Jan 2, 2016, 10:53 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
HELP DESK & FAQ: AAdvantage Elite Status Challenge (Gold and Platinum)
The 2016 AAdvantage Gold and Elite status challenges are now obsolete.
See HELP DESK & FAQ: 2017 Gold and Platinum status Challenge for the current Challenge thread
The 2016 AAdvantage Gold and Elite status challenges are now obsolete.
See HELP DESK & FAQ: 2017 Gold and Platinum status Challenge for the current Challenge thread
American Airlines initiated a new AAdvantage Gold and Platinum elite status challenge for 2016, available to anyone, (unless they have attempted or completed a recent challenge, or are trying to use a challenge to regain status). There is no publicly available documentation currently. Please update here as the information becomes available, e.g. signup fees.
Call +1.888.697-5636 for details and to sign up.
NOTE: There are also Corporate and Targeted status challenges offered to some levels of certain companies or targeted subgroups (LinkedIn had one, Founders Card may still offer one); some may offer up to Executive Platinum status. These differ significantly from this challenge offered the general flying public for a fee, and are discussed here.
Frequently Asked Questions and Requirements
Q. What are the requirements for successfully completing a Challenge?
- Gold status: earn 7,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) in 3 months (not 90 days). Signup fee (non-refundable): $120.00 for start date in Jan 2016, $100 in April 2016, $140 on June 16 2016
- Platinum status: earn 12,500 EQM in 3 months; signup fee (non-refundable) $200.00 for start date in Jan 2016, $180 in April 2016, $240 on June 16 2016. As of October 15 2016 it was $200.
Q. When can I sign up for a Challenge? Can I backdate to include flown flights? How far out can I enroll?
Start dates are now anytime, not a particular date, and may be backdated two weeks (although at least one member was denied in a request to backdate). You probably won't be allowed to engage farther than six weeks out.
Q. How long will Challenge-earned elite status last?
Challenges started prior to 16 June 2016 earn status good through 28 Feb 2017; challenges started 16 June or after earn status good through 31 Jan 2018. (It is the start date, not the date of the phone call or the date the challenge is completed, that matters.)
Q. Are there restrictions on earning EQM for the Challenge?
Yes. To qualify, EQM must be earned on flights marketed* by AA's Joint Business Venture partners:
- AA American Airlines
- AY Finnair
- BA British Airways
- IB Iberia
- JL Japan Airlines
- QF Qantas
* "AA marketed" = AA flight is displayed on your boarding pass
AA marketed fights earn as if flying AA, regardless of operating carrier. AY, BA and IB marketed flights must be operated by a oneworld airline; normally, JL and QF are the exceptions to this requirement.
Q. How many EQM do I earn per flown mile?
On AA marketed flights (AA flight on your boarding pass - regardless of operating carrier) you may earn, on qualifying paid fares:
- 3 EQM per base mile flown on full F, J fares
- 2 EQM per base mile flown in discounted Business and First fares
- 1 EQM minimum per base mile in all other qualifying fares
- 1.5 EQM maximum on all eligible First, Business and Premium Economy fares
- 1.0 EQM on the most expensive economy fares (full Y and maybe one or two other fares, depending on marketing airline)
- 0.5 or 0.25 EQM on most paid discount economy fares
- 0 EQM on some paid economy fares, dependent on marketing airline and fare class
Q. Will my credit card that pays to $200 incidental fees cover paying for the challenge?
Reports from members indicate your credit card might indeed credit you up to $200 for your challenge fee.
Q. Where can I learn more about earning EQM on AA and partner airlines?
Read Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partner airlines 2016 (particularly the wikipost at the top of the page) for further information about earning EQM on AA and its partners.
Q. Do status or class of service bonus miles in Business and First count toward my Challenge or "normal" status?
No. Class of service, status (and all "bonus") miles are Award (Redeemable) miles, not Elite Qualifying.
Q. I know for "normal" status one must fly four segments at least marketed by AA, or AAdvantage elite status will not be granted. Is this true for completing a Challenge?
No. You may earn Gold or Platinum status flying qualifying AY, BA, IB, JL or QF marketed flights for Challenge-earned AAdvantage status. (The four AA marketed flights requirement for normal status earning will no longer be in place in 2017.)
Q. How can I calculate miles flown for EQM calculations on partner airlines?
Distance calculations may be made reasonably with Great Circle Mapper (link).
