i know that a lot of you on here are seasoned professionals in the world of mileage running and i salute you for your hobby of patience and perseverance to get free trips and tickets.

the thing is, i have no idea how this works. i know that you find cheap airfare and ride around as many cities as you can racking up points and the more points you can get the better and all that....but how do you find these deals on airfare and link them together?

can you use more than one type of airline? is there only one airline you should stick to and use their point system? is there a universal point system ive never heard about? i need answers....i would potentially like to try this out once or twice for fun, but mainly i am just very curious about how this works.

if someone can make a mock scenario for me so i can see step by step how this works for a very simple run i would forever grateful.

cheers,

b...

Welcome!

Read the sticky threads, that will give you a start. And mileage-running is not worth it for once or twice unless you have accumulated lots of miles anyway.

SmilingBoy.

Hi, and welcome to FlyerTalk. You're probably going to have to do a lot of reading and browsing before it all becomes crystal clear, but luckily for you there is plenty of good information FlyerTalk. You might want to start out by reading these threads:


Why Do Mileage Runs? (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=392353)
The Mileage Run Primer (http://web.archive.org/web/20030228034821/http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum124/HTML/000027.html)
How to Construct & Book a Mileage Run (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=391187)
Basics on How to Read Routing Rules (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344200)
Discussion regarding Open Jaws, End-on-End, and Circle Trips (http://www.flyertalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=486394)


These are all located in the Mileage Run Tools (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=312559) sticky thread. There are many, many other helpful threads out there, but these are a few good ones to help get you started.

Hi and Welcome! :)

There is so much to read and learn about MR or hire an MR escort! :D

Sorry I am not very helpful...I am still learning.

-BondAir007

Not very much on topic, but since you are indulging the less knowledgeable:
I have constructed several MRs that I will do in the US, but im having trouble getting the same good results (subjectively good, anyway) in Europe. Any suggestions on how do I construct MRs that dont cost in excess of 1000Euro just for flying SOF::BUD-VIE-SOF?

And one last question, is there a way to tell the ITA software that you are looking for a flight that has 2 or more connections, as opposed to 2 or less? I've been over the help and the syntax a hundred times, and it just doesnt occur to me how can I do it. I dont want to specify airports. I just want the cheapest flight that will get me from A to B via C and D, and maybe even E. I realize that's a killjoy for most of you, as it is for me in the US, but I am so desperate to construct a MR in Europe that I'm willing to take a short cut.

...And one last question, is there a way to tell the ITA software that you are looking for a flight that has 2 or more connections, as opposed to 2 or less? I've been over the help and the syntax a hundred times, and it just doesnt occur to me how can I do it. I dont want to specify airports. I just want the cheapest flight that will get me from A to B via C and D, and maybe even E. I realize that's a killjoy for most of you, as it is for me in the US, but I am so desperate to construct a MR in Europe that I'm willing to take a short cut.

Try doing something like this:

From: SOF :: AF AF+ <---- means 2 or more connections
To: VIE

Let's say you wanted to specify 4 or more connections, it would then be
From: SOF :: AF AF AF AF+

Try doing something like this:

From: SOF :: AF AF+ <---- means 2 or more connections
To: VIE

Let's say you wanted to specify 4 or more connections, it would then be
From: SOF :: AF AF AF AF+

Thank you very much! :) This will be really helpful.

But, do I need to specify a carrier? Cos, I can get mileage on most european carriers and AF is not necessarily the cheapest.(scratche) edit: Yeah, I answered my own question. If you just put a number of pluses it will work, where (num)+=(num)Conn+.