MilesBuzz! - Attaining elite status through non-business travel only?

With a couple of work-related trips this year, I was able to make UA Premier this month. Yay.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel? I used to do a fair amount of personal travel when I lived in Hawaii, but now that I'm on the mainland I find that it's too easy just to hop in the car and drive to my destinations.

I have attained by lowly silver onepass status through personal travel alone :eek:

I reached NW SIlver Elite with personal travel only.

With a couple of work-related trips this year, I was able to make UA Premier this month. Yay.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel? I used to do a fair amount of personal travel when I lived in Hawaii, but now that I'm on the mainland I find that it's too easy just to hop in the car and drive to my destinations.

climbermom -- Hey, that's pretty good! Yeah... I think around these circles that might be considered lowly, but I suspect most folks get their points because they have to travel for work.

...of course, that takes me to a second question, which is, "what sort of work do you do that requires you to have to travel so much?"

climbermom -- Hey, that's pretty good! Yeah... I think around these circles that might be considered lowly, but I suspect most folks get their points because they have to travel for work.

...of course, that takes me to a second question, which is, "what sort of work do you do that requires you to have to travel so much?"

I travel with my 13-year-old son (also a Onepass silver elite) who is a world-ranked rock climber and to visit my older son, who attends college in California.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel?

I'm a 100% leisure traveler, though it's made easier with a 4 day work week and 9 weeks vacation a year. I've met a number of others on AA or UA that are also solely leisure flyers.

I'm a 100% leisure traveler, though it's made easier with a 4 day work week and 9 weeks vacation a year.Nine weeks? Do you work in academia? Wow, I'm green with envy.

climbermom -- Hey, that's pretty good! Yeah... I think around these circles that might be considered lowly, but I suspect most folks get their points because they have to travel for work.

...of course, that takes me to a second question, which is, "what sort of work do you do that requires you to have to travel so much?"

You might want to try a search, as this topic has been covered on more than one occasion.

There are a lot of leisure only flyers on FT, many with high status(es) (probably not as many as business flyers though).

The question about earning elite status from other than business travel could also include status awarded based on other status. I have NW guest Silver Elite and lifetime AA platinum mostly based on activities not related to business travel. My wife has previously earned gold HHonors status and USAirways Silver status with no paid travel in her name, but because of my status. Gold Holiday Inn status can be bought for $50 by anyone.

Personally, I travel domestically every week, mostly flights and sometimes drive. Since I switched employers this year, I don't have any control of airlines or hotels, so I've earned DL Gold, mostly due to NW and CO flights, but will lose US CP status this year, because of different clients and travel patterns. I was lucky to maintain Holiday Inn and Hilton program top levels, but all of this is business related. I doubt if 10% of FT'rs are earning airline or hotel points for personal travel to elite level.

Just my $0.02
Outoftown

NW Gold-2001
NW Gold-2002
NW Gold-2003
NW Platinum-2004
downgraded to NW Gold for 2005 after my upcoming Dec 1-Dec 4 MR

Additionally in 2003 and 2004, collected a few thousand UA miles traveling on TH and SQ. This year also accumated miles on Bangkok Air and Air Asia. Neither has a FF program.

This traveler flies on the least expensive domestic tickets he can find. Same for European trips, including the famous BA $20 fare two years ago. 5 Asian trips in the past 2 years with 3 done in Business using miles and "M" fares to upgrade. Additionally, SEA-NRT-BKK operationally upgraded as a Gold on the first one of these trips.

The key is to be flexible and be willing to fly convoluted routings to reach mid and top level status. My other half does not do mileage runs and typically is one status level lower (every year) than this flier.

Yes, I still work, own my company and am finally semi-retired. Think of it this way, it is no big deal even if one works for a giant corporation to take advantage of a weekend in Europe on a low fare a couple of times a year to reach the lowest status level.

I've been gold or higher on one airline or another since 1992, and never with more than 15% business (and 0% since 1996). '00 and '01 was the high-water mark at earned plat both years on 100% leisure, but that was on the strength of mileage specials that are much more restricted and stingier today.

A typical year will have 6-7 or so 3-4 day weekend trips to places like Salt Lake City, Kansas City or wherever there's a spot special; maybe 2 runs to Las Vegas and, depending on fares, 1-3 longer hauls to Europe and/or Hawaii for 6-7 days. Europe in the dead of winter is a good target for running up miles if fares drop low enough, and Hawaii very much depends on spot specials, as normal fares there are as high or higher than Asia.

I don't do "pure" mileage runs, though, so all the trips have to be enjoyable themselves.

I reached AA plat in one RTW J trip.
I have Hilton and Hyatt Diamond all thru personal travel.

mr tinky has been AA plat for 3 yrs all personal travel.

Two years running now I have reached QF Plat on one RTW J per year - all leisure.

