nako

Welcome to FT.

Yes. In fact, depending on the routing utilized, one RT from LAX/LAS to MAN in a discount economy bucket (i.e. one that earns 1 Q-point per mile rather than 1.5 for full-fare) would be sufficient.

That's not how it works. While PLTs and EXPs earn double miles, the 100 percent bonus that is earned counts only as redeemable miles, and not Q-miles.

That sounds about right -- but note that a Platinum challenge started any time during the remainder of this year would give PLT status until February 28, 2009, so flights next year would be as a PLT, not as Gold.

Assuming that AA continues its soft-landing policy, you'd be a Gold in 2009 if you didn't requalify for PLT in 2008.

Mike

jestabillo

I am doing the PLAT challenge right now, flying FLL-LAX-SFO-LAX-FLL for an N fare of $240 ($239.40 to be exact) yielding 3342 points per AA first posting on my account. I only need 3 of this (3342 x 3=10026 points for a total of $760) to complete the challenge. I thought I needed 4 so I booked 4 of them till the end of September with the last two routed through ORD to earn more miles. I completed the 2nd trip today and will do the 3rd one this coming weekend. Although it is not in F, I believe this is a lot cheaper than flying LAX-TPE not unless it is really necessary for you to fly there other than to qualify for PLAT.

The FLL-LAX-SFO-LAX-FLL is doable in less than 24 hours but I am not sure the reverse if you are flying out of SFO.

BTW, if you do my routing, your $2000 will enjoy the full benefit of 100% bonus miles for your future trips, maybe to TPE this time around.

Cheers!

elp_guy

Forgive me if I overlooked this in the "Challenge FAQ" sticky...

My wife is currently on the AA Platinum challenge, as she flies from ELP-ATL quite frequently. This route takes her through DFW both ways... The ELP-DFW flight yields 551 miles and the DFW-ATL flight yields 732.

So -- my question is, will she yield only 1283 q-points per RT (in coach), or will she yield 2000 q-points, because of a 500 q-point minimum?

I guess what my question boils down to is this: Does the 500 q-point minimum count per LEG or per FLIGHT?

Thanks!
elp_guy

Top Tier

Wecome to Flyertalk, elp_guy !

500 Q-points per leg (segment), unless it is the same flight number for both segments, in which case you would earn the same mileage as would apply to a non-stop between the origin and destination cities.

AA doesn't have an ELP-ATL flight with the same flight number. So in this case, 4 segments per R/T will yield 2,000 points minimum.

travellingcari

I searched but can't find anything close. Long story short:

I requested the Gold Challenge before switching a flight from NWA-AA due to an NWA schedule change that would have made the LAX connection impossible.

By my calculations and that of AA.com, I should be gold via either route:
since standard qualification is miles/points or segments, I'm there with no problem:
Total Available Award Mileage + 31,460
(<1000 are credit card (872 to be precise) so I'm well over 25K)
Challenge:
YTD Elite Qualifying Points: 6,833

The challenge requires 5K points, correct?

I've called AA on several occasions and get a "no you're not gold but I'm not sure why" response. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I have a feeling I'm missing something obvious but can't find it for the life of me. I'm still waiting on the balance of my Australia flights (booked via AA codeshare so I know they count) to post. Maybe by my next trip?

Thanks!

Dan5000

Maybe I missed something in your post but it isn't clear when you took your flight(s) relative to the start of your challenge. Your YTD EQPs may include some pre-challenge points. You need to earn 5,000 EQPs (not miles) in the 3 months after the start of your challenge. If you've done this, then yes, you should have hit GLD-lite.

JDiver

...and 25,000 program (redeemable) miles have nothing to do with it at all. You need to earn 25,000 Elite-Qualifying Miles in one calendar year to earn Gold by miles.

As Dan5000 says, you must call and register for the Challenge, then you have three months to earn 5,000 E Q Points.

If this is what happened, someone should have access to a record of when you signed up and the effective date, and access to your AAdvantage information. If it isn't, it sounds like you need to strategize a little...

P.S. This has been moved to the appropriate thread for further advice / help.

pinniped

My guess: those Q-points weren't all in the 90-day period.

It might be too late now, but if you had some Aussie activity, I'm wondering if you should have been on the Platinum Challenge instead...

oklAAhoma

Did you check to see if you were actually signed up for the challenge? Did you earn those 6833 EQP in a 3 month period?

Also, if your YTD Elite Qualifying Points is 6,833, then your YTD Elite Qualifying Miles cannot be greater than 13,666... only half way to Gold via regular means.

travellingcari

Should have been specific. Yes all but 500 of the points were since I signed up. Called to request Aug 1 start date and have verified that it is in the system. All of these flights have been in the last three weeks (since 8/8)

JDiver:
Whoops, copied the wrong line, sorry about that. Here's what I should have copied:
YTD Elite Qualifying Miles: 27,426

I think I'm good for Gold, just didn't want to argue in case I was missing something.

Thanks all!

Dan5000

Hmmm...see, that doesn't make sense either. As oklAAhoma pointed out, even assuming you earned 0.5 points/mile, you couldn't have more than 13,666 EQMs. So, either the mileage or the points are off. I'm guessing the mileage because, as you note, you should have qualified for Gold regardless of the Challenge based on your latest EQM line.

One other thought, is it possible that you (wittingly or unwittingly) signed up for the Platinum Challenge (which is 10,000 EQPs)? If so, that might end up working out for you if your latest mileage count is correct and you've already hit Gold on EQMs.

oklAAhoma

Agreed. Even with the clarification, it still doesn't make sense.
27,426 EQM would be a minimum of 13,713 EQP or almost twice as many as reported. (500 EQP from Jan 1 - Aug 1 and 6333 form Aug 1 to date.)

mvoight

Maybe they were not all on AA flights.
This year you have to fly under AA flight nunbers for the challenge.

mvoight

To be more specific, it requires 5000 points during the challenge period, on AA flight nunbers.

QF WP

To clear up for everybody, can you post the flights and fare code for each flight you've taken since 1 August.

Then we can do calculation to prove or disprove how many EQP's you've earned since 1 August and whether you've qualified.