I suggest that you try the General and Extra tests the same time you go for the
Technician. Besides being good practice, the VE fee entitles you to try them
each once. You might wind up with a General or even an Extra, and not have to
worry about keeping the old license documents around.


That's similar to what I did a few years ago. When restructuring
happened back in 2000, I had a Tech plus (with the old style tech,
general written and novice code). I had the option of doing
a paperwork upgrade to a general, but I took and passed the
extra writtens. That locked in credit for 5WPM I had with
the old tech plus. Which I passed at an FCC field office,
I had to copy and send code. With a straight key they had
mounted to a desk. That's back in the olden days of
50 cent gas...