All of my travel is leisure travel, save a single convention a year I go to for work. I like to take the kinds of trips that happen to earn a lot of miles -- transatlantic long weekends. Between all of those and some promotions, that's where all of my miles and points come from. I enjoy the travel and the destinations, so it's what I choose to do in my free time.

Next I want to work my way out transpacific, so there are plenty more places to go and miles to earn.

Making elite can depend on where you live. One flight a year can make you CO Silver due to the # of miles and elite mile bonuses. I'm business but my wife and kids get silver each year after only one vacation trip and gold for taking two trips.

UA 1K the hard way
Hilton Diamond earned

Marriot Plt ( earned but a long story ;) )

all on leisure travel

I'm about 7,000 miles short of Nonepass Gold on pure leisure travel. I was thinking of going for Gold with a trip to europe, but I'm not so convinced it's worth it. My trips are not really so much leisure as in going on vacation but going "home" to the other coast, though, so I take entirely non-stops. I'm sure if I was willing to put a connection in IAH into each trip I'd be a little closer to Gold. I'd rather spend that time in NJ though. :cool:

US Silver last year and Gold this year - all personal travel alone
(still 5k short to next year's Gold, but have couple weekend gateways planned to the west coast, that should be enough to enjoy the benefits if only they're still around next year)

I'll be Plat with OnePass on like 95% personal travel by YE 2004

-Vincent

I'm about 7,000 miles short of Nonepass Gold on pure leisure travel. I was thinking of going for Gold with a trip to europe, but I'm not so convinced it's worth it. My trips are not really so much leisure as in going on vacation but going "home" to the other coast, though, so I take entirely non-stops. I'm sure if I was willing to put a connection in IAH into each trip I'd be a little closer to Gold. I'd rather spend that time in NJ though. :cool:

You'd rather do something like spend time with family than connect through various airports to earn more miles?! :eek: Methinks you may NOT have what it takes to be a mileage runner.

If you change your mind, though, I think the playbook from SEA sez you can add in not only IAH but also maybe a forced connection in Florida (TPA, MCO or the big one, MIA) if routing allows. SEA-IAH-EWR could surely be "improved" on.

97,305 miles on UA this year, all personal

AAPLT on personal dime

full time job, part time student

Nine weeks? Do you work in academia?.

I'm a supervisor in a police/fire communications center. We work holidays and lots of overtime, and can bank that time towards our vacations. I was able to take 14 weeks a few years back, but they've capped me now at 9 weeks a year.

Europe in the dead of winter is a good target for running up miles if fares drop low enough, and Hawaii very much depends on spot specials, as normal fares there are as high or higher than Asia.
That's what I'm learning (thanks for this site). We have a friend in England who just told us we can crash at her place if we want, which means very high potential for a potential mileage run (OK, I think I'd want to at least do a long weekend).
Making elite can depend on where you live.If you live in Kosrae, I would think a couple of trips a year will put you in elite, no?

Glad to see so many folks flying for fun! :)

Some of us are just waiting in the wings hoping that $198RT London fares make an appearance this winter. They were offered twice last year (BA or Virgin sales, with other matching). Right now the west coast to London fares are around $450RT plus tax, a far cry from what we had last winter.

Deleted post

100,050 UA miles. All pleasure :)

[QUOTE=Traveliter]If you live in Kosrae, I would think a couple of trips a year will put you in elite, no?QUOTE]

That's what I meant, one trip and we're elite. ^

My daughters and I have been elite on CO since the oldest was 6 (11 years now? wow!) This year, we are Gold on CO and Plat on AA, all leisure (but losing the AA status in Feb). Mr Fish maintains Plat on CO and AA with a mix of both business and leisure.

Climbermom, without turning this into a personal thread, where does your son go to school in CA? BTW, I find it fascinating about your younger son's climbing; my oldest LOVES to climb, but we don't get much opportunity down here on the "shore" lol. Feel free to email me, my email should be in my profile.

Robin

With a couple of work-related trips this year, I was able to make UA Premier this month. Yay.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel? I used to do a fair amount of personal travel when I lived in Hawaii, but now that I'm on the mainland I find that it's too easy just to hop in the car and drive to my destinations.

I went from normal Miles & More to FTL AND SEN in 2001 on my own purse..... lots of traveling in Y !!! nearly killed me; since then I promised never to fly Y again .... EVER

Ohh and I was a PH D Student at that time so really not much cash !

So I guess you can't top that ???

i'm aa exp for the 4th time after retiring...goofed up this year & have 120k mi, could have skipped 2 mr's in jan.

So I guess you can't top that ???

Ahem... . :rolleyes:

I am 20 (more like 21 but still in denial), a 1K, and have flown over 150'000 miles this year - 140'000 of which were with United.

Anyone top that? ;)

There are a lot of leisure only flyers on FT, many with high status(es) (probably not as many as business flyers though).On the QF board (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=81397), we even have a term for them: SFSC, or Self-Funded Status Chaser.

