Randy - you are being cited by the reporter as one source for an article in USA today. He says that you confirmed to him that AA is offering to sell EXP status. AA appears to be denying that they will do this. The thread is here. Care to drop by and add your comments?

Thanks for asking and yes, this is pretty much my article as I've been writing about mileage runs since 1986. Sometimes it is semantics and sometimes it is the editing process.

I was the source for the article and what i remember going over is stating the Mileage Plus EQM for credit card bonuses and the AAdvantage renewal effort - since this was about mileage runs and not buying miles, etc. The idea of mentioning the AAdvantage offer:
http://www.aa.com/content/urls/elite...RL&title=elite

and the details are in the link and you can see that EXP is not mentioned, is that this is not the first time AAdvantage has done this and my point in mentioning this is that many of those who are unfamiliar with mileage runs are missing out on opportunities to re-qualify for elite without having to fly - something newer to the industry and i suspect will become even more prominent in the future.

I was telling the reporter (and he really is a good one) that 10 years ago the mix for mileage runs was 80/20 - that is, 80% of the mileage runs were being taken to re-qualify for elite status and 20% taken to enhance a bonus promotion, either Fly 3, Get 1 Free, Triple Miles, Topping Off Accounts, etc. while today it has turned completely around, its 20/80. More and more members are using mileage runs for bonus opportunities that may come with elite qualification than in years past and only 20% of them are truly dedicated to elite re-qualification. It's not so much that elite runs have shrunk, it is just that the pool of these types of trips has grown tremendously.

Anyway, thanks for asking, but i did not error in mentioning EXP, as it is not mentioned at all in the link i have provided above. And if you read carefully the AA link, you'll see note that members who renewed their elite status using this method in 2005 - this year - cannot use it again for 2006. It's really not new news, but I'm glad that some are finding it new to use.

NOTE: This is really what ORP should be about, asking me relevant questions of the industry such as comments about the future in 2006, does a slight shrinking capacity of some airlines route systems mean less awards available, etc.