Mileage Run Deals - AA: Sea-Dfw-Mad-Bru-Ord-Sea $730ai

25012 eqms w/deqm. Not the best but it works for me. Puts me over for 2 choices (25k miles x 2) leave sat spend a day and nite in Madrid, hop up to Brussels on iberia, spend a day and nite and head home. With my explat bonus and the 50k in bonus miles I'll get 75012 rdms @ .009 plus I got UGed all the way. Cheers R. ps base fare was $612 if you are looking. and you have to click the oneworld button for it to price out, otherwise it sends you thru stockholm for over 900 bucks

Giggy--excellent MR.

Any idea why I am getting $4200 when I price this out?

Giggy--excellent MR.

At 5.48CPM pre-DEQM I dunnot if I'd call it an excellent MR. You can do transcons from SEA-LAX-JFK-LAX-SEA for 3.51CPM (I just did this last weekend) or take an Asia trip for under 4CPM. But if you're looking to do a trip specifically to MAD or BRU then it does seem like a good fare for that, just not for a MR.

Any idea why I am getting $4200 when I price this out?

What dates are you trying? Just for grins I tried it with
SEA-DFW-MAD 12/5
MAD-LHR-BRU 12/7
BRU-ORD-SEA 12/9


Fare was $801++ ($954ai)

What dates are you trying? Just for grins I tried it with
SEA-DFW-MAD 12/5
MAD-LHR-BRU 12/7
BRU-ORD-SEA 12/9


Fare was $801++ ($954ai)


Wrong dates and I didn't have the correct routes. Why wouldn't you consider this and excellent run? Looks like you can get elite status for $800

At 5.48CPM pre-DEQM I dunnot if I'd call it an excellent MR. You can do transcons from SEA-LAX-JFK-LAX-SEA for 3.51CPM (I just did this last weekend) or take an Asia trip for under 4CPM. But if you're looking to do a trip specifically to MAD or BRU then it does seem like a good fare for that, just not for a MR.

Not sure how you can compare your 6000 mile across the USA to the one listed by the OP for over 12000. If this was UA I would be in on this, and I don't have any reason to be in MAD except to check it out!

my dates are dec 5-8 I could have done 2 sea-jfk-dfw-sea same day turns for less but this seemed like more fun. Started out looking for nrt and found one that was a bit too pricey. then found the mad sale and scoured expertflyer to find open C seats. there is a min sun stay in mad. hope this helps. BTW I just noodled around with it on my dates. seems the non-stop morning mad-bru is out seatwise, but you could do sea-dfw-mad-fra-dfw-sea for $737ai this eek"s out a few more miles, w/deqm 26,854 + I think you get 300 min miles for the iberia flight ? or sea-dfw-mad-fco-bru-ord-sea for $708ai

Not sure how you can compare your 6000 mile across the USA to the one listed by the OP for over 12000. If this was UA I would be in on this, and I don't have any reason to be in MAD except to check it out!

It's really simple actually. You compare them exactly how I did compare them - by comparing CPM :) It's cheaper per mile to do the transcons, thus a more efficient Mileage Run.

It's really simple actually. You compare them exactly how I did compare them - by comparing CPM :) It's cheaper per mile to do the transcons, thus a more efficient Mileage Run.

CPM works if you're comparing similar flights/distances, but they're not even close. It's like comparing MPG on a Nissan Versa to a Nissan Maxima.

This is getting a bit out of hand. Reminds me of that Kathy Bates scene where she's "older, and has more insurance" :D I said in my OP that it's not the best, but it works for me. perhaps others. I could have easily done a serious hardcore MR in a narrow body, with no hotel nites. I got my exp for 1870 bucks. But sometimes it's nice to splurg a little. I had a short expiring swu to burn, I wanted to burn some Hilton points before devaluation. This worked for me. I work graveyard, so the dfw-mad timing is perfect, since after dinner on the flight is my normal time for me to go to bed, It's nice to have a bed on a TATL. Plus I wake up at the normal time I usually go to work, so I get to spend the 1st day in madrid without the normal jetlag most people have. Having a day in Brussels is gravy, and on the trip home I'll feast on the shrimp tray in the ORD flagship lounge. Obviously, I could save $250 doing transcons, but frankly, It's worth the bucks for a two day european trip. Of course YMMV :)

CPM works if you're comparing similar flights/distances, but they're not even close. It's like comparing MPG on a Nissan Versa to a Nissan Maxima.

Not sure of your logic on that one. How is paying 6cpm better than paying 3cpm for a MR?

CPM works for any MR comparison. What you seem to be talking about is a qualitative value, and that is subjective. My experience on the board is that >5cpm isn't a really good MR on pure MR terms. I'll leave it at that.

Giggy, thanks for sharing though!