Now the big question is: What status do FT'ers manage to attain without any business travel and without doing any mileage runs? :D

All my travel is for leisure, and I have been NW Silver for about five years. This weekend I just made Gold for the first time.

I am 20 (more like 21 but still in denial), a 1K, and have flown over 150'000 miles this year - 140'000 of which were with United.

Anyone top that? ;)Gee... sounds like a pretty brutal commute. ;) BUT... is it on your own dime? :D

Some of us are just waiting in the wings hoping that $198RT London fares make an appearance this winter.Wow, that would be awesome. I'm assuming as soon as that shows up, there's a huge traffic spike about it here. I'm gonna ask a stupid newbie question here -- when something like that happens, what's the best bet of where to find the post, in this forum?

UA 1K for the first time as of September all on leisure travel. All the promos and the 5X bonus at the beginning of the year pushed me to fly a bit more than I usually do. I've been 1P/PE for a few years before. Also did Plat challenge on AA as well, but less likely to fly them with all their nasty changes.

Ahem... . :rolleyes:

I am 20 (more like 21 but still in denial), a 1K, and have flown over 150'000 miles this year - 140'000 of which were with United.

Anyone top that? ;)


Very good!!! Welcome to the club!

I made EXP on AA for the 2003-2004 program year nearly all on leisure travel after my work changed to where it didn't include nearly as much travel as it had previously. (There were about 17,000 business miles in the 102,000+ total.) I found myself at 55,000 miles in November through a good deal of personal travel, such as the regular February FT dinner in London. I decided to go for it, and booked a weekend trip to Chile for another FT dinner plus a bit of sightseeing, a quick trip to Israel to visit family and a two-week holiday in Australia.

The same flying wouldn't do the job today because of lower mileage earning on discount economy flights with AA's oneWorld partners BA and QF.

UA 882: I do not think anyone could top that especially since it appears that all of your flying is non business. But, can you tell us: did you fly all those miles mainly to get a higher level with UA or?

UA 882: I do not think anyone could top that especially since it appears that all of your flying is non business. But, can you tell us: did you fly all those miles mainly to get a higher level with UA or?

No...I actually flew the miles because I had to, not because of the status level. I needed to fly between Singapore and the US quite frequently because of studies - I also did a couple of coast-2-coast trips (in the US) and a trip to Europe.

And - contrary to what some of you may think ;) - I do pay for all my own travel: I have a part-time job, and a lot of the money I earn during summer internships gets spent on trips back home. The rest gets put into my education. And (just in case some of you may think that my money would be placed much better in my education) I am on a partial scholarship.

My parents use my miles for their leisure travel, and my dad in particular uses all my miles for his business trips. So that way everyone wins!

From 1993 I was NW Silver elite and sometime before 2000 I made it to Gold and for the last 4 years I have attained NW Plat all on personal travels. Last year and this year I have also attained AA Plat all on personal travels too. I do travel for work but it is mostly to Washington DC on Amtrak and maybe 3-4 trips a year all within the US. I am one those folks that take a few international vacations every year. This year I have travelled internationally 5 times (4 Asia and 1 Africa) and to Hawaii. I combine 2-4 vacation days with a 3 or 4-day holiday weekend and I have a 5-10 days vacation. I travel essentially during off season on discounted coach fares. I use miles to upgrade on the AA flights. The upgrade seats are usually available because it is off season. For NW since I can't upgrade the coach fares I go for the exit row seat, although for my Hawaii trip I purchased a B fare and upgraded with miles. I get 4 weeks vacation a year but combined with 3 or 4-day holiday weekends it feels like 8 weeks. We get 11 days for the various holidays a year at my work and at least one of them (Thanksgiving) is a 4-day holiday weekend. Some years like this year we get 2 of them (Thansgiving and Christmas).

My wife has been silver on CO for two years, all leasure travel. Mostly visiting friends and family, and 1-2 trans-pac and/or trans-atlantic trips a year.

It'd be easier for someone on the one of the coasts, doing a NYC-SIN trip for $6-800 would get you ~20k miles, toss in a $200 transcon and you're done ;) Elite for around 1K in air fare, use priceline for hotels, say 70/night for 5 nights in Asia, and you've spent 11-1400 for status.

I went from normal Miles & More to FTL AND SEN in 2001 on my own purse..... lots of traveling in Y !!! nearly killed me; since then I promised never to fly Y again .... EVER

Ohh and I was a PH D Student at that time so really not much cash !

So I guess you can't top that ???

Yup earned SEN status in one year in M&M all on my own tab. Some was in Y, but was lucky to get a couple in C as well.

Oh yeah, I was a full-time MBA student and part-time marketing consultant at the time. I just earned Elite on AC for this year, while being a full Divinity Student and part-time marketing consultant.

I also have Hertz PC on my own dime. Don't own a car so end up renting frequently.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel?

95% personal travel = HP gold.

