Mileage Run Deals - Eureka! I've discovered a support group

Thank You, thank you.
I have just discovered this bulletin board!! All this time I thought I was alone: you know, obsessed with airline miles, trying to work the system for personal gain, looking for the most efficient way to rack up miles, concerned only with reaching AA gold for life, spending hours cruising AA.com., reading my mileage statements over and over, constantly punching my calculator to see how far I am from elite status.
I had not been able to talk with anyone about my addiction. No one understood me!! My life was in shambles, my wife was ready to leave me because of my obession with miles. Recently she refused to go on any mileage runs with me(I didn't even know what mileage runs were but I had been doing them anyway). What about our marriage vows that we took!! I felt so alone. I am ready to now admit it: My name is 4miles and I am a mileage junkie!! AARRGGH! I feel so much better for coming clean!! I no longer feel ashamed for constantly looking for my drug of choice: MILES!!
Finally I can converse with others like me. I can learn from you veterans. You all seem so serene as you stealthfully master the system. Is it too late for me?? Can I become an Evangelist too?
I am shaking as I write this. I haven't had any miles for almost 30 days. I don't know where to turn. Are there any surveys, cereal boxes, any other offers I can learn about? I will be a good student, I promise. Yes, all this time I was so smug. I thought I knew all about miles until I discovered this BB. Now I know the truth: I AM A MINOR LEAGUER, A NOVICE! You people are AWSOME!! Please, share your knowledge with me. I may ask some stupid questions but I will work hard and be a good student. Uh-oh, I think I need a mileage fix right now. I have just broken open my kid's piggy bank looking for spare change. Does anyone know where I can buy some miles quick!

Looking forward to joining this board if you will have me. Thanks!!

Of course you are welcome around here! I would imagine that you can teach us a few things too . . .

Here are a few random thoughts for a newbie.

1. Make sure you post in the correct forum. Read the forum descriptions and think and you will be right 99% of the time.

2. Avoid posting the same thing in multiple forums.

3. On The Coupon Connection, try to keep giving and requesting in harmony. Do some of each!

4. Stay out of flame wars!

5. Use the search feature. Especially as a newbie it will answer lots of your questions.

6. Lastly (and there are others here who will disagree with me) post an email address. It lends to your credibility.

Best regards,
-levi aka eastwest

Also, Chexfan makes some good comments here
(http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/001078.html) that you might want to check out. It's a great way to learn more about us and tell us more about yourself. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks E.W.

Points well taken.

What are flame wars?

Welcome! Flame wars are when people start electronically yelling at each other for some often meaningless reason. They are bad. If you are courteous, and others are discourteous to you, the best thing to do is to ignore them.

The other thing that would be handy is if you put the city you're from (or the closest airport code) and which airlines you like to fly as what city you are "from" in your profile.

Quick tip of the night since I don't know where you're from: If you happen to usually fly American Airlines, search on the American forum for the phrase "EUR00". There will most likely be a new promotion this November, and you may want to start planning your budget accordingly.

After reading your post I think you need my handle "Mad4miles"

4miles.

Welcome to flyertalk. You're not so crazy after all. You have company. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif You can make smiles etc by looking at the smiles legend in the lower left corner of this screen. That's the lower corner after you press the REPLY post. It will show you how to make faces.
ie. a wink is semi colon and a capital D. Try it.

There are many people here with the #4 in their name. My favorite is trvl4free. Hope I didn't mis-spell that! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

Every so often the nutty inhabitants here meet for...drinks and dinner. Check out the get together community. If you're passing thru a city, you just found a family! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
And for the most part, we're OK.
As a matter of fact, ElmhurstNick and I are going to a Yankee game in NYC this Friday. Why don't you fly in and join us. People actually do fly places just for dinner. Especially us.

Regards,
Dan

edited to include my Yankees.

[This message has been edited by dhammer53 (edited 04-21-2001).]

Thanks All http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I have updated my profile as suggested. I put in that I am AA gold. I actually am AA Plat but I got that thru the AA challenge recently and probably won't actually make the 50k miles this year http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif So I thought it best not to misrepresent my normal travel status. I really struggle to make gold each year but have earned a total of 650k lifetime AA miles and want to achieve 1mm to reach gold for life.

