Mileage Run Discussion - MR Newbie question - ITA - 12.5k miles in a weekend

Once my latest trip's DEQM post, I will be about 1000 miles short of AA EXP, so I have been looking into an MR. I figure that I might as well bring my EQM over 125k.

I am working in MUC, and I am looking to keep my travel to a weekend to avoid missing a workday. I plan to leave MUC in the evening, then spend the night in London. Back in London on Sunday night, I will again stay there and then I can arrive MUC on Monday morning.

On the AA site (and ITA) it is easy to find Saturday: LHR-JFK-MIA-LAX-ORD-LHR for just over 12.5k miles arriving Sunday evening.

However, I have to get to LHR and back. When I add MUC-LHR for the evening before and/or the morning after both ITA and AA searches fall apart. I get no solution on ITA (suggests that From LHR :: AA JFK MIA To LAX is no longer possible) and AA (decides that my TATL flight should be on BA).

My present thought is to book that MUC-LHR-MUC as a seperate trip. There are Friday evening and Monday morning flights on BA. At least if I keep to BA then I get the non-doubled EQM.

It seems like I should be able to find a routing solution on ITA. Can anyone provide suggestions?

Also, perhaps I am approaching this wrong and that are much better ways to accomplish the 12.5k on AA on a weekend.

I've never had much success using ITA to generate overly complex multi-segment itineraries (other than using it as just a part of the process).

What I've found works best is a multi-step process:

1) Find the cheapest routes.
2) Find the dates and times those routes are available.
3) Build the itinerary that works best for you.
4) Book it.

Here's how I typically do each step:

1) Find the cheapest routes. FareCompare FlyerTalk page is essential for this. If I'm going to be doing a very complex one, I generally look at two things: The cheapest (per mile) routes anyway to anywhere, and the cheapest (per mile or pure cost) routes from my location. For instance, on a recent MR, I found IAD-SJC to be one of the cheapest domestic AA routes and DFW-IAD to be one of the cheapest routes from DFW. I ended up booking DFW-IAD-[dfw]-SJC-[lax]-(redeye)-IAD-DFW (about 27 hours) for $375, netting 15k EQM (after doubling) for 2.4cpm.
2) Find the dates and times those routes are available. ITA is the best tool here, but it's often easier to check individual segments (or RT with the matching segment pairs).
3) Build the itinerary that works best for you. With complex itineraries, I haven't found a substitute for doing this manually.
4) Book it on the airline's web site, or if it doesn't allow enough segments, Expedia or Travelocity could work better. If you have to book on multiple PNRs, make sure to split it in places that would minimize the impact of irrops.

Thank you for the great advice.

Find the cheapest routes. FareCompare FlyerTalk page is essential for this.

I do not see a forum named "FareCompare". A search here for that term does not yield anything obvious. Can you supply a hint?

Thank you for the great advice.



I do not see a forum named "FareCompare". A search here for that term does not yield anything obvious. Can you supply a hint?

Hi Degan,

Here is the link. It is external to the flyertalk forum:

http://www.farecompare.com/search/flyertalk.html