Both my wife and I are silver with CO for the past 5 years, all on leisure travel. This year we won't have enough miles and will have no status for '05. For some reason, we decided to burn miles to sit in BF to HNL and RIO, and only flew domestic a couple of times.

Could have taken a MR to asia to get status, but we decided not to. What we will do in January is take a trip to asia (either SIN or HKG) and then a couple of domestic flights before the end of February. That way we'll have status through 2006.

when something like that happens, what's the best bet of where to find the post, in this forum?

If they have a spectacular Europe sale this year, you'd not only see it clearly posted in this forum, but also in the individual airline forums. Last years sales were widely posted on FT.

I travel 100% for leisure. I hit NW Silver this past year mainly because I fly to Houston on CO direct from DC about once a month to see my girlfriend. That along with a trip to Costa Rica and Winnipeg & Toronto just for short vacations and visiting friends put me over 25k for the year on NW and got me status. I'm also Morning Calm on Korean Air from personal travel, too. The nice thing about status on KE for me is that I got it in 2004 and I won't have to worry about requalifying until 2006. It's not that hard to get it if you make 2 trips over there and then maye throw some other SkyTeam travel on the account. (I know it seems silly to have status on two SkyTeam members, but I didn't see it coming when NW joined up in September, so I'm slowly going to realign how and where I accrue the miles.)

I don't go hunting for status with my travel because it is all for leisure and I simply can't afford to pay more attention to the carrier than the cost. I've been able to take off of work about two months per year for the the past two years (comp time + flex time + 3 wks annual leave + deviousness in working the system) and have flown on probably about 18 different carriers for all of my trips. Some of them I get lots of miles for (BA to DXB or Emirates to DAC) and some of them I don't get any for (Air India) since they aren't in on any of the alliances. Cost of the ticket is *the* deciding factor for me and I only try to go for the miles if it isn't that much of a difference in terms of fare. I accrue plenty of miles for a cool trip on most of the airlines sooner or later, so I don't worry about it. Lately I've been trying to burn through my Asiana and US miles and get all of my Star Alliance earning onto United, but that kind of transition is always tough.

peace,
~Ben~

No longer fly enough on one airline to make elite on any of them (being based out of New York means I have to split flights between AA for some places and CO/NW/Delta for others), but when I lived in Chicago, I found it was really easy to make elite on AA with short flights through their challenge program. Although you don't get as many points for these shorter flights, as with miles, there is a 500 mile minimum. The MSP-ORD route is fewer miles than that, but fly it enough times, and it's super easy to become a gold member.

With DL and others giving only partial credit for elite qualification, it's much tougher.

If you fly discounted fares only and used to qualify for gold, that amoung of travel barely makes silver now. Ouch.

I was a consultant for five years in the 80's and flew at least three round trips per month (full-fare tickets) and never attained status. My last year of flying as a consultant was 1988 - the wonderful triple miles year; I flew from DFW to Houston two or three times a week. Six months after I quit, I was notified by AA that I was now AAdvantage Gold (I don't think they officially had Platinum back then).

I maintained my Gold status with AA from 1989 through 1995 when I finally became Platinum and have remained Platinum ever since. I have Platinum lifetime status with AA since I have over 2,000,000 miles (almost all from flying or flight bonuses). I should reach 3,000,000 next year.

The ironic part is that since I became an elite with AA, I have flown two times for business in the past fifteen years - both times were DFW to Corpus Christi on discounted fares. All of my other flights (probably 2,300,000) have been for fun and were at discounted fares.

My mother will soon have 2,000,000 miles and she has never flown except for pleasure; almost all of her miles are also from flights and bonuses. She is also Platinum on AA and has been for the past seven years; before that she was gold.

The ironic part is that since I became an elite with AA, I have flown two times for business in the past fifteen yearsFlyForFun, I think your username says it all! :)

I'll end the year with 112,000 flown miles in United's program (one RT on US). Only one was business travel (SEA-Burbank). The remainder on my dime (including two MRs to London and two MR/vacations to SIN.)

It's been fun, but not sure I'll keep it up. (Although, I've got plans for a SIN run in Jan. :p )

On March 1, 2004 I had no status. Had just lost my DL SM and AA Gold status. I took one business trip this year, TPA - DFW R/T. The rest of my travel has been personal. I'm now NW Silver, DL GM and AA Plat (thru challenge).

That was a LOT of weekend and short trips, since I only get 3 weeks vacation.

total leisure travel except for 1-2 domestic meetings/yr for nw plat, but last year only gold and this year silver. +plat aa.

I'll end the year with about 80,000 UA EQMs, all of them leisure travel. It's been a mix of domestic (mostly SEA-LAX trips plus a couple transcons) and international (all SEA-EZE). It's my first time ever having status and I'll never look back. :) Considered going for 1K but just don't have the time for a MR.

Silver on OK last year solely with VFR trips.
On track to become OK+ Gold (top level) this yr with VFR and a couple of long weekends in Eastern Europe. Always Y tix. Total spend this year: about 1700 Euros.

