MilesBuzz! - A thread for Million Milers

Good day all.

I was wondering if the million milers can tell me how young they were when they started with their respective FF program.

For example, how old were you when you signed up for AAdvantage or Mileage Plus and how old you were when you hit 1 MM.

1989 35 years old

2005 51 years old

United "HARD" BIS

Good day all.

I was wondering if the million milers can tell me how young they were when they started with their respective FF program.

For example, how old were you when you signed up for AAdvantage or Mileage Plus and how old you were when you hit 1 MM.

1 million BIS or credited miles?

I'll pass 1 million credited next week on NWA. I signed up for their program in 1998, but only started flying a lot in 2001. I missed being elite because of 9/11, and only barely made silver in 2002. 2003+ I've booked 100K BIS miles min every year since on NW or partners, with another 20-40k in free tickets or other airlines too.

Good day all.

I was wondering if the million milers can tell me how young they were when they started with their respective FF program.

For example, how old were you when you signed up for AAdvantage or Mileage Plus and how old you were when you hit 1 MM.

AA started in 1985 at 30, but mostly flew twa til they went bust, hit a million AA miles in 1995 and now at 3.9 million

I made easy over 4 million (bonus, not status) miles with LX (swiss) Travelclub (that became now part of LH's miles&more program), profiting from last years promotion of a swiss Supermarket chain (Coop Switzerland), that did let points from that chain exchange 1:1 into swiss miles. It took me only 2 months to do so (profiting from extra bonus points from the chain, and trading points on auction platforms like ebay® and Ricardo©).

So I started at age 62 and finished with over 4 Million miles at age 63 ...

I will be (talking status now) a life long LH (miles&more) Senator (Star-Gold-level) on march-3-2008 (age 65, I did start with miles&more in 1998 at age 55). To become a LH life long Senator you don't need 1 Million status miles, but: > 60 years old, must be a current Senator, and must have been a Senator for the last 10 years (to qualify as a Senator you only have to make 100'000 status miles every second year, as status is valid 2 calendar years - so if you start at age 50 and do 100'000 status miles every second year, you become a lifelong Senator at age 60 with 'just' 500'000 status miles.

I should probably clarify. Thanks Jaimito Cartero. :)

1 MM for whatever your FF program recognizes. For example, all sources for MM on AA, only BIS miles on UA, etc...

Make sense? On UA I only have 990,000 miles to go. :D

If AA is the model for "million milers," I've accumulated more than a million Delta Skymiles since joining the program for my honeymoon flight in 1993. But I've spent a lot of those miles, too, and quite a few of them were either status bonuses or credit card miles or other bonuses. Delta's "million miler" program requires a million flown miles (or at least it does now -- during the early part of my Skymiles membership, it counted elite bonus miles as well. But in that progam I'm still just under 500,000.

I hit 1MM with Delta in 1991 at age 27 and the 2MM mark in 1996 at age 32. All the Amex and bonus miles helped, but it was still lots of flying...Hitting the 3MM mark sometime in 07.

Well over 1MM in LH M&M but they do not recognize it, oh well.

Anything but BIS miles doesn't count, in my book ;)

USAir - started 1990, age 25. 1 Million by 2001.

I have flown over 1,400,000 BIS miles on NW since 1994.

My total program miles with NWA is 4,649,723 Total Mileage Since Enrollment.

RC

...but the miles I still have in my UA Mileage Plus account have just (yesterday, see the thread in the UA Forum) devalued by approx. 25% ...

I started a job 10 years ago this month that has had me traveling 200,000 to 325,000 miles per year. So I think I'm pretty close to 3 milllion miles over those 10 years. However UA is the only airline I use that keeps track of lifetime BIS. I passed 1 million BIS on UA last year. I guess I've flown between 500,000 and 750,000 separately on LH and BA and over 500,000 on AF/KL. The rest are on a host of other airlines.

I was 33 when I started keeping track of miles on UA Mileage Plus. It was 1986.

Sixteen years later I became a BIS millionaire on UA.

1989, Delta, age 33...took couple yrs to hit 1M(flew a lot,
worked the program very extensively).
Down to 75k old miles, 15k new miles, gave these to my sister to use
for a Euro trip, but be sure to do it quickly...

What are the benefits for your loyalty?

RC


I was 33 when I started keeping track of miles on UA Mileage Plus. It was 1986.

Sixteen years later I became a BIS millionaire on UA.

Joined AAdvantage in 2000 - I was 18

Passed 1MM in 2004 - I was 22

Will pass 2MM in 2007 - I will be 25


Will have flown about .8 million miles BIS between airlines since 2000 by next year when I hit 2MM on AA.

Off topic: AAdvantage was born the same year I was!

Joined AAdvantage in 1990.