E.N.-I did the EurOO promo this spring for both me and my wife and it worked out great.
Unfortunately, it looks like the best M.R's are on CO. I am almost exclusively AA. Any good runs on AA around? Domestically I have been unable to accrue miles for less than about 7 cents per. Am I paying thru the nose? I keep seeing posts about people getting miles for 1-2 cents per mi.!! Howdedodat?

For Europe I have been content with 5 cents per mile. Seems to me Europe is my best bet.

Depending on how close I get to Plat. near the end of the year I have already discussed with my wife I may need to do a Europe run if it makes the difference between AA Plat. and AA gold. Mainly depends on the fares. Any opinions? (she [she made gold this year] loves traveling first with me and fortunately we have only missed the upgrades about half the time. I hope they pick-up with my new (albeit possibly temporary PLAT. status)

I did OKC-ORD-FCO-ORD-OKC for 11,040 mi plus the EUROO bonus of 5,000 for total of 16,040 for $600 which equaled 4 cents per mi. That has been my best achievement http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif

Dan, thanks for the invite but the fare would be a killer this close. Give me a raincheck.

M4M: Sorry about getting so close to your handle. I put in 5 or 6 others which were all taken. Finally, my wife walked into the den and said "why are you spending so much time on the computer?" I looked up and replied "4miles" thus the name.

Welcome 4miles, you can pretty much ignore me, Except, stay out of flame wars!!! Oh yeah, Chexfan, he is evil, pure evil. I once watched him do his times tables, the numbers he came up with were from out of this world!!! It was the work of the devil I think.

Have fun and join the growing movement to save Innpoints!!!

Welcome 4miles, I am currently PLT and by myself just never miss first upgrade. 51 segments this year so far. Same for me when I have leisure miles they cost 7-8 cents apiece. With EUR00 i did 90,000 total miles for 1500 dollars do that was about 1.8 cents but still about 4.5 cents per status mile.


[This message has been edited by dallasflyer (edited 04-21-2001).]

Welcome 4Miles

Like you, I am a newbie around here. So new that I still cannot figure out where to put my status details.

From a newbie to a newbie, here is a welcome gift. Check out the Hilton forum. A quick call and you are a Gold VIP till Apr 2003. Now you know why I love this site.

DF, hmmmmmm...how did you do that on the EurOO promo? Your Eur miles would have been abt 10k per RT. With elite miles for 4.5 cents that must mean you made 4 rt's for $1500? Is that right? Not bad!!!!!! But I still can't come up with the 90k total even with the bonus miles. I would do that in a heartbeat-$1500 for 90k

4miles, when looking for cheap fares I look at the dream map on travelocity. I recently took my first real mileage run to MCO. I racked up 5593 base miles and 3762 bonus miles (AS MVP and one leg upgraded) for a ticket cost of $178. This comes to about 1.86 cents per mile.

My favorite way to rack up miles is to get the airline to pay for it. I try yo get bumped as often as possible. In 99 I received $2200 in vouchers including bumps of flights I had paid for with vouchers. With these I went to Europe a couple of times and paid for most of my domestic travel in 2000. These are mileage accumulating flights.

Next month I'm taking my girlfriend to Florida for the weekend with my latest bump voucher. I'll get at least 8120 miles (if no upgrade) and a nice weekend away. Total cost for airfare $0 with a $31 credit left over for my next trip.

Another great tool for calculating miles you'll earn on your trip is: http://www.chicago.com/airliners/gc.html . it shows the route on a map and calculates the miles for you.

Safe travels - Mike

3 trips at 10,000 miles + 10,000 plt bonus miles + an average of 10,000 EUR00 bonus miles per trip for a total of 90,000 miles for $1500.