With a couple of work-related trips this year, I was able to make UA Premier this month. Yay.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel? I used to do a fair amount of personal travel when I lived in Hawaii, but now that I'm on the mainland I find that it's too easy just to hop in the car and drive to my destinations.


Platinum 3 years running ---all leisure travel

I wonder if the Betty Ford Clinic has a weekend program for FF addicts?

Now the big question is: What status do FT'ers manage to attain without any business travel and without doing any mileage runs? :D

I hit BA Silver in 2/2004 (only losing 40 TP's), and will hit BA Gold over the holidays (only losing 20 TP's).

All personally funded, no business and no MR's (Oops ... forgot about one AA YUP Business trip ... :( Darn, and here I thought I'd made it clean!! )

Charles

I have been a CO Siver for the last 3 years, as of 2 weeks ago I am a NW Silver. All of this was leisure travel for me. I usually go on at least 2 long trips a year with my wife when she attends a medical conference in Hawaii or Europe. The rest is mainly long weekends and holiday travel. One reason why I switched from CO to NW was that CO stopped giving 100% EQM on low NW fares. Other than Europe and Hawaii, where I sometimes pay the higher fare to upgrade to Business Class if I can, the rest of my travel is at rock-bottom fares. The wife and I just went to DC for Thanksgiving (MSP-BWI, DCA to MSP) for $225 each and got upgraded both ways. Not a bad Deal!! :)

I fly 100% leisure =EXP for the last few years. I burned all my miles this year so my status will drop. I had no interest in chasing EXP this year. I may try next year but I am afraid the long haul good fairs are a thing of the past.

Delta Silver now, but will be Gold by end of the year through all leisure travel. What helps is two international trips.

[QUOTE=Traveliter]With a couple of work-related trips this year, I was able to make UA Premier this month. Yay.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel?QUOTE]

I have been a NW platinum for the last 2 years, NW gold for 3 years before that . My hobby is traveling in the weekend. I am a Dromomaniac according to my family. Or a milage junkie..

Casey

AA Gold and UAL Prem Ex this year ALL leisure. Boyfriend in Salta, Argentina and addiction to traveling.

Well, I just now attained NW Gold for the first time, after being Silver for several years on leisure travel. Must have been that one business trip to Atlanta this year.

US CP on all leisure travel. But, I took advantage of the US visa promo that gave 3x status miles for a few months earlier this year. I probably have only flown about 60-65,000 miles with them (and partners) this year.

Also Hyatt diamond on leisure (and a few phantom) stays.

I am addicted to travel.

Ahem... . :rolleyes:

I am 20 (more like 21 but still in denial), a 1K, and have flown over 150'000 miles this year - 140'000 of which were with United.

Anyone top that? ;)


OK - I wasn't planning on checking in here - but since you asked....

I am 22, a full time student (and work) with over 200K self-funded BIS miles YTD. I also flew more than 100K of these on AA in one month! About 65% of this was in econ - the rest free upgrades.

I've reached AAdvantage Platinum status by taking personal trips only. I have done so extending trips between College and the Family and by blowing a lot of Cash on vacations.

[QUOTE=Traveliter]With a couple of work-related trips this year, I was able to make UA Premier this month. Yay.

That said, how many folks here have actually attained elite status on their own, without business travel?QUOTE]

I have been a NW platinum for the last 2 years, NW gold for 3 years before that . My hobby is traveling in the weekend. I am a Dromomaniac according to my family. Or a milage junkie..

Casey

I made Platinum on AA this year thru personal travel. The 100% bonus miles, upgrade clearance, and---on a flight I literally just got off of---standby priority, has been a GREAT benefit.
AA's challenge programs (see countless threads on F/T about it) make Gold and Plat attainable for the Leisure traveller, myself included.
One would also find those on F/T who've even attained EXP on leisure travel. Go for it!!!

I'm 17 a fly a bunch for family and with my Dad for his job. (Me going is just for fun and it's all paid for by me/us, so it counts)

I'm Plat with AA, Gold (on my way to silver) with Delta, and gold level on US Air.

For 1999 thru 2003 I've made NWA Plat on leisure travel alone. In 2004 I made AA ExPlat the same way. With the extra 25K needed to make ExPlat, I had to do some MRs.

Gold Medallion 2 years running by the skin of my teeth- all leisure. Atlanta captive of Delta. What a difference it makes to be Gold over Silver, much less no status at all. My husband is Platinum, which helps. What an addiction, it's so hard to give up that status.

Of the two million base miles I have earned, half of those have been on my own money. I have earned top-elite status on 2 different airlines using entirely my own money.

Any reasonably arduous business-class oneworld RTW will generate well over 50K EQP on AA for Plat; only a little extra traveling required to make EXP. Not exactly cheap at $5-$7K, but lots more fun than 100 segments.

What an addiction, it's so hard to give up that status.

