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AA/One World: 2017-2018 Consolidated Mileage/Status/Challenge Runs help needed

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Old Dec 4, 2017, 8:55 am
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Last edit by: melrowgo
AA/One World: 2017-2018 Consolidated Mileage/Status/Challenge Runs help needed
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Requesters and responders, please read this wiki before posting.
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In order to organize Mileage/Status/Challenge Run threads, the Moderators have decided to create a consolidated thread. This is the thread for American Airlines.

For each request:
  1. do a search on your departure airport(s) to see if there's a MR already posted that might fit your need
  2. if you don't find what you need, post your request using the standardized format shown below in this wiki
  3. it's nice form to acknowledge the responder with a post indicating whether the assistance worked for you or not. This helps everyone learn about successful runs
  4. if several days have gone by and you have not received a reply, bump up your original post with a (gentle) re-ask. It might be your post was missed in the fray
For each response:
  1. quote the original request
  2. include the route cities, price, airline, cabin/class, EQMs/EQDs, and dates for the solution(s) found
  3. whenever possible, include a link to the solution as found on Google Flights, or attach as screen print of the solution if from another source

_________________________________________________

For each request, use this format as shown. A glossary follows to clarify each entry.

Departure Airport(s):
EQMs or EQSs Needed:
EQDs Needed:
Max Budget:
Available Travel Dates:
Max # Travel Nights:
AA only, or Partners Okay:
Have Chinese Visa? (Y/N):


If there is additional information you'd like to share that is pertinent to your request, feel free to add it after this standardized request format.
_________________________________________________


GLOSSARY:
Departure Airport(s): list the airport codes of any airports you can depart from, identifying preferred airports if any
EQMs or EQSs Needed: the number of each/either that you need to reach status. Please be as precise as possible, as some MRs can be within a few of your goal.
EQDs Needed: the number that you need to reach status. Please be as precise as possible, as some MRs can be within a few of your goal.
Max Budget: the maximum amount you're willing to spend to reach status. Less is always preferable, but a max is an important factor. Please make this a realistic number for your goal.
Available Travel Dates: list the range of dates you're available. The more you list, the better your chances of getting a good MR.
Max # Travel Nights: the maximum number of nights you're willing to be away. The nights might be at the destination or at a layover city. If cannot be gone overnight at all, list 0 or "day run only". Again, please make this realistic for your goal.
AA only, or Partners Okay: if you want to only AA-coded flights (e.g. for upgrades, etc), then list "AA only". If you are okay with flying on partners (especially useful for EQD runs), then list "either".
Have Chinese Visa? (Y/N): if you have a Chinese visa that will be valid at the time of the MR, then list "Y". Many good MRs have destinations in China, but you need a visa for those destinations.

(Note: Added this info from the OP to wiki for greater visibility to posters.)
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AA/One World: 2017-2018 Consolidated Mileage/Status/Challenge Runs help needed

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Old Sep 6, 2018, 4:00 pm
  #1546  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: DFW
Programs: AA Exp, United Silver, Delta Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 280
I did some more research and i cannot price it as PE in MATRIX. Not sure how GF is pulling it as PE. AA shows 25k hkd for the same ticket
fnuhenry is offline  
Old Sep 6, 2018, 7:38 pm
  #1547  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Programs: AA, Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton
Posts: 501
Departure Airport: NYC, can also fly from SFO next month or November. Am willing to reposition to any major US hub that is cheap/easy to get to
EQM: 20-30,000 needed
MQD: none needed
Available Travel Dates: weekends only, starting in October
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: AA and partners are OK
Chinese Visa: N


Ideally I would fly Friday night until saturday or sunday. I saw one PE to Vietnam for $1300 on a weekend that gives 33,000 EQM, but I would miss most of Friday and some of Monday. If i only missed one of those days i would do it. The NYC-LIH posted on the forums seems to price out to $500, since GF posts show basic economy. I'd also have to do that twice, which I'd rather just get it over with on one weekend. If the flight is all in US and I have wifi, I can take a weekday as well.
StatusChallenged is offline  
Old Sep 7, 2018, 5:59 pm
  #1548  
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: AA, Delta, Marriott
Posts: 2
Hi, thank you for the suggestion, I was pretty optimistic on price. Cn you tell me what tool you used to come with that routing suggestion please.
tonytexasdfw is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2018, 7:44 am
  #1549  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: MIA
Posts: 498
Im on track for Plat Pro right now. Ill unfortunately be 12,000 EQM shy of EP and meet EP EQD. I wonder if there is a better flight I can take to qualify for EP. I would cancel my plat pro flight if someone can work with the constraints below.