DF, yep. As soon as I made the post I realized I had forgotton abt the PLT bonus. Makes sense now. tnx

Bourne:

Thanks for the tip. I was sent a Hilton gold card but needed to validate. I have some questions but I will save it for the Hilton board. Thanks for tip. I will try to reciprocate (as soon as I know something)

Mike, thanks to you also for the dream map tip. As many times as I have been on Travelocity I never saw it. Agree abt the vouchers. I has been quite successful at those also. I am sitting on abt $2k worth now. We also used part of ours to pay for Europe. BTW what airline did you use on your MCO trip for that bonus? thanks

4miles,

Wander over to the AA board and start asking questions. We pride ourselves as being the most friendly group within FT. We had several AA employees posting until the bad people in DFW made them stop. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

OKC is a tough place for mileage runs because even though you're in a Southwest city, you don't get the transcon trips like PVD-SEA for $217. Still, you can beat 6 cents/mile domestically by looking for sales to Oakland and Seattle on the west coast, and Baltimore, Providence and Hartford on the east coast

Originally posted by ElmhurstNick:
Wander over to the AA board and start asking questions. We pride ourselves as being the most friendly group within FT.The folks in US-land would politely disagree on that statement, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif but anyways...

welcome 4miles. dhammer53 is dead on with some of us traveling around just for dinner. There was a large group of around 70 who did this in March in NYC. A get together is planned in YVR and one something in SEA will probably materialize in the Fall. But just keep an eye on Various boards such as General Travel and Community. That's a good way to see where people are heading to a city near you!

If there's a question that you have, I'm sure someone has the answer!

eastwest's link to a thread i started got messed up with some UBB formatting: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum95/HTML/001078.html

4miles, It looks like you're pretty good at collecting vouchers too. There have been several threads on bumping skills.

I got the bonus miles on my MCO trip because I have AS MVP status. That means I get an extra 50% mileage bonus. On flights that are upgraded to first I get an additional 50%. So for the one leg I upgraded on got doubled. This is on AS and partner airlines.

Most airlines, once you reach a low level elite, will give extra miles on their plan. With Alaska it is a 50% bonus for MVP and 100% for MVP gold. Other airlines have similar programs.

Great info-Thanks!

MCRT-checked out the dream map this a.m. and really liked what I saw. As a matter of fact, was needing to go to west coast for personal and saw the OAK fare vs SFO and I will probably do that. Best fare I found on AA was $261 for the days I needed to go.

I need to find those threads on bumping skills as I have worked hard to hone my skills in that area. Best I have ever done was a triple bump on a six segment trip. Sweet!! Which BB are they on?

EN-right abt OKC being tough on MR's. I really work it hard. Best routes on AA have been to west coast. Would like to figure out how to get the lowest AA fares and do more than a 4 segment RT w/o affecting the fare. I tried going OKC-OAK via OKC-DFW-LAX-OAK-DFW-OKC but the fare jumped by almost $200 for only abt 300 extra miles. Not worth it. Think I read abt a site called "itn"? Does it calculate max segments for minimum price?

OK, now for a big question to you folks. Even though I am a newbie, I am also a wannabe so here goes:

I have analyzed my travel plans for rest of this year and next. I made the PLT challenge this year but will probably only end up with a total of 40k thus losing PLT status for 2002. Next year it looks like 25k miles travel for gold status. So, I am thinking abt making a Europe run later this year just to keep PLT status for 2002.

Here's the math: OKC-DFW-LHR-DFW-OKC for cost of approx. $600 (estimated) Mileage total would be 10,676 plus 10,676 for PLT bonus for total of 21,352. BUT, this would give me the 50k total I need for PLT for 2002. Now, assuming I still only travel 25k in 2002 that would still result in a net bonus next year of 18,750 mi (PLT bonus of 25k minus normal gold bonus of 7,250 for a total of 40,102 (21,352 plus 18,750). In addition, the LHR trip would earn me 4 more segment upgrades at approx $200 value. So, bottom line-$600 equals 40,102 mi (1.5 cents per mile) plus 4 upgrades. Is this a good deal? Only variable might be in the price from OKC to LHR. Don't know if it is possible to do a Sat outbound with a Sunday inbound on AA for that price.

Do any of you see any flaws in my thinking?

Thanks,
4M

I is a good deal 4miles. Some difference of opinion though, the 4 upgrades are worth $125 as this is the price you can purchase them from AA if you buy them 8 at a time. This difference in status between PLT and GLD has some value besides the PLT bonus. Standby and Upgrade priorty, and the PLT desk gets faster results.