It's so ture ;)

Last year US Silver, this year US Gold and next year (flights already booked and paid for) I shall make UA 1K all on my own money. :cool: :cool: :cool:

I've earned Premier and PremEx by the years end without business travel. Im only 17 so no "business travel for me..yet that is

My job in Denali National Park requires no air travel. I have to pay for everything, but I'd like to think I get my money's worth. For details, click on any of these:

On The Road Again - Three Weeks of Mileage Running around America (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=374765&referrerid=6135)

On The Road Again - In Pursuit of Bonus Miles (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182268&referrerid=6135)

The Great Autumn Mileage Run of 2002 (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181201&referrerid=6135)

On The Road Again - An AAmerican Odyssey (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180507&referrerid=6135)

Every mile I've ever flown has been on my own dime.

Was AA EXP for 4 years, dropped to PLT this year.

I just turned NW Silver Elite this year. All nonbusiness travel -- most of it because of a long-distance relationship in which he lives/teaches in Michigan part of the year while I'm in Baltimore.

I earned Premier and PremierExecutive on UA this year only with leisure travel. Funny, since I used to have some work travel but never had elite status. I flew 53,000 miles in the last 6 months of this year. The low transcon fares kept me going...and a trip to Europe, a ski trip to Canada, DC, NY, Montreal...

Now I'm addicted! I want to shoot for 1K next year with low fares and MRs...Singapore, anyone?

Just registered for UA Double EQM promo, and when it post, I will be UA 1k lite.

The only business air travel this year was a trancon RT SFO-BOS for professional association conference.

It helps that I can mostly choose my own schedule and change it on a short notice. So I can pounce on some cheap fares as they show up. [Edited to add] SFOTRAVELER, are you working in a library with extened operation hour and enough seniority to choose your own schedule? Or school library?

I qualified for AA GLD in 2002 and 2003. 2002 was entirely leisure travel, although I was helped out immensely by an AA mileage-credit goof that gave me an extra 8,000 EQMs. I had two business trips in 2003, but I would have qualified even without them. No mileage runs during that time.

I got a new job at the beginning of this year, completed a PLT challenge in April, and have easily requalified for PLT the "hard" way, on my way to EXP. I've had barely any leisure travel during that time -- as much as I love to travel, I do more than enough of it during the week, so when I have time to myself on the weekends, I want to spend it at home. Besides, business trips often give me the opportunity to see friends/family who I would previously spend my own money to visit.

Though I started out having my employers pay for some of my flying trips under various circumstances, it was never enough to get me elite status so I hated going anywhere by airplane as I always sat in coach, and therefore minimized trips I took. But once I discovered FT and the benefits of elite status, I started choosing to fly to professional meetings I enjoy more and more often (on my own dime) and taking more leisure trips that involve long distance flying. So in 2004 all my flying both to professional meetings and for leisure has been on my own dime and I have requalified for NW Platinum Elite 2005 with my own money. Sometimes I'll combine a professional meeting with a little extra time tacked on at the end for leisure visiting of the area. The only part my employer plays in this is that the employer still pays my salary during the time I take for meetings (but not for the airfare or hotels) as the experiences at the meetings enhance the overall quality of the work I perform. I buy cheap domestic fares (and enjoy my free NW upgrades) and fly international in business class either with advance discounted business fares or using miles to upgrade. I clearly spend a lot more out of pocket money on travel than most people, but I don't have kids to tie me down at home and absolutely love it! :)

My travel in the last couple of years has been entirely on my own nickel, so getting top elite with airlines and hotel chains isn't so easy.... EXCEPT for two things: Bonuses that count towards status qualification (EQM offers from United and targeted "double points/double stays" promo from Starwood) and award stays that count towards status (Hilton). I have made use of these to get top tier with United, Starwood, and Hilton for this year.... but sadly, I won't be requalifying with Hilton for next year (luckily, Hilton's "status year," unlike most others, lasts through the end of May rather than February).

AA Platinum solely with Personal travel.

In 2003 I attained Premier Executive status with United with leisure travel (about 19,000 actual flight miles, 9,000 miles FAX bonus promotion, 20,000 mile bonus for segment promotion - 10 segments in "V" or higher, and double EQM miles on fall travel for $100 promotion).

In 2004 sanity returned to United's bonus promotions, but I flew 25,000 actual leisure miles - will be Premier in 2005.

mr tinky just hit 50062 Q pts on AA .
I got to 47500 Q pts on AA and thought what the heck!
I have a F RTW on OW in sept and whenever I fly Im usually with a OW elite.
do I really need the extra 5 flights.

No im staying at home :D

all non co rev

50K on AA and 50K on CO in 2004.

So I will drop from Platinum to Gold on CO. It's all personal travel. I'm trying to decide if I should shoot for EXP on AA in 2005, and it may depend on who has the best sales.

