quickest way to earn 20 points?
 

I have 4980 points, that is, 20 points short of being able to transfer to AA miles for making LT Gold by 12/1/2011. Is there any way to quickly obtain 20 points?

Book a cheap stay $35-$45/ night at a nearby Econolodge or Rodeway ... check-in and go home, come back the next day and check-out.
In two days your CP points will post to your CP account.

For $11, you can purchase 1000 points. I have done this in the past to top up my account.

Why do you want to make LT Gold by 12/1/2011?

Do you realize that you'll get much more for crossing Gold after 12/1 than before 12/1? Before 12/1, you'll get a small handful of 500-mile upgrades. After 12/1, you'll get a sizeabout number of bonus miles, enough for at least one round trip.

So the general recommendation is to walk up to, but not cross, 1MM, before 12/1, and then cross the actual 1MM with a flgiht after 12/1.

In case you're not aware, all miles you earn before 12/1 will continue to count toward LT status thresholds after 12/1. It's just that any additional miles you earn toward LT status thresholds after 12/1 have to come from flying (or from one very specific and expensive AA Citi card).

Thus, what you want to do is have your AA acount have no more than (but close to) 999,999 miles in it on 12/1/2011. Those 999,999 miles will carry over and be available as Million Miler Miles from 12/1/2011 onward. So if you have 999,999 miles on 12/1/2011, any paid flight of any distance after 12/1 will cross the threshold and make you LT Gold at that point.

Thanks sdsearch for your detailed post. Appreciate it. Getting close to a million miles but not crossing it will work out just great for me but FWIW, I 've read reports on the AA board that people making LT Gold before 12/1 can have their 500 mile upgrades exchanged into 35K miles. So, it doesn't really matter at this point when you make LT Gold.

Try a topguest checkin or transfer currency from e-rewards. Topguest seems to have issues posting points properly (only with choice privileges) but there's no harm checking-in a few times and seeing if it works out for you.