AA Platinum Challenge - Tips

[JohnK]

My main use of points (for the next 12 months as I dont see a holiday in the mix) will be upgrading or holding. I am flying to NZ for two weeks economy :shock: so I might look to upgrade those - hopefully not toomany points....

Regardless of what the AA experts say, to put it simply the AA program is not for everyone.

It sounds like you do a lot of point to point flying. From what I understand the AA program would be of more benefit to you if you could maximise your sectors and accrued mileage when flying anywhere, ie DONE3's or DONE4's. Not sure whether your employer would approve of the itinerary as the cost will almost be the same as point to point but you will need more time to get there and back.

 

[simongr]

Our corporate policies on travel include:

- It is not permissible to drop to a lower class of travel to pay for a second ticket
- You must not arrive at your destination more than 24 hours before you are required to commence work

So I think maximising my miles migth be pushing that - and given I am the company policeman/auditor I have to be whiter than white

I might still do the comparison though

Cheers

S

 

[Dave Noble]

Our corporate policies on travel include:

- It is not permissible to drop to a lower class of travel to pay for a second ticket
- You must not arrive at your destination more than 24 hours before you are required to commence work

So I think maximising my miles migth be pushing that - and given I am the company policeman/auditor I have to be whiter than white

I might still do the comparison though

Cheers

S

I cannot see how you can be better off crediting to QF, tbh

(1) Your trip to NZ. From the east coast of Australia, the cost is min 36K return in economy plus lots of fuel fines using QF points ( using SYD-AKL the taxes n fines are around $250 ). Using AA points it would be 20k for economy and 35k for business plus about $50 in taxes. A 15K points and $200 cash saving, or can travel business class and save 1,000 points and $200 over a QF economy trip

(2) if wanting to take your wife with you to the states. If using upgrades, you can only upgrade the QF sectors, Oz-LAX/SFO/JFK only , whilst the business award would allow for travel onward to anywhere in North America on AA in business/first class. If travelling to Europe , then also can continue on to other European destinations

Comparing costs and take into account that you will be initially earning miles faster on AA too ( you would be starting with earning base plus 25% J bonus plus 100% plat bonus ) whilst you will need to get to QF Platinum before earning 100% bonus

MEL/SYD-LAX return upgrade costs 144,000 points
SYD-JFK or SYD-UK return costs 192,000 points

Australia-North America business return costs 125,000 points and 1st return is 145,000 points
Australia-Europe business return costs 120,000 points and 1st return is 160,000 points

I am just now concerned that if say I fly to New York on business and if I want to have my wife along either I need enough points to buy a J class seat for her with AA or I need to buy an economy ticket and have enough qantas points to go from economy to business for her.

If wanting to take your wife to Europe with you, which would be better; paying $2000+ plus 192,000 points or 120,000 points and about $250. You will earn 120,000 AA points a lot quicker than you would earn 192,000 QF points and also save $1750+. Also, you can only upgrade to JFK if you are travelling on a day when QF107 operates, whilst using an AA award, you can get her to business/1st to JFK on AA too

If you can get to Executive Platinum ( which you may well do ) , then the 8 eVIPs you'd receive are worth around 240,000 points in themselves


Dave

 

[adrian]

Hi there, has anyone else had problems with being credited under the Platinum Challenge? I signed up for it a couple of weeks ago, got the standard email saying that I was enrolled etc., and then flew SYD - BKK, and BKK - SYD in WT+ on BA since then. The regular points have been credited to my account (only just), and it says that I have about 14000 qpoints, but my status hasn't changed, and I didn't receive any bonus points on the last leg, which would have been the qualifying sector. I have sent an email to AA, and shall call them in the morning when their US office re-opens, but am just wondering if this is common. I am fly SYD - BKK again tomorrow, so wonder if I should sign up to the challenge again incase they made any mistake????? Thanks

 

[adrian]

Sorry, another question (and I know I am jumping ahead of myself here....). Does anybody know how many points are needed for a RTW redemption on AA in BC and FC?? I couldn't find it on the AA site, but vaguely remember reading it on this site somewhere. Thanks again.

 

[Dave Noble]

Sorry, another question (and I know I am jumping ahead of myself here....). Does anybody know how many points are needed for a RTW redemption on AA in BC and FC?? I couldn't find it on the AA site, but vaguely remember reading it on this site somewhere. Thanks again.

