Has anyone gotten recent clarification on the partner issue? I noticed that AA has added several partners to the list that are also on the AOL shopping link, such as BMG, CarParts, etc. I called customer service, and was told (almost too quickly) that each would count as a separate transaction. If I can't make it to the live chat tonight, someone ask this question? I have a feeling I will end up with around 14 out of the 20, and fall short.

Hi!

All the info you want is, actually, in the rules at the AA.com site. The fun part is trying to find them. I think you go Aadvantage, Member Guide, Earning Miles and then along the way somewhere, a 20th Anniversary link will come up.

Click on it and the rules are near the bottom of the page and they contain pretty good news.

Basically, anything but dining for dollars restaurants, aol quick checkout and aol opinion surveys are counted as individuals transactions.

And, as far as what's listed as a partner on the site, they address that too. They come right out and say there are many unique little partners out there that aren't listed. Further, since they aren't listed, just know that as long as the company is different from another, they're probably in!

Back to the aol quick checkout, I think I will ask for some clarification from the AA guy on this. When its said aol Quick Checkout will not be counted individually from the aol Opinion Survey, do they mean the miles you get for registering for Quick Checkout or from actually buying from each company using the aol Quick Checkout method?

And, as an example of going beyond the list, for the non-profit partners, there are alot listed on the site that only were thinking about being a partner, but then decided against it. Of the five I called, two told me that they decided against putting such a program in place and didn't know they were even on a list.


Finally, it would seem so easy to use non-profit partners to make it to the 20 needed with AA's ads and the push to give just $10 to the National Parks, getting a 100 miles and acquiring a partner, but I found by calling, that some of the non-profits pay for the miles and, thereby, only give them out if you donate alot of money, in one case, $5,400.00 minimum.

Hope this hasn't been TMI!

My National Park Foundation miles just posted to my account after I called American Advantage Customer Service. However, they posted as bonus miles, even though the representative assured me that they would show up in the mileage column. I called AA again and the representative told me that Nat'l Park Miles will always post as bonus miles because that is how they are set up in the American Advantage system. I told her that I donated because I expected to have it count as one of the 20 partners (which bonus miles do not). She said she could not fix this and I would have to wait until the end of the program to see if the miles count. But she did say that they were considered a partner. Which is it? Do they count or don't they? This program is very misleading.

National Parks counts per Bruce Chemel President of AAdvantage. Please read the chat transcript later today regarding Bruces' questions & answers last night on flyertalk live regarding the 20/20 quest. Click on CHAT tab at top of forums, then click transcripts. If transcript is not posted, check back later of course.