ok so ive been chasing DX for about a year now and i finally started logging everything properly in LoTW but im still not totally clear on how the whole DXCC thing actually works in practice. like do i need a physical QSL card for every entity or is LoTW confirmation enough for the credit to count toward the award? i keep reading conflicting stuff online.

also i'm sitting at 87 confirmed right now which honestly feels pretty good for a year in but i dont really know what the threshold is for applying or if there's like an application fee. i did manage to work a few of the more exotic ones during a recent DXpedition to somewhere in the Pacific — got super lucky with a short opening on 17m — but a lot of those guys never upload to LoTW so i'm just waiting on paper cards which feels like it could take forever. is there a better way to handle this or do you just kind of accept that some of them are gonna take months

LoTW is definitely accepted for DXCC credits, in fact the ARRL strongly prefers it now and it makes the whole process way smoother. you just go into your LoTW account and when you have enough confirmed entities you can apply right from there, it's pretty much all electronic at this point. the basic DXCC award requires 100 confirmed entities so you're close, hang in there.

the paper card thing is real though. some of those DXpedition operators take a long time to send cards out, especially if they're a small team and they're still recovering from the trip. i'd say check their website or their QRZ page because a lot of them post updates about card distribution and some do eventually upload to LoTW months later. patience is kind of a core skill in this hobby honestly, especially once you start chasing the rarer entities. there is an application fee through ARRL, last i checked it was around $15 for members but double check that on the ARRL site since things change.

87 confirmed in a year is actually pretty solid, don't sell yourself short. i was maybe around 70 at that point and i thought i was doing ok lol. the jump from 87 to 100 can go fast if conditions cooperate, especially if you haven't worked much on 10m yet because that band has been really good lately with the solar cycle where it is.

one thing i'd add is look into Club Log if you havent already — a lot of DXpeditions use it for their online log and you can check if your call shows up before the cards even go out. saved me a lot of anxiety waiting to find out if a contact was actually in the log or not