Yes, all AA miles count towards lifetime status.

To need 1M for Gold and 2M for Platinum. There is no lifetime Executive Platinum.

One orrection to the above lesson:

Deep Discount economy- .5 point/per mile (Fares booked in G, L, N, and S)
Discount economy class - 1 point/per mile (Fares booked in H, K, M, Q (except American Airlines transatlantic fares booked in Q), W, and V)
Full Fare economy, business and first class get 1.5 points/ per mile.

These are new 2004 rules.

Thanks for the education, AA. Whaaaaa..... I want my double miles on United for this trip. :-( (not to mention my bulkhead window seat/non-stop and free wine).

Wow, AA FF, that's really helpful!

Do you have to sign up for the challenge before you purchase the tickets, or just before you actually fly?

Marcy - - these fare are direct from Continental - - not from a consolidator. So, I yes, you would still get the miles (in fact 150% towards elite status).

Rex, I had found a different fare through airtravelcenter.com, and wondered if I would still receive the miles for <b>it</b>.
;;)

(Practicing my bold type and smileys!)

As long as you do it before the trip. The start date has to be on the 1st or 15th of the month. So if you are flying on 14th, you still need to ask for th 1st of the month as your starting date.

Also, you can't challenge to renew your status. If you are Gold, you could challenge for Platinum. But basically you have to drop a level or lose status before you could do another one. The regular way requires 25K miles or points for Gold and 50K miles or points for Platinum between 1/1 and 12/31. There is no challenge for Executive Platinum which requires 100K miles or points

Marcy:
Last year, (early Aug),I booked for Oct via a travel agent in the Northeast and paid $589rt, 1-stop/JFK-CDG-Florence, with a return from Rome via Paris again into JFK. Do you have a travel agent watching out for you also?

I have never used them - - I think it is ira or Patrick wh seem to have some familiarity with them. But don't they have telephone support?

Very helpful information, AA FF.
We were thinking about going to Europe again in November, and if we did, we could get Platinum status just with those two trips!

nnrobnz,
Yes, we also have our travel agent looking out for us.

Rex ,
I think I got that site from Ira. It seems pretty good. They do have a phone support number-- I'll try calling them.

I have purchased tickets to Europe through various consolidators over the years, and have always been able to get FF miles for them.

For those interested in this thread, I'll emphasize again the difference between regular FF miles and the Elite Qualifying MIles/Points we're talking about here.

To get Silver/Gold/Platinum elite status with an airline, you must earn Elite Qualifying MIles/Points from the airline, and this can be only done by flying with a QUALIFIED fare, and/or through a challenge. Go to your airline's website and study the rules, including which fare qualifies and which fare doesn't.

Usually any fare will give you FF Miles, but they don't necessary give you any EQM/EQP, or they may only give you 50%.

You must understand the distinction totally if you think you fly enough and want to get some elite status. It's not too bad with AA, but with some airlines, like Continental, it can be pretty complicated with some fares earning 100% EQM only if you buy them online, but not through a travel agent or even CO's own phone agent.