hey everyone, ive been working on DXCC for about 2 years now and im sitting at 87 confirmed entities but i think i actually worked way more than that. the problem is i have a bunch of QSLs that came back but some say things like "QSL via bureau" or have different callsigns than what i logged. do these still count for DXCC or am i missing something? also saw some people talking about LoTW but not sure if thats better than paper cards for award credits. getting frustrated because i feel like im so close to 100 but dont want to submit my application and get rejected

sounds like you might have some via bureau confirmations mixed in there which is totally fine for DXCC as long as the QSO details match your log. the different callsigns thing though - if its a special event station or something operating under a different call that could still be valid but you need to make sure its the same DXCC entity. LoTW is definitely the way to go these days, much faster and you can see your confirmed count update in real time. i switched to mostly electronic confirmations years ago and never looked back

Yeah what KE4ABC said about LoTW. Also dont forget you can mix paper and electronic confirmations for the same award - i had maybe 60 paper QSLs and then started using LoTW for the rest and it all counted fine when i submitted. The key thing is making sure the QSO details match exactly between your log and the confirmation. Date, time, band, mode all have to line up. If youre not sure about some of those QSLs maybe post pics on here and we can help you figure out if theyre good to go