I'm no longer traveling for business, and with my new job, I haven't had much time to explore MRing to get  myself back to EXP. I'm sitting on about 70,500 EQM at the moment (including a couple family trips between now and the end of the year).

So despite AA's generous RDU/BNA/PIT/STL double-EQM promotion, things aren't looking good for my AAdvantage Executive Platinum status:

1. I need to earn 29,500 EQM between now and December 31.

2. Between now and December 16, I must be in LA (where I live) on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and on Sundays. (More specifically, I have to be in LA all day every Sunday, and I have to be at my office 3pm-9pm Tuesdays and 3pm-7pm Thursdays.)

3. December 22-29, I cannot travel (I'll be on a family trip).

I spent about 40 minutes this morning playing around in the FT MR forums and on ITA, and I'm not feeling positive. Anyone got any bright ideas?

Yesterday, I flew LAX-DFW-JAN with my wife. On the LAX-DFW flight (on the dreaded 737-800, which has only 16 seats in first class), my upgrade didn't clear. My wife and I were seated in 14F and E. 

When the flight attendants came around to do drink service, I asked about what snacks they were stocking on the cart and then requested the chocolate chip cookie (a healthy breakfast to be sure). After handing my diet coke and cookie to me, the FA then whipped out the credit card ...

In this week's frequent flyer podcast we are joined by Gene Gibbs, a pension actuary and very frequent flyer. Any by very, we mean 425,000 miles per year. Listen in as we discuss:

Matthew's recent airline bumps and compensation Josh's comprehensive post on American Airlines laptop power United Airlines and Continental Airlines reciprocal upgrade announcement Gene's travel patterns and comparison of Delta, United, and American Why Gene is reducing Delta travel ...

Just checked my account.

A few hours ago, it said:

YTD Elite Qualifying Miles 99,836

Now it says:

YTD Elite Qualifying Miles 102,311

I now have Executive Platinum status.

Words of advice on achieving new status on AA:

1. If you have reservations for future flights that were ticketed before you achieved your new status, call the ...

Let this be a lesson to you.

Start a spreadsheet right now. On the top row, put in the amount of EQMs you have right now. Then, in subsequent rows, list flights you plan to take (broken up into segments), along with the mileage you'll earn for each segment. Include mileage from double EQM promos and class-of-service bonuses.

What happens if you don't do that? You end up 134 miles short.

I flew a ton in the last month or so, during which time AA was running a double-EQM ...

In the last post we mentioned the American Airlines challenge. This challenge allows someone without elite status to fly a reduced number of miles to reach status more quickly. Normally one must fly 25,000, 50,000, or 100,000 miles per year to attain Gold, Platinum, or Executive Platinum status on American Airlines. However, with the Challenge, you can fly 5,000 or 10,000 miles in 90 days and qualify for Gold or Platinum instead. There is no challenge for Executive Platinum.

...