Hi there,

This is my first post on the board and I really want to provide some valuable info. One way to achieve instant platinum status is if one is going to Asia from most gateways in the U.S.A. ie. on Cathay, is to enroll in the American Platinum Challenge and you will accumulate enough miles to easily qualify for gold or platinum status until Feb 2003. Furthermore, does anyone know if one takes a discover asia pass on Cathay Pacific, will they recieve miles or segment credits? Thanks, and I look forward to sharing more info with you in the future.

Mike in Seattle

Hi.
Thanks for the tip.

Welcome to Flyertalk!!!

Try this site out. We at FT call it our AA handbook.

http://fewmiles.tripod.com/AA/

Mike, there may be some other factors that apply concerning the "Instant Platinum Status":

1.According to the AAdvantage Member Guide
you can't be AA Platinum just by flying
other OneWorld carriers. "Members must fly
at least four segments on American
Airlines or American Eagle to qualify for
AAdvantage Platinum status within the
qualifying year." Maybe other FT members
can clarify whether this rule is
waived for the Platinum Challenge, but
I doubt it.
2.Normally they won't let you take the
Platinum Challenge unless you are already
Gold. A few people have reported that
they did it, but as a general rule, it's
not allowed.
3.If you qualify for the Platinum Challenge
before June 30, it's only good through the
following February (in this case Feb 2002,
not 2003).
4.When flying Economy Class on Cathay, you
can only earn AA miles on B, H, and Y fares
(the most expensive ones).
5.The Cathay All Asia Pass rules state that
you can't earn miles.

dog,
I disagree with a few of your comments.
1. To maintain gold or platinum status you have to do a minimum number of AA flights but the challenges do not have this requirement.
2. Just talked AAdvantage customer service again and no prerequisites for gold or platinum challenge. You can do one or the other your choice (occasionally I have heard of folks being able to sign up for both at the same time) no need to be gold to sign up for plat challenge. Of course, considering AAdvantage cust service and the different stories you sometimes get whenever you call you could have been told something different but when I did it was told no requirements and was just told that again 10 minutes ago.

Otherwise, welcome to ft mike.

jerry

Points well taken.

1. It is true that one cannot accumulate miles on a all Asia pass. I wonder if the segments count.

2. True regarding classes of service. However, if you leave from a Canadian gateway you can earn miles from most discounted economy class fares. The fares from Canadian gateways are also cheaper.

3. I called American on more than a few occasions and almost anyone can take the challenge.

4. The challenge can only be done with certain carriers. For example, if you fly Japan Airlines, their miles are not eligible for the challenge. However, if you fly Cathay the miles can be counted towards the challenge.

5. My understanding is that this task (achieving platinum status) can be achieved for less than $1300 USD.

Thanks

Mike in Seattle

If you wait for the right fare, it can be done under $700.

Thanks Mike, where can I enroll for the Platinum Challenge?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mikeinseattle:
2. True regarding classes of service. However, if you leave from a Canadian gateway you can earn miles from most discounted economy class fares. The fares from Canadian gateways are also cheaper.

- This is true only if you are a Canadian resident or have a mailing address in Canada in your AAdvantage file. After Canadian Airlines left One World, Cathay Pacific allowed residents to earn miles on coach fares to attract business. Unlucky for all the rest of us!

Also, the segments on the All Asia Pass would not qualify. If not, it would be a great "baht run" equivalent.

What you should look into instead is the Taipei run others here have done. Flying JFK-SJC-TPE-SJC-JFK would earn one 18k. I only wish I had done this.



------------------
"Fly me to the moon and let me earn alot of miles."

(1) You definitely do not need to already be Gold to do a Plat challenge. You can do a Plat Challenge even if you've never flown AA in your life. Keep in mind that if you do a Plat Challenge, you do NOT receive Gold status or associated perks upon crossing the 5,000 Q-point mark. You hold vermin status all the way up to the 10,000 Q-point mark, at which point you earn the Plat bennies.

(Therefore, for most people who have domestic AA activity - including a mix of short- and medium-length segments - the Gold Challenge followed by Plat Challenge is the least-stressful way to go, because decent benefits arrive at the 5,000-point mark.)

(2) The Challenges are driven solely by Q-points, not miles. Therefore, if Airline X posts its mileage in your AAdvantage account as "qualifying miles" (and 0.5x Q-points, for discounted economy), you can use its flights for your Challenge. (My girlfriend completed a Gold Challenge with one $350 round-trip ticket to Europe.)

simpode: call AAdvantage customer service (US or Canada, 24 hours) at (800) 882-8880 and ask to be put on a challenge; I think they can commence on the 1st or 16th of any month.


rmccamy: You can evolve from verminhood at 5k q-pts if you do a simultaneous gold/plat challenge (like I did). I wanted at least gold ASAP so I could buy electronic stickers...

Good point...if you can find someone at AA who is willing to let you do the Challenges simultaneously, you've got the best of both worlds!

What happens if you sign up for both Gold and Platinum challenges, and you only fulfill the Gold portion in the 3 months? Are you then left to just earning Platinum the old-fashioned way?

I'm kicking myself for not knowing about the challenge...my wife and I could've been Gold by now. Oh well.

Cheers,
Lawrence

WorldBanker,

Be careful with the JFK-SJC-TPE-SJC-JFK Idea. If you travel on 150 and 151 the whole way, it is only ~7800 miles each way. Because you are on a 'through flight' you only get miles as if it were nonstop from JFK-TPE. If you use other flights to get from JFK to SJC you get significantly more miles each way.

You don't need to complete ANY AA flight for the challenge. I flew on one flight from LAX-SYD on QF first and achieved Platinum from that.

Here are a couple more threads on the challenge.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/001840.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/002316.html

You can only enroll in one Challenge at a time, and cannot switch midway. And you can only do a given Challenge once. As noted, you don't need an AA flight for the Challenge, only to requalify in subsequent years for elite status. And you must be a Canadian AAdvantage member to be eligible for the CX credits on all fares [except the Asia Pass]. AA has very restrictive CX credit criteria. And segments don't count either for non-eligible CX flights.