Q. Can I qualify by any other measure, such as EQD spend or Elite Qualifying Segments?
No. Only by EQM as defined previously.
Q. I've noticed some have been granted Gold upon enrollment. Can I?
Those with status on competing airlines may be granted interim AAdvantage Gold status while flying a Platinum challenge. A few others may get lucky, but don't expect being granted interim status easily.
Q. Do I automatically gain Gold status when I earn 7,000 EQM on my Platinum Challenge?
No, you will not. There may be reports of one or two members requesting Gold once they've earned 7,000 EQM and being granted Gold status, but this does not seem to be a norm.
Q. If I earn Platinum through a Challenge, can I earn Platinum Pro with 25,000 EQM or Executive Platinum (EP) with 50,000 more EQM?
No. You must earn the full number of required EQM, EQS (and EQD in or after 2017) to earn higher status, regardless of Challenge status.
Q. Do I earn bonus miles, etc. on the flight I cross my Challenge threshold?
No. Status is awarded after the flight upon which the required threshold was crossed (some years ago, it was during and miles earning benefits applied to the earning flight - that has changed).
Q. Will my new status update automatically on my account and previously booked flights? Will my new status benefits be available automatically? How long does it take?
Once your miles post in your account, your status will normally update. But you might have to call AAdvantage Customer Service to have Your existing PNRs updated. The AA agent will remove, re-enter your AAdvantage number, which will cause the record to update.
Q. How often can I sign up for a Challenge?
First, one can not extend or retain status made through a Challenge with a subsequent Challenge. As well, knowledgeable members have posted AA generally allows two "status exceptions" in a five year period, and the Challenge is considered as a status exception. Buying status back would be considered a status exception as well.
NOTE: AA has announced changes to Award (redeemable) Mile earning effective 1 Aug 2016. This has no effect on elite qualifying miles and therefore no effect on completing the challenge. See Earning AA Award ("Redeemable") Miles / RDM earning in later 2016 on American Airlines and its partner airlines]
Elite Status Challenge and Flyertalk History
The now defunct original AAdvantage elite Gold and Platinum status challenge is archived; thread can be read here.
The original EQ Points based challenge lasted a number of years. It was AFAIK first documented systematically by FT member FewMiles, who had it on his web pages with other status-earning information.
First FT thread about the challenge was started 17 Dec 1998: The Elite Challenge
On a fateful day, 26 Jun 2000, FewMiles asked about taking the challenge in this post; fish on!
On 27 Oct 2000, FewMiles starts a new thread announcing a web page for his Unofficial guide to AAdvantage - elite status, Gold/Plat challenge ....
It appears this 18 year old program has been selected by the new management to continue going forward so AA can offer a shortcut to status that they possibly feel is more rewarding (to AA) and effective than merely handing out status matches to anyone with status in another airline / alliance.
Updated 31 July by JDiver
Note: there is a "reingagement challenge" to get back miles lost for inactivity within the last five years, which can be read about here: How to Reactivate / Restore Expired Miles – Reengagement Challenge (consolidated)
ARCHIVE: HELP DESK & FAQ: 2016 AA Elite Status Challenge
Feb 17, 2016, 8:14 am
#316
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Ok so please understand my ignorance here as I have a couple questions.
First, do I have to have any existing status to make this work? I've done an AA to UA status match before but that was to get UA to match my AA status so this is a different type of program. I am currently status free.
Second, I've got a RT to Rome coming up (CLE-ORD-FCO) and it's booked as a Y fare, so that gets me darn near the platinum status all on its own. Is it worth going for the platinum? I don't think I'll fly enough this year to get platinum on my own and with it expiring in Feb 2017 instead of feb 2018 I'm not sure what to do.
If I elect to go for platinum and get it on the challenge, but then only fly enough to get gold the conventional way, would gold status take over for 2017 after the platinum expires?
Thanks in advance.
First, do I have to have any existing status to make this work? I've done an AA to UA status match before but that was to get UA to match my AA status so this is a different type of program. I am currently status free.
Second, I've got a RT to Rome coming up (CLE-ORD-FCO) and it's booked as a Y fare, so that gets me darn near the platinum status all on its own. Is it worth going for the platinum? I don't think I'll fly enough this year to get platinum on my own and with it expiring in Feb 2017 instead of feb 2018 I'm not sure what to do.
If I elect to go for platinum and get it on the challenge, but then only fly enough to get gold the conventional way, would gold status take over for 2017 after the platinum expires?