Departure Airport: MIA/FLL/PBI
Miles Needed: 38000 EQM, 3500 EQD
Required Spend or Budget: up to $2500
Available Travel Dates: 4-5 days must include a weekend
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: AA and partners are OK
sgan317 is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2018, 7:37 pm
  #1550  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Originally Posted by tonytexasdfw
Hi, thank you for the suggestion, I was pretty optimistic on price. Cn you tell me what tool you used to come with that routing suggestion please.
I'm guessing this was directed at me. The tool I used is Google Flights.
SpammersAreScum is offline  
Old Sep 8, 2018, 9:09 pm
  #1551  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Originally Posted by sgan317
Im on track for Plat Pro right now. Ill unfortunately be 12,000 EQM shy of EP and meet EP EQD. I wonder if there is a better flight I can take to qualify for EP. I would cancel my plat pro flight if someone can work with the constraints below.

Departure Airport: MIA/FLL/PBI
Miles Needed: 38000 EQM, 3500 EQD
Required Spend or Budget: up to $2500
Available Travel Dates: 4-5 days must include a weekend
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: AA and partners are OK
This is tricky. A HKG RT is almost enough miles and only costs $1200 in Econ on AA. So two of them would just about do it for EQM; same for a single Business trip, which would cost way over $2500.

But obviously this would be way short on EQD. The way to get EQD much higher than spend is to fly on a partner. But then the EQM is lower unless you're flying PE: MIA-EWR-HKG-SIN-LAX-MIA for $1803 is PE CX on the international segments (18,419 miles) and Econ AA on the domestic (3,427 miles); that should do it for EQD but be about 7,000 short on EQM.

A simple LHR RT is over 8,800 miles, and available on AA for $723.

Done, for $2526. Close enough?
beershack likes this.
SpammersAreScum is offline  
Old Sep 10, 2018, 2:56 pm
  #1552  
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: DFW
Posts: 8,036
Originally Posted by srwatters
On a suggestion from a fellow traveler, I looked into booking through AA Vacations and found a package for a one nighter to LHR staying at the Mercure Heathrow for $815.49 or 4,600 miles + $761.21. It's regular economy and not basic so a carry-on is allowed and I could wait list for a mileage upgrade if I wanted... flight AA20 on 11/30 returning AA81 on 12/2. 9502 EQM.
Thanks for the tip on this. I was able to get DFW-ORD-LHR (in MCE) and then turnaround the next morning LHR-DFW (in PE) for a total of 11,882 eqm for $1052.95. In MCE it would've been about $750,but the $300 for PE seemed reasonable.
I'll be doing DFW-LHR-DFW a month later on a business trip in F, so it will be quite the difference
thelark is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2018, 2:59 pm
  #1553  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Mesa, AZ
Programs: AA Ex Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Silver
Posts: 638
Departure Airport: PHX (Can reposition if not too costly)
Miles Needed: 18,500 EQM (to Exec Plat)
Dollars Needed: $0
Budget: up to < $1000
Chinese Visa: Y
Available Travel Dates: 4 days must include a weekend (Need to avoid Thanksgiving weekend)
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: AA and partners are OK (Prefer AA as I have SWUs to try)

I already booked one PHX-CGK for a Friday to Monday for ($928) but all the other weekends I can go are up around 1100 and I'm trying to get this done on the cheap. Any other options to get the required mileage but keep it below $1000 even if I have to do two trips. I'd like to avoid having to use 2 vacation days if I can as well but if I have to repeat the PHX-CGK trip I will just hoping for another option
Robertsonland is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2018, 6:35 pm
  #1554  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: GNV
Programs: AA EP (life Gold), Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 392
Originally Posted by Robertsonland
Departure Airport: PHX (Can reposition if not too costly)
Miles Needed: 18,500 EQM (to Exec Plat)
Dollars Needed: $0
Budget: up to < $1000
Chinese Visa: Y
Available Travel Dates: 4 days must include a weekend (Need to avoid Thanksgiving weekend)
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: AA and partners are OK (Prefer AA as I have SWUs to try)

I already booked one PHX-CGK for a Friday to Monday for ($928) but all the other weekends I can go are up around 1100 and I'm trying to get this done on the cheap. Any other options to get the required mileage but keep it below $1000 even if I have to do two trips. I'd like to avoid having to use 2 vacation days if I can as well but if I have to repeat the PHX-CGK trip I will just hoping for another option
easy one...book PE on AA virtually any weekend. I’m seeing lots of PHX-LAX-PEK-DFW-PHX for $1034.
in Y, it’s ~14kEQM so in PE I’m guessing ~20k return (you probably won’t get PE fc on domestic segments).