It depends on the mileage that you wish to fly

goto aa.com and to to about us -> Oneworld Alliance and you'll find the mileage requirements

Do remember that AA charges point-point mileages to a stopover point and doesnt count all the sectors needed to get there. e.g. flying LHR-MIA-DFW-ORD ( where there is no stopover in MIA or DFW ) requires 3953 miles rather the 6348 actual miles flown

Dave

 

[adrian]

Thanks for that. I'm looking at doing an ATW sometime next year. Would love to do in FC, but BC would be nice still. Looking at the chart, it seems that FC compared to BC is better value (and much easier to attain) in a direct SYD to Europe trip (33% extra) rather than ATW (50+% extra), so maybe I'll just go for that instead.

By the way, regarding my earlier question, I just cheched and my Platinum status has been listed, as has my bonus points for the platinum challenge - so am happy to say that SYD-BKK-SYD in WT+ gave me 15973 AA miles, and platinum status, at a tax-deductible cost (it was for work) of around $1600!! Very happy. Thanks again for all the advice (otherwise I'd still be struggling to reach Qantas gold). I have another SYD-BKK trip tomorrow, returning later in the month, which should give me enough miles to get SYD- AKL in business (should I ever want to go to AKL!!) on points.

 

[simongr]

Is there somewhere that I can easily work out what the value (miles and qualifying points and what I can do with those points) on AA? I have worked out that by July next year on mostly QF J class flights I will move my miles from about 70,000 to 180,000 and earn 1400 SCs. I will hit gold on my return flight from SIN-SYD this week and my next flight is planned to be SYD-SIN return J class in mid-September. My qualifying period year for SCs on Qantas is end of September.

Just trying to work out when that might put me into AA Exec Platinum (if it will at all) and then what I might be able to use the points for - I am finding the AA site a little tricky to manouveure around...

Cheers

Sim

 

[Dave Noble]

Is there somewhere that I can easily work out what the value (miles and qualifying points and what I can do with those points) on AA? I have worked out that by July next year on mostly QF J class flights I will move my miles from about 70,000 to 180,000 and earn 1400 SCs. I will hit gold on my return flight from SIN-SYD this week and my next flight is planned to be SYD-SIN return J class in mid-September. My qualifying period year for SCs on Qantas is end of September.

Just trying to work out when that might put me into AA Exec Platinum (if it will at all) and then what I might be able to use the points for - I am finding the AA site a little tricky to manouveure around...

Cheers

Sim

If you can list your plans for Sept - Dec this year and for next year , I can work it out for you. If you do a candy steal on SYD-SIN-SYD in september, that will make you platinum.

Travelling business class, you earn 1.5 qualifying points for every mile flown. During the period Jan-Dec , you need to earn 100,000 points ( i.e. fly 66,667 miles ) to attain Executive Platinum. ( qualifying points are not the same as spending miles - they are akin to Qantas Status credits )

Earnings wise, as an AA Platinum member, you will earn 1 mile base plus 1 mile platinum bonus plus 0.25 business bonus = 2.25 miles per mile flown whilst as an AA Gold member you will earn 1 base plus 0.5 gold bonus plus 0.25 business bonus = 1.75 miles per mile flown. When you do cross the 1400 SC threshold , then you will be earning the same 2.25 miles per mile flown


Redemption wise, have a look on the AA website at

AAdvantage -> Partners & mileage Programs -> Airlines and then click on Aadvantage Participant Airline Award Travel ( "+titleText+" )


and for redeeming OneWorld mileage based awards

About Us -> oneworld alliance ( "+titleText+" )

Dave

Dave

 

[simongr]

Travelling business class, you earn 1.5 qualifying points for every mile flown. During the period Jan-Dec , you need to earn 100,000 points ( i.e. fly 66,667 miles ) to attain Executive Platinum. ( qualifying points are not the same as spending miles - they are akin to Qantas Status credits )

Dave

Dave

Is that base miles or miles after cabin/class bonus?

 

[serfty]

Is that base miles or miles after cabin/class bonus?

On Base miles.
e.g. MEL-SYD in J for a AA Plat give 439x2.25 Redeemable AAdvantage Miles and 439x1.5 Q-Points. (988 and 659)

 

[simongr]

OK - I have uploaded the flight schedule showing what I think I would earn on QFF vs. AAdvantage

Basically I would switch to AA for my trip SYD-SIn-SYD in September. I would be QF Gold at that point - after my trip back to SYD from LHR via SIN this week (yes I know I could have done a challenge this week but I have been a bit distracted this week).

