AA Platinum Challenge - Tips

[Kiwi Flyer]

Correct. Dont forget the challenge-qualified status lasts longer if you earn it in the second half of the year.

 

[NM]

I googled and got this link.

Basically they say:

Please note that the Fewmiles site linked is not up t date. The most up-to-date info is actually posted here in this thead of in the similar Sticky thread on FlyerTalk.

 

[tuapekastar]

I have been scrolling through this thread but have been unable to find the answer to this question:

If you enrol in and complete the platinum challenge, but then fail to requalify for AA Plat status, can you then redo the challenge to regain status for a further 12+ months i.e. is there a limit on the number of times you can do the challenge?

If your flight activity varied greatly from year to year this might be one way to always try and have some status if it were possible??

I recall reading a couple of months ago on the AA board over at flyertalk (sorry, cannot post link at the moment) that AA were changing their (undocumented) rules so people could not plat challenge in consecutive years. Was presumably considered an 'abuse' of the system, and presumably you could plat challenge again a year later after serving a full year as gold.

 

[Shano]

Considering its popularity it would not surprise me if AA do change / have changed the rules.

 

[tuapekastar]

Considering its popularity it would not surprise me if AA do change / have changed the rules.

Yes, assuming they have, it makes one choose very carefully when to do a plat challenge. Of course, it never hurts to ring and ask to challenge again, and if they say no, ring back a few times, speaking to different agents, and you may get lucky and find one who will let you challenge.

I am currently plat via a challenge (my ATW where the plat status was going to earn me lots of extra miles etc. was canned at the last minute) and am planning an ATW for mid-2008 (at the latest). My plat status is due to expire Feb '07 so hopefully, if I wish to, I can challenge again in 2008.

 

[alien]

I'm assuming you can't transfer AA status levels to any other program? Would another program recognise the status i guess, if you tried to join them?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Some non-one world FFPs will status match AAdvantage elites. Not surprisingly, within the same alliance FFPs tend not to status match each other.

 

[tscharke]

ok, another noobie question here ...sorry!!!

I have AA Plat & Qantas Bronze

I have 4 return flights from SYD-ADL coming up (wedding season!!!) all booked with Qantas "O" Class economy

Im tossing up whether to allocate my" AA FF#" or my "QF FF#" for these flights

My calculations are (and this is where I am not confident that I have it right):

QF FF#
8000 points and thats it...

AA FF#
8000 points (4000 base + 4000 bonus)
Chance of upgrades (if Im lucky)
Priority Check In
Lounge access


Does this sound correct? Also, what AA qualifying points will I earn if I go with the AA FF#?

Many thanks

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

You can get the OW sapphire benefits by showing your card, even if crediting miles to QF.

On AA, "O" booking class is 50% earning. IIRC AAdvantage also has a 500 mile minimum, not 1000 like QF, but ADL-SYD is approx 724 miles. I'm not familiar enough with AAdvantage whether the 50% gets applied, then the minimum - ie earn 500 miles, or miles with minimum then 50% - ie earn approx 362 miles. These figures before PLT bonus of course. I am sure one of the resident experts will be able to clarify shortly.

 

[Dave Noble]

You can get the OW sapphire benefits by showing your card, even if crediting miles to QF.

On AA, "O" booking class is 50% earning. IIRC AAdvantage also has a 500 mile minimum, not 1000 like QF, but ADL-SYD is approx 724 miles. I'm not familiar enough with AAdvantage whether the 50% gets applied, then the minimum - ie earn 500 miles, or miles with minimum then 50% - ie earn approx 362 miles. These figures before PLT bonus of course. I am sure one of the resident experts will be able to clarify shortly.

AA Platinum earns 100% bonus , not 50%


With ADL-SYD being 724 miles

O class = 50% mileage earning and so earns 362 base miles. Since this is < 500, then the minimum earning of 500 applies to the base mileage. The Platinum bonus of 100% of the 500 mininum is then applied , giving a total earning of 1000

This will appear in the online statement as 362 Base and 638 bonus.

The annual qmile and qpoint tally will both be increased by 500. I would say that 8000 miles in the AA account is much better value than 8000 in a Qantas account, plus, as you mention, having the AA number in the booking does give you a better chance of an involuntary upgrade if the case of an oversell, though it is an outside chance that it'll occur.

By virtue of having AA PLT status , you can use the business class check in and Qantas Clubs, though you could do this even if crediting to QF.

Dave

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

7 minutes - you're slipping

With ADL-SYD being 724 miles

O class = 50% mileage earning and so earns 362 base miles. Since this is < 500, then the minimum earning of 500 applies to the base mileage. The Platinum bonus of 100% of 500 is then applied , giving a total earning of 1000

This will appear in the online statement as 362 Base and 648 bonus.

Dave

That be 638 bonus presumably.

 

[NM]

You can get the OW sapphire benefits by showing your card, even if crediting miles to QF.

On AA, "O" booking class is 50% earning. IIRC AAdvantage also has a 500 mile minimum, not 1000 like QF, but ADL-SYD is approx 724 miles. I'm not familiar enough with AAdvantage whether the 50% gets applied, then the minimum - ie earn 500 miles, or miles with minimum then 50% - ie earn approx 362 miles. These figures before PLT bonus of course. I am sure one of the resident experts will be able to clarify shortly.

