kim

I am leaving for Hawaii in September. I was poking around the net today and found a site that told about getting frequent flier status just for the asking. I called the airline and told them I was leaving for Hawaii in a few weeks and they told me I would be eligible for gold status after this flight because I am flying coach. I would have been eligible for platinum had I been flying first class.

The reason I put this in the Hawaii section is that if anyone from the East Coast is flying to Hawaii call the airlines (mine is American) and ask them for info on the gold or platinum challenge. I was going to Hawaii anyway and plan on going back next spring so this will really come in handy for me. You can find info on this also at bestfares.com. Look in the frequent flyer section.

Hup

1) There is no such thing as the "Hawaii section".
All posts appear under the "USA section". The notation of Hawaii at the time of posting is for people doing searches.

2) Bestfares is pretty close to being worthless. The deals are usually overstated, don't list taxes and fees, and are often hard to book. Service is abysmally poor.

3) Anyone registered for FFM's with whatever airline they're flying will receive the appropriate upgrades without having to ask (gold, platinum, etc). All fliers should be registered with any carrier they fly. It's free and comes with perks over time.

TvlPro

WRONG, Hup.
Kim is correct to state that there are periodically "challenges" to get people to book a preferred routing.
Sometimes the airline will upgrade your status with the assumption that you will requalify w/i a specified period.
When I relocated to a new city serviced by another major airline, they matched my status on another carrier.
So... keep up the good advice, Kim!

scigirl

The gold or platinum challenge is unique to American. Basically, you call the frequent flyer department and tell them you want to do the challenge. Then you have 3 months to earn a certain number of miles in order to get gold or platinum status. The miles required are far less than you would normally need (e.g. normally need 50k miles in 1 year to earn gold status). A search of the American Airlines forum at flyertalk.com will provide loads of additional information. The challenge is a well-kept secret, American does advertise it.

TvlPro is also correct - most airlines will match your status if you switch carriers. (E.g. if you have gold status on American and decide to change to flying Northwest there is a good chance that NW will give you gold status.)

xxx

Hup- there is a Hawaii section- that's when you go to "Subject Search" and hit Hawaii.

p.

Thanks Kim, got signed up for 9/1
Note it's 90 days not 3 months.
p.

hupgoaway

Hup: please do not post here anymore if you dont know what you're talking about. You come off sounding so snobbish and yet you don't know what you're talking about.

kim

My goodness Hup, do you always walk around with a big thorn stuck in your paw?

My only referral to Best Fares was that I found the information about the elite status there is because thats where I found the info. LIGHTEN UP BUDDY! Believe it or not this is the Hawaii section of the USA section. I think it is quite evident that we are in the USA section, HUP!

No Hup, you are dead wrong on getting the appropriate upgrades. I am getting Gold staus for flying only 10,000 miles. If you had read more carefully you would have noticed this. You see, I don't have to wait to get status because I took their challenge and I am flying a total of around 10,000 miles to Hawaii and back!

Hup, you are very anal retentive. I can read between the lines with your choice of wording. You must have been the little poindexter in school that everyone picked on and Fodors is the place where you can go to get back at people because you don't have nerve to say these things to anyone's face. I was only giving my fellow Fodorites some useful information in my own nice way and you come along and snottily must rip it apart. Hup, you relax and have a great day!