EU-NZ Biz travel.AA FFP. is it possible to reach OWSapphyre?

[lukegt]

hi everyone...

on January i'll travel to NZ from Italy.

Thi is my itin

FCO-LHR (BA - I class)
LHR-HKG (CX - Biz)
HKG-AKL (CX - Biz)
AKL-HKG (CX - Biz)
HKG-FCO (CX - Biz)

I'd like to Reach OW Sapphyre status. A lot of people suggested me AAdvantage, both for maximize mileage, and to reach status (through the shortcut "Challenge").
I have to say i don't know anything about AA FFP.
i'd like to know, if someone could help me, a lot of things.

1) how have i to enroll the 'challenge'?
2) have i to be already a member of AAdvantage FFP, before enrolling the challenge?
3) to reach the status is necessary to fly 4 flights with AA? (it seems to be so on AA website, and i'll not fly with AA)
4) i'll depart on 18th JAN.... which would be the best moment to enroll the challenge?
5) how many miles i'll get? and how many Q-miles (including COS bonus, Tier Bonus)? will i get also upgrades? Sorry, but i don't know AA FFP.
6) After which flight will i achieve the OW Sapphyre status? and how long will it last?
7) have i to enroll the "gold challenge", th"platinum challenge", or both?

Thanks in advance)))

 

[NM]

Re: EU-NZ Biz travel.AA FFP. is it possible to reach OWSapph

1) how have i to enroll the 'challenge'?

Best way is to first join AAdvantage online at aa.com. Then just prior to taking the first flight, call AAdvantage in the USA and request to sign-up for the Platinum Challenge. In theory you can contact any AA office to join the Platinum Challenge, but in practice it is best to do this through the USA call centre since the remote offices regularly fail to to it properly - especially the AA Australian office!

2) have i to be already a member of AAdvantage FFP, before enrolling the challenge?

Yes, you must already be an AAdvantage member. This is easy to do and take a few minutes online at aa.com. There is no cost to join AAdvantage and you will get an AAdvantage membership number immediately and even an electronic card that you can print out. You may not receive a real card from AA until after your first flight, but all you need is your membetrship number and you can easily print the temp card that is displayed when you join. The process is simple, quick and painless.

3) to reach the status is necessary to fly 4 flights with AA? (it seems to be so on AA website, and i'll not fly with AA)

AAdvantage status is based on attaining the targets for Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM or often called Q-Points). The number of EQM earned on a flight depends on the fare type paid and the actual miles flown. For example, in business class you eanr 1.5 EQM per mile flown.

To complete the Platinmum Challenge you need to earn 10,000 EQM in 3 months. Once you achieve that, you instantly attain AAdvantage Platinum status and OneWorld Sapphire status and gain all the associated benefits, including 100% bonus miles to your AAdvantage account. You should reach that by your second flight.

There is no requirement for the qualifying flights to be on AA. To date, the only OneWorld Airline that is enforcing the min 4 flights on the member airline is BA. I can find no reference to this requirement with AA, nor have I heard of AA having or enforcing such a rule in the way that BA does. By the way, QF does have a "4 flights on QF each year" rule, but does not enforce it.

4) i'll depart on 18th JAN.... which would be the best moment to enroll the challenge?

No need to join AAdvantage or the Platinum Challenge too early. The start dates are always the 1st of the month or the 16th of the month. A challenge started in the first half of a calander year earns status for the remainder of that year. So if you qualify in January, you will have status until the end of December.

5) how many miles i'll get? and how many Q-miles (including COS bonus, Tier Bonus)? will i get also upgrades? Sorry, but i don't know AA FFP.

By my calculations, you will earn the following:

FCO-LHR=899 miles flown = 1348 EQM, and 1123 AA Miles (25% business class bonus)
LHR-HKG=5995 miles flown = 8993 EQM, and 14,987 AA Miles (25% business class bonus, 100% Plat bonus)
HKG-AKL=5688 miles flown = 8532 EQM, and 14,220 AA Miles (25% business class bonus, 100% Plat bonus)
AKL-HKG=5688 miles flown = 8532 EQM, and 14,220 AA Miles (25% business class bonus, 100% Plat bonus)
HKG-FCO=5778 miles flown = 8667 EQM, and 14,445 AA Miles (5688 miles flown = 8532 EQM, and 14,220 AA Miles (25% business class bonus, 100% Plat bonus)

Not a bad earning rate!

6) After which flight will i achieve the OW Sapphyre status? and how long will it last?

AA Platinum and OneWorld Sapphire earned on LHR-HKG sector and should be immediately usable. But for lounge access in HKG you will need to get CX to look up the AA status on-line since you won't have a card etc. They should be able to check, or explain to the CX lounge agents that you just qualified on the inbound flight and they can verify the status with AA. You will retain the status until the end of 2005.

7) have i to enroll the "gold challenge", th"platinum challenge", or both?

In your case there is no benefit in enrolling in the Gold Challenge, just go for the Platinum challenge. You will complete both challenges on the same sector so not benefit at all. If you were to reach 5000 EQM on a previous flight, then using the Gold challenge would gain you 50% bonus miles on that flight. But in your case you will get the 100% Platinum bonus for the LHR-HKG sector anyway.

Go here for the best information on AA's Program

 

[lukegt]

Re: EU-NZ Biz travel.AA FFP. is it possible to reach OWSapph

ohh.. great...
how can i thank you for all these infos?
Thank you very much!!!