Mileage Run Deals - First time MR out of DFW on AA

I've been lurking for a little bit trying to learn what and how to do things. I have read the primer and have played with some of the booking tools. I'd like help with how to choose a destination for price? I don't know of any highly competitive routes out of DFW for cheap fares.

I need to finish off a Platinum challenge with about 3000 - 4000 Q-points. I'm headed to Geneva for a long weekend. I wish I'd known about FlyerTalk earlier; I could have been finished by now! As it is, I'm on a cheap fare getting 0.5 Q-points / mile. Doh!

I would love some routes or suggestions for MRs out of DFW. Priced itineraries would be even better! I'd also like to knock out a Fly 3 or 2.

Thanks!

Evans

Evans -

Hey man, welcome to FT! I have found some good deals out of DFW to LAS, LAX, AUS, and NYC, among others.

What dates are you available to travel, BTW? When does your challenge expire?

Hi, Scott--

I actually had a great time watching your MR take shape.

I'm available for travel anytime after March 30, any days any times, any locations (including international). The challenge expires May 31, so I have plenty of time. I'd like to complete it ASAP, though, so I'll return to earning the 100% bonus rather than the 25% for Gold.

Thanks for passing on your newly gained wisdom. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Evans

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Evans:
Hi, Scott--

I actually had a great time watching your MR take shape.

I'm available for travel anytime after March 30, any days any times, any locations (including international). The challenge expires May 31, so I have plenty of time. I'd like to complete it ASAP, though, so I'll return to earning the 100% bonus rather than the 25% for Gold.

Thanks for passing on your newly gained wisdom. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Evans</font>
Well, I'm certainly no expert, but am glad to help. One good option I found was runs to AUS for $86.70 all inc. They are available many days including May 14,15,16. This gets you 500 q-points each way and doesn't take up much time.

Miles you would earn:
1000 r/t
250 for being gold
1000 online booking bonus
2250 total, cpm = 3.8
1000 q-points per run

Before that, you could book SFO - CLT for $177 all inc. and get 5802 miles, 2464 q-points (routing through DFW + online booking bonus) for a cpm of 3.0. Only problem is getting to SFO from DFW, which could be pricey. I used May 13-14 for those dates b/c the fare is good only on certain dates (see related thread).

I'm sure some others will jump in with better (more robust) options, particularly internatinal ones, but I wanted to get the ball rolling. You may be well-served to wait for a NetSAAvers int'l flight in the coming weeks, as well, and use flights to AUS as supplements.

If you do decide to do AUS, let me know b/c I am needing to do a quick domestic MR on May 15-16!

[This message has been edited by ScottTexas (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

Been doing some more research and here is some more info:

DFW-AUS $87 direct
AUS-OAK $228 routed through DFW
SFO-CLT $176 routed through DFW
$491 TOTAL COST

book these as 3 separate trips. You will qualify for AA123 and here is the mileage you should get:

1000 DFW-AUS
250 GOLD
3900 AUS-DFW-OAK-DFW-AUS
976 GOLD
4800 SFO-DFW-CLT-DFW-SFO
1200 GOLD
3000 online booking bonuses
500 online check in
500 online flight status notification
16126 TOTAL MILES

Q-Points:
1000 DFW-AUS
2900 AUS-DFW-OAK-DFW-AUS
2450 SFO-DFW-CLT-DFW-SFO
6350 q-points

Also, if you have AA Citi, you will get another 491 miles for charging it.

Try starting out on Thursday morning early and doing the routings such that you open up each end before closing any of them. I do not think this breaks any rules b/c you are not circumventing a Sat. night stay rule. You may have to start on May 12 to make it work but remember that you need to fly the SFO-CLT r/t on Thursday and Friday to qualify for the fare.

[This message has been edited by ScottTexas (edited Mar 23, 2004).]

That's awesome, Scott. Thanks! I'll have to play around with the dates and such to see what the best fit is. I also need to find out exactly how many qualifying q-points I have when I complete this trip.

Evans

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Evans:
That's awesome, Scott. Thanks! I'll have to play around with the dates and such to see what the best fit is. I also need to find out exactly how many qualifying q-points I have when I complete this trip.
</font>

Cool, keep me posted!

Been doing some more research and here is some more info:

DFW-AUS $87 direct
AUS-OAK $228 routed through DFW
SFO-CLT $176 routed through DFW
$491 TOTAL COST


Are you certain the nesting won't get you into trouble?

The timing in my schedule didn't work out, so I couldn't book that trip. I didn't look closely at the nesting, so I'm not sure if it would have worked or not.

I'll have to keep an eye out for future opportunities.

Cool man, don't give up. Sometimes it takes awhile to figure things out. I just booked DFW-TUL and DFW-AUS for May 15. I will just read on the planes and in fact, I am on the same plane going back for each one, so it will be really relaxing. Quick and easy runs and they will push me over 10,000 q-points for the plat challenge. I just got my GLD card last week and it felt so good. :cool: