSEA

It's not a ruse of QF, rather a limitation on the part of AA. For the same reason it is not possible to book PE on AA coded flights on BA and JL.