Its 500 minimum base miles, then the Platinum status bonus is applied to those base miles, making it 1000 minimum for a Platinum member. This is different to QF's application of the minimum points after the status bonus has been applied.

I recommend using the AA number and gettiing a little closer to requalification. But you need a minimum of 20,000 AA miles for an award in or between Australia/NZ. QF can get some lower priced awards is you are just looking to use them for trips like SYD-ADL and can mix an award in one direction and paid in the other (AA awards are all return).

 

[NM]

That be 638 bonus presumably.

only for small values of 362.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

QF can get some lower priced awards is you are just looking to use them for trips like SYD-ADL and can mix an award in one direction and pain in the other (AA awards are all return).

What if you don't want pain in the reverse direction?

 

[Dave Noble]

7 minutes - you're slipping



That be 638 bonus presumably.

7 minutes isn't bad, it does take a few minutes to actually write the post .. and I had modified the 648 - 638 by the time you posted

Dave

 

[tscharke]

many thanks guys! AA it is...

That will top up my AA balance to allow me to take the family to NZ in January

the plat challenge rocks!

 

[NM]

What if you don't want pain in the reverse direction?

Well a paid ticket is a pain .

 

[flyingzzzds]

On a similar vain but with International O class flights on QF metal - We have alot of discount economy travel coming up (Christmas with the kids in New York) and SO has decided to become a candy thief.

When using the mile tracker and researching on here and FT I have come up with the following figures but I think the "O Class" international will only earn 0.5 Q-miles and then 0.5 of these miels as "Q-Ponits" on QF metal - Is this right? What happens if this 25% conversion drops the figure to below 500? Does the 500 min still apply to Q-points (for the challenge)?

Appreciate the experts here checking the following calcualtions from the spreadsheet:

Carrier Flight Class City Pair Flight Miles Flight Bonus Redeemable Q-Miles Q-Points
QF 533 O BNE-SYD 468 32 500 500 500
QF 524 O SYD-BNE 468 32 500 500 500
QF 20 O BNE-SYD 468 32 500 500 500
QF 43 O SYD-AKL 1,343 0 1,343 1,343 672
QF 25 O AKL-LAX 6,523 0 6,523 6,523 3,262
AA 784 Q LAX-LAS 236 264 500 500 500
AA 1453 Q LAS-LAX 236 264 500 500 500
QF 107 O LAX-JFK 2,472 0 2,472 2,472 1,236
AA 2031 N JFK-MIA 1,092 0 1,092 1,092 546
AA 970 V MIA-JFK 1,092 0 1,092 1,092 1,092
QF 108 O JFK-LAX 2,472 0 2,472 2,472 1,236
QF 176 O LAX-BNE 7,950 0 7,950 7,950 3,975

 

[Dave Noble]

On a similar vain but with International O class flights on QF metal - We have alot of discount economy travel coming up (Christmas with the kids in New York) and SO has decided to become a candy thief.

When using the mile tracker and researching on here and FT I have come up with the following figures but I think the "O Class" international will only earn 0.5 Q-miles and then 0.5 of these miels as "Q-Ponits" on QF metal - Is this right? What happens if this 25% conversion drops the figure to below 500? Does the 500 min still apply to Q-points (for the challenge)?

Yes. O class on QF does earn 0.25 qpoints and you do get a 500 minimum. Your calculations didnt take the 0.25 into account for QF

Carrier	Flight	Class	City Pair 	Distance	Q-Points
QF	533 	O	BNE-SYD		468		500
QF	524 	O	SYD-BNE		468		500
QF	20 	O	BNE-SYD		468		500
QF	43 	O	SYD-AKL		1,343		500
QF	25 	O	AKL-LAX		6,523		1631
AA	784 	Q	LAX-LAS		236		500
AA	1453 	Q	LAS-LAX		236		500
QF	107 	O	LAX-JFK		2,472		618
AA	2031 	N	JFK-MIA		1,092		546
AA	970 	V	MIA-JFK		1,092		1,092
QF	108 	O	JFK-LAX		2,472		618
QF	176 	O	LAX-BNE		7,950		1988

						Total	9493

Very close to completing the challenge so if you have another trip anywhere you should be able to complete it. Alternatively, perhaps see how much it would cost to upgrade the AA N class ticket to V since V earns 1 qpoint per mile flown and the extra 546 miles would tip you over the threshold. If it is a separate ticket , then looking at the fares on AA, there seems to be about a AUD40 difference in price between the V class r/t and the N class r/t fare , so AUD20 plus a USD50 change fee would complete the challenge if you didn't expect to do any more flights in the qualifying period

Its a shame that you didn't book on AA rather than QF flights to the USA since you would have easily completed the challenge and might have had lounge access on the way home

Dave

 

[flyingzzzds]

Thanks Dave - awesome information and exactly the help that I needed.

The flights were all booked QF to take Mr FZ to QF Gold. Have talked him into ditching that idea as LG is still a long way off. The AA V class fare is a perfect idea - don't know why I didn't think of it when I booked the V back and noted it was a very small difference for the extra points! Duoh! Clearly I'm still learning.

We're both still QP members at this stage so lounge access ok. Just planning the AA Plat so we will both have this status on a OW RTW next year.

From here on everything's AA for us! Cheers