I think though that this can become addicting and you may find that you will do a couple of runs to retain status next year and that changes the way you are evaluating this run. I do think that it is all good anyways IMHO. Good luck and welcome again. See you sometime at DFW or OKC.

Don't forget the extra 5k that you'll probably get if you fly OKC-LHR between 11/1 and 12/31 - I personally like the Thu-Tue before Thanksgiving for a getaway, as the westbound load factors transatlantic are minimal.

More than 4 segments on AA is nearly impossible - for almost any city pair they have a maximum of one connection, except for some stuff like OAK-ALB where one city is only served by ORD/NYC/BOS, and the other city is only served by DFW/LAX. Then, you can get a OAK-LAX-BOS-ALB type routing sometimes.

I flew in from Sweden to attend the FT meeting in NYC in late march and I dont regret it. I plane to visit the FT meeting in CPH and NCE this year and possible others. FT is a great community and you will soon be addicted. I first joined this place last may and since then I have almost red post every day(unless I have been out flying http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Correct about the value of the upgrades. The extra 5k on Europe also escaped me. I ran some whatif's today on OKC-Europe and couldn't come up with any decent 1 day turnaround fares so I guess I will just have to wait and watch. Booked 2 tickets to OAK today for $241 each on Memorial Day. That is abt as good as I could do.

Thanks for the analysis on my thinking on possible mileage run to Europe.

Memorial weekend run/holiday,

Friday, 25 May 2001: San Jose, CA (SJC) to Paris, France - Charles De Gaulle (CDG)
Monday, 28 May 2001: Paris, France - Charles De Gaulle (CDG) to San Jose, CA (SJC)


SJC - CDG = 5585 miles
CDG - SJC = 5585 miles
Elite Bonus = 11,170
Online Booking = 1,000
Total = 23,240 for $612 = $0.026/mile

Not great but easy. Paris is a great city to spend a day or two!

Welcome to the board 4miles..as you can see you will get a terrific amount of knowledge and wisdom mixed with subtle humor. I would for sure keep your Plat status for 2002. Your trans-atlantic run is a must and I might add very well thought out. Come and join us at the next FT'er meeting place and get to know us even better. The meeting in NYC ,CTMD III, was really killer. I too am an AA board fan. Good luck!
The above Paris run is really an easy solution too.
------------------
MRKEY

[This message has been edited by MRKEY (edited 04-22-2001).]

The Paris run looks great. Just for curiosity I checked OKC--CDG on the same days and the fare was $1512!! So, went back and checked your routing of SJC-CDG and voila!-$612. I also checked DFW-CDG and the fare was in the high $1400's. Is the SJC-CDG a new route they are trying to introduce?

Originally posted by 4miles:
Is the SJC-CDG a new route they are trying to introduce?This thread all started to see if UA was going to match AA's pricing on this introductory route! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/004763.html

One of the nice things about the SJC-CDG run on Memorial day weekend is that you don't have to burn any vacation time. Monday is a holiday. You do have two spend two nights in Paris. I look at this has a benefit since I don't make pure runs. I like to look around, have a few good meals and sleep in a nice bed. Showering at a lounge just to fly home is not my cup of tea.

#140
Depart: (LAX) at 7:40PM - 25-May-2001
Arrive: (CDG) at 3:40PM - 26-May-2001

#113
Depart: (CDG) at 1:20PM - 28-May-2001
Arrive: (SJC) at 4:10PM - 28-May-2001

Originally posted by Mad4Miles:
Memorial weekend run/holiday,

Friday, 25 May 2001: San Jose, CA (SJC) to Paris, France - Charles De Gaulle (CDG)
Monday, 28 May 2001: Paris, France - Charles De Gaulle (CDG) to San Jose, CA (SJC)


SJC - CDG = 5585 miles
CDG - SJC = 5585 miles
Elite Bonus = 11,170
Online Booking = 1,000
Total = 23,240 for $612 = $0.026/mile

Not great but easy. Paris is a great city to spend a day or two!

SJC-CDG for 612$? Isnt the price for that route 28$ http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif?