OnePass Elite Level: Gold
SkyTeam Elite Level: Elite
Year to Date Elite Miles: 54,197
Year to Date Elite Points: 35


All personal travel. I wish I could have gotten closer to plat. which I am trying to obtain in 05. I travel solo a lot and love this forum which has connected me with other travel buffs.

NW Gold (earned) - 53K BIS Miles in 2004 - plan on retaining for 2005 & indefinitely after that barring some major change in their loyalty program

US Gold (Comped to Gold when I just requested a Silver comp for a super-lucrative Mileage run - didn't ask for it, but got it - it's good though - this comp has actually made me book some US flights in 2005)

UA Premier (expiring on 2/28/05 - it's a good program, but for a non-business traveler, it's just not worth it, IMHO - I'm DC based & the fares are always better on the SkyTeam partners out of DC, though UA/US does have good flight options the lack of upgrades make them my least useful status - though I have earned ~150K on them in about 2 years)

Air Tran Elite (Comped from a while back - still shows it in my profile though)

SPG Gold - Comped via airline affiliations

HH Gold - Comped by ACAT/AQ promos

Hertz #1 Gold - through work, but I'll make 5 Star in 2005 I think

100% leisure - my one & only business trip this year was a 4-5 hour drive from my house for 2 days in Southern VA.

Never made status before. Found out about flyertalk last month - I won't be able to make status this year, but I already have over 30k miles booked with UA in 1Q 2005. I should make 1P by the end of the year.

AA PLT for the past 3 years, requal'ed for 2005 w/ 54k BIS miles, all personal travel. Unfortunately, we're moving my aged mother-in-law from Sonoma, CA to Massachusetts soon, so our excellent excuse to make weekend BOS-SFO trips will be gone... About 250k more miles needed for lifetime PLT (if they don't change the rules!).

...But once I discovered FT and the benefits of elite status, I started choosing to fly to professional meetings I enjoy more and more often (on my own dime) and taking more leisure trips that involve long distance flying.Just curious, ermdjdsj: Even if you're going to these professional meetings on your own dime, is your employer at least allowing you to do so on the clock? [If not, you should at least be able to write your expenses off, I'd think.]

I used to travel every single week for work and was Continental Platinum Elite in 2001. After 9/11 I stopped flying for work but determined to keep my Elite status. Requalified for Continental Platinum Elite in 2002 & switched to Northwest in 2003 (thanks PreMex, LarryU & Catman for encouraging me to dump Continental in favor of NWA). Qualified for NWA Platinum in last year and just returned from Greece on a mileage run for NWA Platinum for 2005.

Made AA PLat via a challenge but looks like I would make it on miles flown anyway this year
All leisure travel and nearly all of it is LHR-BOS and I've grown to love seat 31H. I recognise the FA's but they don't recongise me
Yet...

I have found that if you tend to plan more small (i.e. long weekend) vacations it is fairly easy to keep status with personal flights. I was able to get up to AA Plat since I had a couple of personal trips to Europe, which I was able to get pretty good fares booked in D on Aer Lingus. Thank you oneWorld.

My travel for business has started to pick up but the last few years I was able to keep Gold by travelling 90% personal.

I lucked out and retired when I was 44. I was a truck driver for the Post Office and they offered early retirement. I have 427,511 base miles with UA and another 100,000 with other airlines. I've been Premier Executive or 1K for years. When my daughter was 6 y/o, I started taking her on many trips around the world. She has 325,000. She probably was the youngest Premier Executive at 8 y/o. She's an excellent travel companion and it's all been on my nickel. My wife has 250,000. We also are Platinum with Starwood.

Just curious, ermdjdsj: Even if you're going to these professional meetings on your own dime, is your employer at least allowing you to do so on the clock? [If not, you should at least be able to write your expenses off, I'd think.]

Yes, my employer pays my salary while I am gone, and then I write off the travel expenses as "misc. employee business expenses that exceed 2% of adjusted gross income" on my tax return.

Mrs Philly Five and I are both CPs on US from leisure travel only - US, Caribbean, some Europe (2 or 3x per year). Now we are beginning to think Asia, so can elite status on a couple other airlines be far behind ??? :)

Of course, there is then the question of US's survival....but that for other Forums and threads.

I made AA Gold, Plat and Gold again on personal travel. I should have 32K Q miles this year on AA. 3K on DL :(

Gold on CO, Hilton & Priority Club/Ambassador -- this year. All on my own dimes. & with a lotta help from FT. Cheers! :cool:

In 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 I made UA Premier every year on my own dime. Some years it was by 30 segments and others my 25,000 miles.

I'm still Premier on UA, but it takes a combination of business and pleasure to keep me at that level now that I have a 22 month daughter at home.

