Wednesday, November 7, 2012

On my way to platinum status and the world's best chocolate


Remember my October 25, 2012 blog where I said I was pondering whether to take an international flight to earn platinum status?  Well, I need to ponder no longer.  I just hit the jackpot.  While in Cuba I got an email from American Airlines that said they were going to be offering double elite qualifying miles and double redeemable miles during the months of November and December.
Some readers may be scratching their heads and asking,  “Isn’t a mile a mile?  What is the difference between elite qualifying and redeemable?”  The difference is elite qualifying miles can’t be used to toward future award mileage trips.  These miles are strictly to earn status.  Redeemable miles on the other hand are as their name implies, redeemable for future travel.  This new promotion is great because it offers both elite qualifying and redeemable miles by registering at this link and entering promo code AATHX.
To confuse my readers even more, American also has mileage points.  Without going into too much detail the higher priced tickets earn more points.  American has two different paths to earning status, by points or miles (See July 18, 2012 blog) .  Since I am frugal and don’t pay for the more expensive tickets I got my platinum status by miles.
The best part of American’s promotion is tickets purchased prior to travel are eligible for the promotion (This has not always been the case).  Thus, I signed up for the promotion before yesterday’s flight home from Miami and earned 4684 elite qualifying miles (2342 miles x 2) and 7026 redeemable miles (2342x 2) plus my platinum status gave me a 100% bonus on the miles.
Maria got her gold status just in the nick of time as current elite members earn double redeemable miles during the entire promotion period. Current non-elite members receive double redeemable miles only between November 16 and November 26.
If I can find a cheap flight to continue my platinum status the value of miles earned for a trip can be equal to the price of the ticket making the trip almost free.
I am really thinking about a trip to where I can get some of the best chocolate in the world (Royce chocolate).  If you were thinking I would be going to Switzerland you would be wrong.  I am considering traveling to Japan.  While Japan may not be known for its chocolate, that’s only because you haven’t tasted Royce chocolate.  As a co-worker, once described it, “It’s like a little slice of heaven” and this from a person that doesn’t even like chocolate to begin with.
My blog statistics show I have a few readers in Japan. If any readers in Japan ever come to the Los Angeles area please bring Royce chocolate in the dark blue box and Royce chocolate covered potato chips and you will have a friend for life.

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