Thanks in advance.
Fly June 16 or later, your Platinum status would persist through Jan 2018.
Don't challenge, but earn Gold this year, your Gold status would persist through Jan 2018.
Begin flying before June 16, your Platinum status would persist through Feb 2017.
If you begin flying a Platinum challenge prior to June 16, your Platinum status would persist through Feb 2017; if you also earn Gold this year, your Gold status would persist through Jan 2018.
Feb 17, 2016, 8:16 am
#317
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,398
Flew my last flight for the challenge on BA Sunday, flight must've posted overnight because when I checked tgis morning both the flight and my Plat showed up -thumbs up-
System isnt entirely updated yet because I cant select MCE's for free yet but I'll give it a day or 2
System isnt entirely updated yet because I cant select MCE's for free yet but I'll give it a day or 2
Feb 17, 2016, 8:34 am
#319
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,398
Feb 17, 2016, 11:36 am
#320
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: AUS TUS
Programs: AA PLT, UA GLD
Posts: 993
signed up today for PLAT challenge and forgot to ask for GOLD. 
I used to be EXP and knew a lot about the program but now I forgot, do I get bonus miles on the flight I made to status? it's a long flight and if not I'll call them and ask for GLD now
I used to be EXP and knew a lot about the program but now I forgot, do I get bonus miles on the flight I made to status? it's a long flight and if not I'll call them and ask for GLD now
Feb 17, 2016, 11:42 am
#321
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,951
Feb 17, 2016, 3:47 pm
#322
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: AUS TUS
Programs: AA PLT, UA GLD
Posts: 993
called back and she just checked the flight that I already booked then said okay. I have an AUS-DFW-HKG flight in business so will make PLT right after it. the GLD only affects this 2 flights.
I have an AUS-DFW-HKG flight in business so will make PLT right after it. the GLD only affects this 2 flights.
Feb 18, 2016, 2:57 pm
#323
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: MSY
Programs: UA
Posts: 33
So this is what I can't find an answer to. I did the challenge and am now Platinum. The miles accrued in changing sometime this Summer to a revenue based system. Will this only affect my RDMs or will it also change my EQMs? Meaning (for status renewal), will my EQMs still be calculated on actual miles flown (as opposed to the revenue calculation)?
Thank you
Thank you
Feb 18, 2016, 3:14 pm
#324
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,951
So this is what I can't find an answer to. I did the challenge and am now Platinum. The miles accrued in changing sometime this Summer to a revenue based system. Will this only affect my RDMs or will it also change my EQMs? Meaning (for status renewal), will my EQMs still be calculated on actual miles flown (as opposed to the revenue calculation)?
Thank you
Thank you
Feb 18, 2016, 3:26 pm
#325
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,398
So this is what I can't find an answer to. I did the challenge and am now Platinum. The miles accrued in changing sometime this Summer to a revenue based system. Will this only affect my RDMs or will it also change my EQMs? Meaning (for status renewal), will my EQMs still be calculated on actual miles flown (as opposed to the revenue calculation)?
Thank you
Thank you
Feb 18, 2016, 3:52 pm
#327
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: MSY
Programs: UA
Posts: 33
Yes I know there is a difference but that doesn't mean that the change couldn't affect both of them. Thank you for not answering the question yet commenting. Very helpful.
Feb 18, 2016, 4:24 pm
#328
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: Advantage, Skymiles, Millege Plus
Posts: 5
GOLD while waiting for Platinum?
First post here. I have just hung up the phone with Advantage Support at the number you guys put in this tread. I'm sad to inform they did not allow me to become Gold while I wait for my flight and my EQM credit. I have found a super cool flight so I can become Advantage Platinum at a cheap price.
outbound MAD to EZE on AA via MIA
Inbound EZE to AMS on AA via MIA and PHL
Total EQM 13200
Cost 769 USD
Even thou I am a Silver elite Status on Delta Skymiles the representative told me they are not matching status with Delta at the moment and I can't be Advantage Gold before my flight credits.
I have done this flight last year and at least the inbound leg it takes for EVER. It's 2 full days, leaving Argentina on Monday night and arriving Europe on a Wednesday morning.
I can't and won't fly again like this at least I have a minimum chance of an upgrade for being Advantage Gold.
I guess I will have to call again and maybe try better luck with a different representative.
Any advice on what to do? or how to proceed?
Thanks.