4Miles -

I'm a newbie, too. I just found this site about a week ago, and have been lurking http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif I've learned so much already. No one has understood my addiction until now. You summarized my exact emotions when I found this site. I don't feel so alone in the world. There are people who are as obsessed as I.

Thanks all you FTers. I now have a home.

Welcome, ShouldaBeenaBlonde. You are among friends. It's a pleasure to have you on board. We love to talk travel, both on the boards and on Chat, so look for us both places. We warmly welcome all travel addicts.

Hi SBAB.

Glad to see another newbie. I lurked for only about 48 hours. I couldn't wait to get on this board and start asking questions. I always thought I knew a lot abt travel but compared to these people I am an infant as far as knowledge.

M4M-Yep you have a realatively easy run. I can't say as I blame you for spending a couple of days there. I am envious of the fare. When AA takes over the TWA routes it will probably make it even tougher on me.

4M

Yeah, I have to say, its pretty addicting this whole BB chat thing. I tried kicking the habit a few weeks ago to no avail. After just a few days, I couldn't help it; I broke down and started back again. I think part of the problem was that the products I was using to curve the withdrawal pains had pretty vague instructions. I was chewing the chat patch and sticking the gum on my arm.

I'm actually thinking of starting an Internet chat group to help people addicted to chat. Wait, does that work... wouldn't people just get addicted to... Ah, who am I kidding?!? I’m a lifer…

4miles

Welcome and thanks for succintly putting into words the ailment I also suffer from. I'm mainly a Delta flier, but the last few months have ventured outside to the other areas of this board. The more I explore, the more I get addicted to this site.

loco miler

I am not alone!

I'm really new to this site as well and have really enjoyed this post! I think I've learned more in the last 10 minutes than I had just poking around the FT site. I too am an AA flyer determined to make Plat this year (shouldn't be too hard with one or two mileage runs - actually looking at one to TPE - currently on sale for <$600 on AA.com.

I would love to learn more about the FT meetings since I too have no sympathy from my hubby (he said he's going to report me to FFA - frequent flyers annonymous!)

So, I look forward to becoming a part of the family!

This indeed, is a brave new world. =)

I'm a newbie too, and already I feel like this is a wonderful discovery! Mileage runs and dream maps and upgrades, oh my! I'm looking forward to going to parts unknown of this wonderful world. And of course, getting rewarded for doing so. =)

Another newbie here! Joined a few hours ago,
posted on the Hilton (wow) and now in
Mileage Run. What a life! Have accumulated
AA/TWA points, Delta and Continental.
Belong to HHonors. Do I combine these
points somewhere or just keep track and book with the airline that offers the best $$ ?
Had an opportunity to get 3000 pts. last
XMAS but couldn't get a few of my family
to 'get off the overbooked plane' for a few hours.

If they do not get off the overbooked flight for miles, they are OUT of the family!!!
Just kidding...welcome, MaryAO and all the newbies.

Flyerwife,
you are closer to the truth than you realize. My wife and I have had several tense conversations abt giving up our seats. My favorite was when we gave up our exit row seats on an international flight. We were squeezed in like sardines on the alternate carrier flight that AA put us on. I heard about that incident for over a year!! Fun times in the air!
4m

4Miles and other likewise afflicted FreqFlyers:

If you find yourself getting the shakes, because it has been a few days, since you have flown for miles to someplace you don't want to spend time at, here is the ultimate cure.
Get miles all the time without flying. Even in small doses, it can do wonders and put a smile on your face after a snack or nice meal with family or friends. They will never know why you are on such a HIGH or in such good spirits!

Yes, get yourself a Airline affiliated credit card. Charge everything you buy on it, EVERYDAY! There is no need to miss flying high, when you are grounded! No one will ever know and you can even spend a few hours thinking about the job you were hired to do!




------------------
It is never too late to have a HAPPY CHILDHOOD!

BEEP! BEEP!

BEEP! BEEP!

Roadrunner:

I agree, I have the mileage card. It was several years before I could bring myself to charge everything. Now, not even a second thought, everything goes on it.

Cohent: saw your post on possible TPE run. I am doing it May 11-13. I have another post to see if anyone else is going. Looks like a bunch going 18-20 but I couldn't get the fare.