Mileage Run Discussion - Primer on MRs?

New to FT, but not air travel. Before posting this I did a lot of looking around the FT > MR forums for something like a beginner's guide, but couldn't find one. Searched for "new member" and "new to MR" but did not find a one-stop post for all a beginner needs to know.

Could you direct me to a post or FAQ that outlines for beginners the basics of how to get the most with MRs (perferably with UA)? Thanks.

New to FT, but not air travel. Before posting this I did a lot of looking around the FT > MR forums for something like a beginner's guide, but couldn't find one. Searched for "new member" and "new to MR" but did not find a one-stop post for all a beginner needs to know.

Could you direct me to a post or FAQ that outlines for beginners the basics of how to get the most with MRs (perferably with UA)? Thanks.\

I came to this forum looking for the same thing...

y'all have spent time reading the mr tools stickies above?.....lots of info above....

you have looked at ita matrix?...many people use it....

Yes, I read both tools threads. But it's precisely the large amount of information in those threads that makes it hard to digest (and the number of posts in them!). I'm looking for a 101-style, one-stop post, edited and approved by FT pros that has (1) a glossary of common abbriviations, (2) maybe the top 5-10 commonly used techniques for MRs, (3) and maybe an example or two to illustrate.

Anyone know of such a link in forum? If not, anyone willing to create one for this (and it appears there's others) newbie?

For example, I found this recent thread helpful (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-discussion/1359228-new-mileage-runs-delta.html) but it is specific to Delta, and is confusing for the newcomer. Any suggestions?

There's just not that much to it. You need miles for some reason, either for some trip or for status. You calculate how many miles you already have and how many more you need. Then you search for cheap trips and check on something like the unofficial skymiles calculator to see if the trip in question will give you the miles you need at the price you can afford. That's the ABC in a nutshell. Unfortunately, if you need more detail, there really is no substitute for reading the stickies and absorbing the details. But, honestly, what detail is there to know before taking your first run? A beginner could book a mileage run today with relatively little knowledge. There just ain't that much to it. Start booking trips, and you can figure out what you need to know as you go. There is no "primer" because, at the heart, it's too easy to require a primer. Most people, as soon as they hear the concept Mileage Run, understand immediately what it is and whether it's something they're interested in trying.

Where are you getting bogged down? If you want a book written for you and one other person, I vote put the job on eLance or something. There just ain't that much to it.

Unfortunately, if you need more detail, there really is no substitute for reading the stickies and absorbing the details. But, honestly, what detail is there to know before taking your first run? A beginner could book a mileage run today with relatively little knowledge.Kind of like this guy did... http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2007/07/mileage_runner?currentPage=all


SunLover

If he finds the stickies too overwhelming, he'll find that piece (although it's well written and entertaining) to be too overwhelming. A total noob shouldn't be stressing out with advanced multiple legs trying to get it under 2 cents a miles. The total noob should ask himself how many miles he actually needs and what he's willing to spend to meet that goal. My first MR was a simple 2k trip to visit my folks -- but I flew instead of driving as I would usually do because this short trip would give me status and a ton of upgrades and value. I'm guessing that almost all first-time MRs are relatively short hops because the flyer has a goal just within their grasp...and suddenly the light goes on and they realize that they can take an extra flight, they wouldn't normally take, and still come out ahead financially. It really is that simple.

Multiple legs, tight connections, cursing at the horrid ITA software, paying for people to find the bookings or paying for telephone bookings...none of that is necessary knowledge for someone who hasn't made even their very first MR. The guy in the article's goal was, at the end of the day, to get paid for writing the article he'd been assigned, so of course he had to start out with a harsh and journalistic trip that made a good story. Not necessary for "regular" people to do that...

Book the first small trip, fly the trip, add up the miles, enjoy the benefits. Then you see what you still need to know. Much easier to learn technical details when you have already seen a benefit and you have a good motive to keep going. Very difficult to learn technical details when they are all theory.

three areas in which you need info.

fare alerts from your departure points

routing rules for the fare

fare availability for the date you want/can run

so search this forum & the tools for these

edit to add....at the top of this page is help,,,,under that is glossary....

Okay, thanks everyone. It seems like it's more intuitive than I imagined.

In fact -- you'll are going to love this... -- I recently went ORD-SEA-ORD on UA for a business trip. When about to purchase the ticket I thought I would check out how much more it would cost to add a SEA-ANC-SEA run to the ticket, because I've never seen Alaska. Much to my surpise, it was only $9 (USD) more! Naturally, I paid the $9 and added a short jaunt to Alaska to my return trip to ORD! And, what's more, since I'm *A Primer, I was upgraded to First both ways. Even if I only received the most basic amount of miles, that 2,880 mi = 0.003 cpm!

So, I guess I've been doing MRs without even knowing there was a name for it.

Perhaps I should put up a post for rookies like me in the future to realize MRs are actually more simple than it might at first seem.

Heh! Nicely done! You were already doing and learning, and you just didn't realize it. You will go far...

Okay, thanks everyone. It seems like it's more intuitive than I imagined.

In fact -- you'll are going to love this... -- I recently went ORD-SEA-ORD on UA for a business trip. When about to purchase the ticket I thought I would check out how much more it would cost to add a SEA-ANC-SEA run to the ticket, because I've never seen Alaska. Much to my surpise, it was only $9 (USD) more! Naturally, I paid the $9 and added a short jaunt to Alaska to my return trip to ORD! And, what's more, since I'm *A Primer, I was upgraded to First both ways. Even if I only received the most basic amount of miles, that 2,880 mi = 0.003 cpm!

So, I guess I've been doing MRs without even knowing there was a name for it.

Perhaps I should put up a post for rookies like me in the future to realize MRs are actually more simple than it might at first seem.

Good job on finding the small incremental cost for the extra 2880 miles. You're off to a good start!

What was the total fare and overall CPM for the flights?

ORD-SEA-ORD in T on the dates I needed was $497 (3,440 mi). Adding SEA-ANC-SEA brought the total up by $9 to a grand total of $506. I was UG to Z on SEA-ANC, which brought me 2,172 mi -- and was ZT back ANC-SEA, which brought me 1,448 mi. Altogether, for less than a $10 bill, I earned 4,344 mi (3,620 mi + 724 bonus mi).

Combining the miles and bonus miles for ORD-SEA-ORD with the SEA-ANC-SEA add-on, brought my total miles earned for the trip to 8,644 mi -- around 0.05 cpm. But the business was already paying the ORD-SEA-ORD ticket, so relative to what I paid for the extra 4,344 mi it was 0.002 cpm. I'd love to see more routes like this one in the future!