Feb 18, 2016, 6:46 pm
#329
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Hi,
First post here. I have just hung up the phone with Advantage Support at the number you guys put in this tread. I'm sad to inform they did not allow me to become Gold while I wait for my flight and my EQM credit. I have found a super cool flight so I can become Advantage Platinum at a cheap price.
outbound MAD to EZE on AA via MIA
Inbound EZE to AMS on AA via MIA and PHL
Total EQM 13200
Cost 769 USD
Even thou I am a Silver elite Status on Delta Skymiles the representative told me they are not matching status with Delta at the moment and I can't be Advantage Gold before my flight credits.
I have done this flight last year and at least the inbound leg it takes for EVER. It's 2 full days, leaving Argentina on Monday night and arriving Europe on a Wednesday morning.
I can't and won't fly again like this at least I have a minimum chance of an upgrade for being Advantage Gold.
I guess I will have to call again and maybe try better luck with a different representative.
Any advice on what to do? or how to proceed?
Thanks.
First post here. I have just hung up the phone with Advantage Support at the number you guys put in this tread. I'm sad to inform they did not allow me to become Gold while I wait for my flight and my EQM credit. I have found a super cool flight so I can become Advantage Platinum at a cheap price.
outbound MAD to EZE on AA via MIA
Inbound EZE to AMS on AA via MIA and PHL
Total EQM 13200
Cost 769 USD
Even thou I am a Silver elite Status on Delta Skymiles the representative told me they are not matching status with Delta at the moment and I can't be Advantage Gold before my flight credits.
I have done this flight last year and at least the inbound leg it takes for EVER. It's 2 full days, leaving Argentina on Monday night and arriving Europe on a Wednesday morning.
I can't and won't fly again like this at least I have a minimum chance of an upgrade for being Advantage Gold.
I guess I will have to call again and maybe try better luck with a different representative.
Any advice on what to do? or how to proceed?
Thanks.
How to proceed is up to you, you should try asking again, but don't demand something you aren't in any way entitled to.
Feb 18, 2016, 6:52 pm
#330
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: AA, Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton
Posts: 501
New to AA and planning on doing the challenge centered around a trip to Paris from New York at the end of june, so I have to start after the 16th. Given the high cost of summer travel, I'm contemplating a few options.
1) Do a mileage run or two after the 15th to get status after my first leg of the trip to France
2) Fly business class one way, and return another. For example, using American Airlines, I found
LGA-BOS (A class) - CDG (I class) for 3,633 EQM(miles according to GCM)
and then a return CDG - CLT - LGA all on Economy/Q class
(GCM says 4,718)
which should give me bout 12,000 EQM's that I can top off with a 500 EQM flight nearby.
There's also a BA operated JFK -> LHR -> CDG I could do on business or economy. I can also fly from DFW or ORD since I have reasons to visit the cities, though that would probably mean I'd buy economy for my entire trip.
-I'm assuming even though it's all booked as one flight I will receive 3x EQM on LGA-BOS and 2x EQM on BOS-CDG or am I misunderstanding?
-I'm wondering if it's wise to spend the extra $1500 on the biz class tickets, or if I should try and get another weekend or two of vacation out of my planning. Given the high cost of summer travel in general I'm just trying to be efficient.
Also, there is a chance I miscalculated the EQM's so i apologize in advance for that
1) Do a mileage run or two after the 15th to get status after my first leg of the trip to France
2) Fly business class one way, and return another. For example, using American Airlines, I found
LGA-BOS (A class) - CDG (I class) for 3,633 EQM(miles according to GCM)
and then a return CDG - CLT - LGA all on Economy/Q class
(GCM says 4,718)
which should give me bout 12,000 EQM's that I can top off with a 500 EQM flight nearby.
There's also a BA operated JFK -> LHR -> CDG I could do on business or economy. I can also fly from DFW or ORD since I have reasons to visit the cities, though that would probably mean I'd buy economy for my entire trip.
-I'm assuming even though it's all booked as one flight I will receive 3x EQM on LGA-BOS and 2x EQM on BOS-CDG or am I misunderstanding?
-I'm wondering if it's wise to spend the extra $1500 on the biz class tickets, or if I should try and get another weekend or two of vacation out of my planning. Given the high cost of summer travel in general I'm just trying to be efficient.
Also, there is a chance I miscalculated the EQM's so i apologize in advance for that
Last edited by StatusChallenged; Feb 19, 2016 at 10:06 am