Albuquerque Balloon Festival by Jill

Here it is folks, MY AA account balance:

I am now Lifetime Platinum with American Airlines

I joined the AAdvantage program in September of 2000 and never thought much about it. I lived in Traverse City, Michigan, a Northwest Airlines city, and was busy racking up 1.3 million miles in their program. The lifetime Gold thing with AA at the 1 million mark seemed to be so far away; why bother.

I just piddled along with AA until late 2008 when I hit the 1 million mark. At this point, I can’t remember any concentrated effort in the first million to ramp up my AA balance. I do remember flying a few promos to Dallas, flying to Munich one day and two trips from New York to Ft. Lauderdale to earn my son a trip anywhere in the world AA flew. I was using my AA credit card consistently and that racked them up every month. applying for credit cards was something I had always done and I was consistently adding another 25K card every 3 months. And I did fund a ton of new checking and savings accounts with my AA credit card (that was worth about 150K), but how it got to one million???? I guess, just the little things added up.

In April of 2009, I remember my balance being 1,195,00 miles and two million seemed another 5 years away. Then came the US Mint One year later at the milestone.

I’ve been in a little private contest with Dwight from the IAD area ever since the 1 million mark, with first prize being a nice cold Diet Coke. We promised to fly it together when one of us crossed. I made a big hit this last month and well, it looks like I’m the first to the finish line. My Bank Direct miles put me over before we got to fly the flights.

So why the big long post about AA Platinum status???? Because I think you can do it, and I think it is a worthwhile goal. If you remember our poll from about a month ago, I gathered the information on the age of our readership. 25 to 45 was the majority age. Plenty of time in life to enjoy the benefits of always earning double miles, always having an exit row available, some extra consideration during irregular operations and increased upgrade opportunities. Remember that American is the only airline that counts all Aadvantage activity towards lifetime status.

You young ones, should work towards that goal. I don’t think you will ever regret it. And BTW, it was fun pushing on.

And for the first time I have ever seen, American almost acknowledged lifetime status. Here is part of the reply I got two weeks ago when I tried to determine my actual Butt in Seat miles.

“……………That being said you are very close in becoming a 2 Million Miler! If you
pass the 2 Million Mile mark, you will enjoy AAdvantage Platinum status
regardless of your annual elite activity. For 2 Million Milers who
retire and no longer travel as frequently as they once did, this benefit
is especially valuable. On the other hand, if your annual elite activity
qualifies you for AAdvantage Executive Platinum® status, then you will
of course receive that membership level.”

This hobby is a lifelong game.If you are going to see the world at prices you can afford, it might as well be in comfort and with status.