What benefits are you hoping or expecting to get from Gold in 2022? You�d be paying $1,500 upfront for Gold status, but if you�re not flying enough to easily reach Gold already, you could just pay cash for the occasional upgrade, checked bag, etc., and probably come out way ahead.

 

I will be flying quite a bit more, I have a CITI AA Admiral card now and plan to do a couple of mileage runs in 2022. I also have two trips to Europe planned. Assuming I can get into Europe.

 

I don’t want to browbeat you by asking a third time. But if you need mileage runs to get to Gold, there’s almost no chance you’ll get $1,500 in benefits from the status. Upgrades will be scarce domestically (and non-existent for the Europe trips), and AA still isn’t even serving booze in E+.

 

Right, I took your advice as do not to try to get to Gold by Feb. 22 and adjust goals to get to Platinum by the end of '22. This seems like a better goal to aim for.

 

That seems like a better idea than spending $1,500 to reach Gold by Feb., but I wouldn't necessarily mileage-run to get to Plat, either. Maybe see where you're at in July and then reevaluate.

 

I figure I�ll open this up to the resident experts and see if anyone can do better than what I can on my own. I�m a little short of ExPlat qualification, and want to have a backup plan in my pocket if I don�t qualify with my normal flying in the next couple months.

Departure Airport(s): Any east coast airport (BOS, JFK, EWR, PHL, BWI, IAD, DCA)
EQMs or EQSs Needed: 10,052
EQDs Needed: 1,618
Max Budget: I can do it for around ~$1,300
Available Travel Dates: Anytime in the end of Feb, so that I can quickly qualify for ExPlat at the last minute.
Max # Travel Nights: No hard limit, but I prefer these trips to be overnight if possible.
AA only, or Partners Okay: Partners okay
Have Chinese Visa? (Y/N): N

The best bet I have so far is using AS first credited to AA, so I would need ~6700 flight miles to accumulate enough EQMs. This would also give me $2,000 EQD, which is more than enough. All AS First fare buckets earn the same number of EQMs, so I just need the cheapest fare available.

So this leads to something like a whirlwind 24 hours running JFK -> SEA -> LAX -> SEA -> JFK in Alaska First for something like ~$1100. This would also earn me ~15,000 RDMs/LPs, which isn�t half bad either.

Anyone have any better ideas?

 

Have you checked flights to Alaska? Might be able to do it with fewer segments.

 

I had not, this is a good idea! I had checked Hawaii but not Alaska. Unfortunately, I just checked and the closest airport to me with a flight on AS to ANC is ORD, so I�d still end up with the same number of connections.

This would be an interesting idea to make the trip less wasteful though - I could actually spend a few days in ANC or HNL, rather than immediately returning.

 

My wife is short of Platinum Status by 2980 miles for 2022. She is doing a trip to JFK (from DFW) and she will still fall short of the 40K EQM by 132 miles.

Question:

1. Does Credit Card spend still count as EQM? If yes, she is covered.

If not, what are the options? Any suggestions without undertaking another flight.

 

Right now, only flights count. Perhaps she could upgrade the DFW-JFK trip, which would result in 2x EQM.

 

I did not check individual segments but the overall flight was showing an additional $700. I might look at individual segments to see if that is something worth considering.

 

In the past, people have had luck asking AA for a courtesy bump when they're only short by a few miles. Not sure if anyone has had luck this year, or if AA would do it before the flight. (And you'd obviously want to know in advance; after the flight, it would be too late to upgrade a segment.) Good luck.

 

Thanks for the tip. I shall ask her to call and talk to AA.

 

SPECIAL CHALLENGE REQUEST
Mom died and I am moving end of January, hoping someone might accept the challenge and have the time.

Need 2,400 EQD for the least amount of $$$, and/or willing to spend more if as a BONUS the flights can earn 35k EQM in the process for an extra two upgrades. Will go anywhere most vaxxed Americans can go, and will stay up to a 27 days... flights must occur between Jan 31 and February 27th... LAX ideal but will fly AA economy to a USA starting point if necessary. Or should I fly to Europe first and THEN complete an RT?

Outside of an Alaska-Florida run, I am thinking I am going to need to fly business in J, C, or D on BA, IB, or AY (J only) if I want to earn that 35k EQM AND be in a good spot for Loyalty Points. Probably to Eastern Europe or the Middle East or anywhere 6k miles away one way (6Kx3x2 equals 36K), unless someone has seen a deal for AA Vacations to the far south of South America (EZE or SCL via J or legit F)... or knows of a silly way to route my flight. Any ideas? If not, but you know of a QUICK cheap way to at least collect the 2400 EQD, I am all ears.

I value each SWU at $750 max, so if the flight fare costs more than $1500 extra to get those 35k EQM, it is less worth it to me. Then I might just aim for the 2400 EQD.

 

In my quick searching, my best options seem to be LAX-BOG in D class on AA for $1200ish plus whatever 3 nights at some basic hotel I pick to just get the EQD, or on BA/IB/AY to SVO for $3500 to get the EQD + EQM. Bogota probably warmer and clearly cheaper, and with SWU being valued at say $750 each, NO WAY worth the extra 2300 dollars.