AA Advantage Platinum Challenge

[Jeff Abbott]

Early today I contacted AAdvantage Customer Service on 0011 1 817 799 2500 and registered for the AA Advantage Platinum Challenge.

The following confirmation e-mail was received:

**** PLEASE DO NOTREPLY TO THIS MESSAGE ****
**** TO CONTACTAADVANTAGE CUSTOMER SERVICE, ****
**** CALL800-421-0600 OR SEND US EMAIL VIA AA.COM ****

Thanks for speaking with me about your AAdvantage account. We have put you on a Challenge for AAdvantage Platinum membership. Congratulations – and Good Luck!

Here are some helpful tips:

· Remember that Challenges are based on points, not miles, and your goal is 10,000 points in the three-month period we discussed. If you’re not sure how you earn points, read on. (That’s why you wanted this email, right?)

· Use American Airlines (of course!) and other elite-qualifying carriers to maximize your earnings. These elite carriers are Aer Lingus, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LAN, Qantas and Alaska Airlines (and their eligible affiliates). When you earn miles on AA or on these carriers, you also earn points. Only points count toward your Challenge. (But remember that there are some fares on these carriers that are not eligible to earn miles or points. You can easily check out these rules on aa.com/aadvantage when you select ‘Partners and Mileage Programs’ and then navigate to the particular airline.) And please note: For Challenges that start on January 1, 2007 and later, only points earned on American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection flights (including AA codeshare flights operated by other carriers) will count toward Challenges.

· Select fares with high point values. If, for example, you use Deep Discount Fares, get ready to fly 20,000 miles because those fares earn points at half the rate of miles. But if you buy Discount Fares, the rate is one point per mile and you can meet your Challenge by flying 10,000 elite-qualifying miles. And if you select premium fares, you earn 1.5 points per mile and can meet the Challenge by flying just – OK, you do the math!

· Know the point values you’ll earn for the booking codes you select. Yes it may look like alphabet soup, but there’s a point to these codes. In fact, there’s anywhere from 5 – 1.5 points!
· Earn 1.5 points per mile when the purchased fare on your American Airlines ticket begins with one of these booking codes: A F P D I J B Y
· Earn 1.0 point per mile for these AA booking codes: H K L M V W
· Earn .5 points per mile for these AA booking codes: G N O* Q** S (sorry, you knew there had to be an asterisk somewhere)
· Equivalent booking codes for the other elite-qualifying carriers are included on the various airline pages on AA.com

· How can you determine what booking code is used for the fare you’re purchasing? Simply ask the booking agent, whether that’s your travel agent, corporate travel planner or AA Reservations representative. Or, even better, when you book your flights on AA.com, the Flight Summary screen displays the booking code in the same column as the cabin booked

· Here’s an easy way to keep track of your progress: Before you take your first flight in the Challenge period, look at your YTD Elite Qualifying Points. You can access this information when you login to AA.com with your AAdvantage number and password. (If I’ve just lost you, call us at 800-421-0600 and request the email on ‘AA.com Login and Passwords.’) Click on ‘View My Miles’ and your Mileage Summary (displayed on the left) includes your YTD Elite Qualifying Points. Add 10,000 to this number and that’s what you’re shooting for. At the end of your Challenge, if your YTD Elite Qualifying Points are 10,000 more than when you started, victory is yours and you’ll see ‘Status: Platinum’ on your Home Page right below your name when you login to AA.com.

A Challenge is intended for members who are in a hurry to get to the elite level they desire. Think of it as a shortcut to the status you would probably earn on your own during the normal 12-month qualification period. If you meet your Challenge goal, then you will be expected to requalify the following year by meeting the normal criteria. We know you can do it.

Now here are those pesky but important footnotes:

*O -- only eligible domestic fares booked in O will count
**Q -- excludes American Airlines transatlantic fares booked in Q and equivalent booking codes on participant airlines

AAdvantage Customer Service

Cheers,

Jeff A

 

[JohnK]

And please note: For Challenges that start on January 1, 2007 and later, only points earned on American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection flights (including AA codeshare flights operated by other carriers) will count toward Challenges.

I am surprised that this statement has not received a comment yet!

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I am surprised that this statement has not received a comment yet!

There is another thread already discussing that. But you know that, having posted there too.

 

[JohnK]

But you know that, having posted there too.

Not really, it was only speculation before. Now the confirmation of the changes from AA.

 

[Dave Noble]

Since this is basically a duplicate thread and is now linked to from the thread, closing this one

Dave