This is getting a bit out of hand. Reminds me of that Kathy Bates scene where she's "older, and has more insurance" :D I said in my OP that it's not the best, but it works for me. perhaps others. I could have easily done a serious hardcore MR in a narrow body, with no hotel nites. I got my exp for 1870 bucks. But sometimes it's nice to splurg a little. I had a short expiring swu to burn, I wanted to burn some Hilton points before devaluation. This worked for me. I work graveyard, so the dfw-mad timing is perfect, since after dinner on the flight is my normal time for me to go to bed, It's nice to have a bed on a TATL. Plus I wake up at the normal time I usually go to work, so I get to spend the 1st day in madrid without the normal jetlag most people have. Having a day in Brussels is gravy, and on the trip home I'll feast on the shrimp tray in the ORD flagship lounge. Obviously, I could save $250 doing transcons, but frankly, It's worth the bucks for a two day european trip. Of course YMMV :)

I am very jealous of your trip! There is no point justifying your decision to someone who needs to plug everything into a formula, like CPM, to see if he can go on the trip.

I think you may have forgotten that you recently moved to NY, no? :p If you didn't move there yet, you should soon, at least until after your MR.

It's really simple actually. You compare them exactly how I did compare them - by comparing CPM :) It's cheaper per mile to do the transcons, thus a more efficient Mileage Run. sea-lax doesn't qualify for deqm its an alaska codeshare. thus I would have needed 3 of them. The minimum mileage I needed to hit 125k on AA metal was sea-jfk-dfw-sea twice @ $240 each, plus a traffic delay in jfk would make me miss the connection and I would be stranded there with no hotel. When the deqm/reward deal was announced I looked at it, and as time went on I was ready to just say screw the extra 50K because it seemed like too much hassle with pitfalls possible. If I did do it that way: I would have ended up with 71888 rdms @ .006 so for an extra .003 per mile I'll do europe, and if I get stuck there great. Oh Yeah, in reality, with this 50k bonus, MY formula sez .009 cpm. at that rate for a weekend in europe with a biz UG, I'll take all I can get, It's quite a bargain

This is getting a bit out of hand. Reminds me of that Kathy Bates scene where she's "older, and has more insurance" :D I said in my OP that it's not the best, but it works for me. perhaps others. I could have easily done a serious hardcore MR in a narrow body, with no hotel nites. I got my exp for 1870 bucks. But sometimes it's nice to splurg a little. I had a short expiring swu to burn, I wanted to burn some Hilton points before devaluation. This worked for me. I work graveyard, so the dfw-mad timing is perfect, since after dinner on the flight is my normal time for me to go to bed, It's nice to have a bed on a TATL. Plus I wake up at the normal time I usually go to work, so I get to spend the 1st day in madrid without the normal jetlag most people have. Having a day in Brussels is gravy, and on the trip home I'll feast on the shrimp tray in the ORD flagship lounge. Obviously, I could save $250 doing transcons, but frankly, It's worth the bucks for a two day european trip. Of course YMMV :)

+1

who says traveling for status has to be reduced to the cheapest and often least comfortable means? it gets down to values. personally (my $0.02 worth) I'd rather see something on the far end and enjoy the trip, even if the cost goes up a bit. I'd rather take a 3- or 4-day weekend trip to Europe than do transcons that didn't allow me to leave the airport.

doing transcons from AUS requires some positioning, though, and I admit that this biases my viewpoint a bit.

Hi benzguy, I'm currently helping someone else from aus. He's going to tokyo twice. I saw your aus-ord-sea-ord-aus deal and may work that in. Triple nested ;) did you know that you could fly to tokyo from sea and then nest nrt-dfw-sea-dfw-aus all in the same day and use your home in aus as your stopover for 3 days to beat the min stay. cool

I'm surprised to hear about recently planned MR's on AA to NRT. last I checked those flights were expensive in Nov and Dec.

good hunting!

Tough crowd here giggy.

Anyhow, $730 ai, is not too bad for a run. I also like to look at the possibility for an upgrade, the equipment, even the in flight meals, plus the destination. (A mileage run is a complex thing)

Side note- runs to VLC were also available for about the same price. I didn't book those because I didn't see too much DFW-MAD "C" availability though.

FWIW:

LBB-DFW-SEA-ORD-LHR-MAD-LHR-BRU-ORD-DFW-LBB, $996ai, $801 base fare, leaving 12/4 and being back 12/7.

By my calculations that would yield about 28,700 qualifying miles--there are some BA and IB flights in the mix. It won't be enough for the PLT wife to go EXP, and I'm over the hump, but still...

It's really simple actually. You compare them exactly how I did compare them - by comparing CPM :) It's cheaper per mile to do the transcons, thus a more efficient Mileage Run.

Except you didn't really compare them. You compared them "pre-DEQM", which is pointless because these flights earn DEQM. Which means it is really 2.91 CP(EQ)M, and thus better than your transcons, no?

Except you didn't really compare them. You compared them "pre-DEQM", which is pointless because these flights earn DEQM. Which means it is really 2.91 CP(EQ)M, and thus better than your transcons, no? Its cheaper to wash you clothes on a rock in a river, and then hang them on a tree. I'll choose the washer and dryer in my laundry room :D

Except you didn't really compare them. You compared them "pre-DEQM", which is pointless because these flights earn DEQM. Which means it is really 2.91 CP(EQ)M, and thus better than your transcons, no?

No, they're both Pre-DEQM, so they are both halved. Well, except for the SEA-LAX parts. In any case, I'm just going to leave this be and not make any more comments on it. My point was just that as a pure MR there are better pure MRs. But for a trip that you want to take, to a place you want to go, for a price you're comfortable paying, the rest of it doesn't matter.