I have then assumed that my qualifying points get reset to zero at the end of December. I havent forecast flights past next July but I would estimate one more flight to JFK after that at least...

ANy comments would be appreciated

S

 

[Dave Noble]

On Base miles.
e.g. MEL-SYD in J for a AA Plat give 439x2.25 Redeemable AAdvantage Miles and 439x1.5 Q-Points. (988 and 659)

Not quite. On short flights the calculation goes slightly different since the platinum bonus is applied to the miles plus 25%

439 plus 25% bonus = 549 miles plus platinum bonus of 549 = 1098

qpoint earning is, I think 1.5 * min mileage = 500 * 1.5 = 750


If doing SYD-MEL in discount economy ( e.g. S class ) as a platiunum

base miles = 500 plus platinum bonus of 500 = 1000

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

OK - I have uploaded the flight schedule showing what I think I would earn on QFF vs. AAdvantage

Basically I would switch to AA for my trip SYD-SIn-SYD in September. I would be QF Gold at that point - after my trip back to SYD from LHR via SIN this week (yes I know I could have done a challenge this week but I have been a bit distracted this week).

I have then assumed that my qualifying points get reset to zero at the end of December. I havent forecast flights past next July but I would estimate one more flight to JFK after that at least...

ANy comments would be appreciated

S

Your qualifying points will reset to zero in january, yup

If you get the opportunity to do 1 short extra sector before flying to SIN. e.g. fly SYD-MEL-SIN I think that you would complete the challenge on SIN-SYD and get an extra 3908 miles

looking at your overall earnings, you will have enough points earned for a free business class trip to USA using AA points (125,000 required) and not even enough to upgrade r/t using Qantas points (192,000 required ) and a long way short of the 256,000 points required for an award flight

 

[simongr]

Well I am going to be left with 70K+ points on QF so that will leave me with enough points for domestic upgrades for a while and my qantas club will be put on hold for 13 months at least so if I do any US domestic travel then I will be able to get a free drink in the Admirals lounge for a while.

My only thing is domestic travel now and I dont do much of that anyway and as everyone tells me - QFF points are not much use domestic travel other than upgrades...

Looks like a platinum challenge is on. Dont think I will be able to fit in a domestic flight before the SYD-SIN-SYD flight - maybe I need to arrange a fraud in Melbourne to investigate

Looks like I have a little project this weekend - need to join AAdvantage

 

[serfty]

Not quite. On short flights the calculation goes slightly different since the platinum bonus is applied to the miles plus 25% ...

The AA T&C are quite vague. However, the AA Plat Guide does indicate "... a 100% mileage bonus on the base or gauranteed minimum miles on eligible flights ...".

 

[simongr]

One point of interest is this:

To attain AAdvantage elite status, member must fly on at least four American Airlines or American Eagle flights within the qualifying year.

Does that mean that given I will very rarely fly on an actuall AA flight that I cant get elite status?

Also one thing that is bizarre, if I get platinum status on AA I cant get access to the Admirals lounge in the US but I can get access to any other oneworld lounge in the rest of the world? That just seems a bit weird.... Not a big drama for me as if I go to the US it will be on Qantas, I wont fly domestic (unless I have another "special project" in Pittsburgh) and I will be flying Business class.

 

[Dave Noble]

Does that mean that given I will very rarely fly on an actuall AA flight that I cant get elite status?

Also one thing that is bizarre, if I get platinum status on AA I cant get access to the Admirals lounge in the US but I can get access to any other oneworld lounge in the rest of the world? That just seems a bit weird.... Not a big drama for me as if I go to the US it will be on Qantas, I wont fly domestic (unless I have another "special project" in Pittsburgh) and I will be flying Business class.

AA does not enforce the 4 sector issue. You can meet that requirement anyway by using AA codeshare to US next year

You can use all lounges except if travelling solely "domestically" within America . e.g. connect from SYD-LAX to LAX-JFK and you will be able to use the lounges.

Dave

 

[simongr]

Thanks again - I just realised after that post the distinction between elite status and exec status. Going to be interesting to see whether I hit Exec Platinum next year - I think I might need to visit my boss in New York a couple more times than originally planned

 

[Dave Noble]

Thanks again - I just realised after that post the distinction between elite status and exec status. Going to be interesting to see whether I hit Exec Platinum next year - I think I might need to visit my boss in New York a couple more times than originally planned

If you can reach EXP, then the 8 eVIPs do have a going rate on FT Coupon Connection of approx 30,000 AA miles a pop if you have more than you need

Dave