if you look a little harder, you can find it less expensive. I just booked two tickets on fareboom out of MCO for about 735 (each) round-trip in PE. Wide-open SWU availability.
jackspot likes this.
Whodunit68 is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2018, 6:46 pm
  #1555  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Mesa, AZ
Programs: AA Ex Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Silver
Posts: 638
Originally Posted by Whodunit68

easy one...book PE on AA virtually any weekend. I’m seeing lots of PHX-LAX-PEK-DFW-PHX for $1034.
in Y, it’s ~14kEQM so in PE I’m guessing ~20k return (you probably won’t get PE fc on domestic segments).

if you look a little harder, you can find it less expensive. I just booked two tickets on fareboom out of MCO for about 735 (each) round-trip in PE. Wide-open SWU availability.
Thanks, I hadn't thought about PE at all as most of them had been over $2K. Is it easy to do a turnaround from PEK? I've only gone to Shanghai.
Robertsonland is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2018, 6:49 pm
  #1556  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: GNV
Programs: AA EP (life Gold), Global Entry, TSA Pre-Check, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 392
Originally Posted by Robertsonland
Thanks, I hadn't thought about PE at all as most of them had been over $2K. Is it easy to do a turnaround from PEK? I've only gone to Shanghai.
it is. It takes a little time but not bad.
Whodunit68 is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2018, 6:50 pm
  #1557  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Mesa, AZ
Programs: AA Ex Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Silver
Posts: 638
Originally Posted by Whodunit68

it is. It takes a little time but not bad.
OK cool. I do have the APEC card which in Shanghai gets me through Immigration quickly.
Robertsonland is offline  
Old Sep 12, 2018, 7:00 pm
  #1558  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Mesa, AZ
Programs: AA Ex Plat, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Silver
Posts: 638
Didn't there used to be a way on the AA website to see how many miles a trip would give you before you bought the tickets?

EDIT: Never mind I found it!

Last edited by Robertsonland; Sep 12, 2018 at 7:02 pm Reason: Found it
Robertsonland is offline  
Old Sep 13, 2018, 2:37 am
  #1559  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 12
Hello. I'm a newbie, please be gentle. I'll learn quite a bit with your help.
Currently hold no status, trying to get Gold. Have Citi AAdvantage Exec card, but have only earned 14,574 miles through purchases in the last 9 months. So I won't be getting the EQMs for the $40,000 target spend.
Departure Airport(s): AUS
EQMs or EQSs Needed: 5,737 EQMs
EQDs Needed: 1,235 EQD
Max Budget: None
Available Travel Dates: Open, prefer weekends
Max # Travel Nights:2
AA only, or Partners Okay: Whichever is optimal
Have Chinese Visa? (Y/N):
N

I currently have a round trip flight booked from AUS to ORD in November. It is an "O" class ticket if that matters. That will be (977 x 2=) 1,954 EQM. I'm assuming those haven't posted to my total since I haven't flown them yet. Is that true? If so, I need 3,783 EQMs more.
I booked the flight on Expedia and it cost me
$424.41 with fees. I'm not sure how much of that total counts towards EQDs.
I've also got an AA flight from AUS to BZE on December 29, 2018, but I'm guessing that wouldn't be enough time to get them posted to the 2018 total.

So how should I go about making a run? I tried using Google Flights and modifying the URL so "a=AA" and I was looking at flights to European cities. Finding cheap ones and then looking at aavacations and filtering for a weekend trip with hotel. Making sure to select a fare code with an asterisk to qualify for a "Special Fare". But, prices were in the 700-800 range for a Thursday night through Sunday morning jaunt that would give me a day in London or Amsterdam. Usually leveraging the direct flight from AUS to LHR and then connecting.
I wouldn't mind flying to Dublin, LHR, or Munich as I have friends there. But, it might be overkill for my needs. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure how the numbers shake out when using a Special Fare.

Bottom line, I'm wondering if I can achieve what I need by flying domestically. Or maybe a quick weekend in Central America on a beach.

I would love your recommendations. And any insights on the process so I can learn.

Thanks,
Hammers
SackOHammers is offline  
Old Sep 13, 2018, 7:57 am
  #1560  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 21
Mileage Run Needed to keep AA Gold, out of ORD

Departure Airport(s): ORD (can get to SFO, LAX, EWR, IAH, IAD, or DEN for free so could go from any of these)
EQMs or EQSs Needed: 8000 EQM's
EQDs Needed: $0
Max Budget: $500
Available Travel Dates: October/November/December (Thursday-Sun preferred)
Max # Travel Nights: 3
AA only, or Partners Okay: Partners Okay
Have Chinese Visa? (Y/N): N

Hi, a bit new to this. Qualified for AA gold thru a corporate promotion this year but would like to qualify to keep through 2020. 8k EQM's short, can standby (thanks Mom) to any major US Domestic base easily enough so I'm looking for the cheapest option possible to grab the 8k miles needed!
standby1995 is offline  


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