Was able to do Gold on AA thru personal travel, without too much "homework" on how to do the flights. I took a challenge to make PLAT, 'tho. Did my first "rookie" mileage run to do it, based on what I'd started to read here. (learned about "nesting" a roundtrip on sale between a the in- & out- bounds of a sale trip I'd bought, then adding connections on allowable routings). THANKS, FT!!! It was a FUN trip, but one that, in hindsight, I could have done more efficiently. One of those "a little knowledge can be dangerous" things :D. Perhaps a neat thread would be to see if/how people's MR's have gotten "smarter" across time & experience.

Domestic MR's seem a little harder here from the Midwest, where 1) we have to get to a coast to enjoy the mileage-earning of a true transcon, and 2) from where little flies but Mad Dogs and Eagle/Connection commuter jets.

....Domestic MR's seem a little harder here from the Midwest, .... from where little flies but Mad Dogs and Eagle/Connection commuter jets.
I actually met a passenger on my regional jet segment from PVD to CLE who said she prefers those jets to the larger ones!

Made BA Silver this year all on my own dime, and was a whisker short the year before again on my own dime.

Being 21 (well 19 and 20 when I did it) and funded by a part time job when back from Uni......the days of flying R/F/J on my parents dime are over :(

Made CO Gold this year. All personal travel paid with my own dimes. Had been Silver for 3 years previously, again all personal travel. Mostly trans-atlantic travel (I would imagine this is the case for many who gained their elite with their own hard earned cash - I assume it would be difficult to accrue the miles on domestic travel if you do not fly for work, unless family duties take you on regular transcons).

I've been a very fortunate guy in this life, especially in acquiring frequent flyer miles. Only had one job in my life that I got to fly in. Maybe if I had more positions where I travelled, I wouldn't have been so driven to sock the money away (but not at the expense of flying and maintaining my status) ;) so I could get off the "treadmill" and devote my energies on travel and making a difference in life.

Being on "sabatical"---I don't like using the word retired since it makes it sound like you don't accomplish anything--- means I'm now a free man to respond to the wonderlust and adventure that comes with sitting in 2D on an AA777 headed towards LHR (or whatever other destination it could be)

I have been AA Platinum for 5 years running after completing a platinum challenge because I had run out of patience waiting for UA (Premier Exec for 8 yrs) to get it together during that horrible summer the pilots "turned up the heat" and United had an operational "meltdown" I have always spent my own "nickle" on travel, so feel especially strong about getting what I pay for. No fat expense account to write it off to....

To all you 19-20 something's that are flying and maintaing a grade point too, I congratulate you on your strong management skills and disipline to carry out such a task. I wish I had, created the resources to do what you are. I urge you to approach life from the "big picture" ---deciding your path for the next 5-10-20 years and set in motion the events that will deliver it. ^

Happy New Year and much success to all in 2005!

Made NW silver by travelling to Asia twice a year. Made BA Silver last year by taking a leisure trip to Africa. Collected 20K+ miles on just one trip, well, probably a once-in-a-life-time event.

us chairman's 3 years running; all personal travel out of my own pocket.

-- he who slacks

Just made DL Silver with one DL and one CO flight - rest from AMEX DL Plat card and $25K+ spending threshold

Earned ~75k+ miles as bonus miles through promos in 2004

Expect Gold this year with a couple of pleasure Europe and Caribbean trips

All of my travel was personal up until recently (unless you counted "business" as going to visit my girlfriend every other week :D).

Now, however, I'm starting a business in Los Angeles but still hold down an apartment and part-time job in Virginia. I'll need to travel to LA at least once a week for the time being---typically Mon-Wed, until I can get someone to take over my apartment lease here (lease ends in August and can't otherwise be broken).

My business travel is still at my own expense, but the good news is that fares from IAD to LAX are extremely low (in the $218 r/t range), I use Priceline for hotels and discount codes with National for car rentals, and I can park for free near IAD so it's not a huge budget constraint.

Once I can actually move to LA, it'll be back to personal travel only, but I still hope to maintain US CP status and go for AA EXP, UA 1P and DL Silver in 2005.

If you don't mind my asking, how did you get that status without traveling?

I am one of the younger guys on here, 19 years old. My travel has been on my own dime for the past 3 years and have been able to maintain Plat on AA and GP on US. I did have UA Premier for a year but dropped them and switched to US. On the hotel side of things, I am a HH Gold and SPG Gold. I hope I will continue my travels for years to come. I will graduate in May 2006 and hopefully will get a job that REQUIRES heavy traveling!!! So I'm for hire :D

AA Gold...took daughter to LHR for her 16th birthday, took wife to Paris I am sooo going to miss the 777 with MRTC, midwest to LAS and DFW.

I'm 24 and in my 2nd year of AS MVP. I travel a lot for fun (usually to Asia x1 and south/latin amer OR Europe 1x) as well as to see my parents 3-5x/yr who live in PA

Why do I bank miles into AS? I got started there on a credit card, but their earning and redemption options are great for my needs and the fact I can get MVP on 3 transcon airlines and collect miles on a 4th is worth it for me.

Goin to Shanghai next month which will fasttrack my MVP status ^