Sitting at about 790,000 lifetime AA miles, not counting the 50K+ Starpoints that I'm waiting to transfer.

almost there!!

What are the benefits for your loyalty?

RC
Premier Executive status for life (and all of the benefits of being a 1P), and some upgrade certificates. If you do a quick search in the UA forum you will get all of the answers. The ones I said are the most important, in my opinion.

What are the benefits for your loyalty?

I believe the precise term for the benefits of 1 million miles on USAirways is "diddly squat"

UA 1MM is similar to AA 2MM in that they both give lifetime mid-tier status.

AA is still easier to earn because all miles count.

UA's version gives more because they hand out some anual upgrade certs; AA only gives them as a one-time perk at each MM threashold.


Premier Executive status for life (and all of the benefits of being a 1P), and some upgrade certificates. If you do a quick search in the UA forum you will get all of the answers. The ones I said are the most important, in my opinion.

Got my first million in only 7 years--

In the C-130 Hercules.

All the people talking about BIS miles -- well it's a little exaggerated, don't you think? They round everything up to 500 or 750 for you, depending on the program.

There are a lot of "million milers" on USAir I bet who begin and end every flight with the 55 mile run to Philly.

Anyway, I've got another mil on US Since then

There are a lot of "million milers" on USAir I bet who begin and end every flight with the 55 mile run to Philly.
I got at least 700K of my US miles doing PIT-SEA, PIT-SFO, and PIT-LAX for 4 years. And another year to STL that was over 500 actual. And ABQ. And MCO Thninking through all of my projects, very few have been within 500 miles.

I'd bet 98%, well over 1 million, are ABIS (Actual).

I avoid PHL like the plague (that it is).

joined aa in 97
reached 1mm 2001
have 1.5mm with aa now, but just switched to star alliance....hard move but makes sense for where i live.

am 33.

What are the benefits for your loyalty?

RC

The official status in UA Mileage Plus terms is "Million Mile Flyer." This is emblazoned on whatever status card you are issued (either Premier Executive, 1K, or UGS). Million Mile Flyers are assured of lifetime Premier Executive status (of course last year there were repeated comments about "lifetime" referring to either the airline or the customer). 1K or UGS status has to be earned every year. But as long as UA honors it's promises, Million Mile Flyers will have no less than 1P status for life.

With Premier Executive ("1P" in UA, two-digit computer shorthand) status comes 100% bonus for paid travel on UA and many flights on Star Alliance carriers. 1P status is recognized as "Star Gold" by all carriers in the Star Alliance. With that comes extra baggage allowance, priority check-in lines, and lounge access when flying Star Alliance carriers, regardless of the class of service which has been purchased. Pretty cool benefit as long as it may last.

There is some disagreement about whether Million Mile Flyers get any additional priority when it comes to clearing upgrade waitlists on UA. Where it may come down to a gate agent decision, everyone agrees that MM status doesn't hurt. On board UA flights, the Million Mile Flyer status is printed on the manifest used by cabin crew. Where there is a meal choice, Million Milers are supposed to be given priority for their meal choice within their status (in other words, a 1K MM would trump a 1P MM).

For the past two or three years, MM Flyers have been given two CR-1 upgrades (Confirmed Region One) which are confirmable at time of purchase for any one way domestic one-class upgrade, including Hawaii. This happens on January 1, regardless of the amount of flying the year before. This is an unpublished benefit, which means it could disappear any year.

When UA flyers cross the threshold of one million miles in actual butt-in-seat flying on UA, UAX, or TED (not RDMs or bonus miles from credit cards, etc, and not codeshares or partner flights), they are given three Systemwide Upgrades (SWUs). This is obviously once in a lifetime benefit. There is no recognition on UA for multiple millions flown, as on DL. Several FTers have logged two, three or four million BIS miles on UA. They don't get so much as an email for the continued loyalty, but they are 1P for life.

Having spent most of my formative flying years on PanAm and TWA (I really loved those transcon 747's), I came to UA relatively late. Although I joined the MP program in 1989, I didn't really fly UA much until 1992, and even then I split my business for a few years with USAir (which used to let elites confirm upgrades on booking; when they dropped that, I dropped them). By 1998, I was 1K. I hit 1MM in 2004. Virtually all BIS (except for a number of very short hops (eg LAX-SNA that counted for 500 each). In addition to the benefits recounted above, the FA made me a crown on my qualifying flight.

Joined Delta Frequent Flyer program in 1982 at age 35
1MM in 1995
2MM in 2005
99.9% of trips are non-stop orignating ATL to (name your domestic city).. A lot of ATL-PIT-ATL (526 miles each way, in case you wondered)

A connection DL flyer back then could take advantage of the loophole under the old program where you could purchase upgrade certs with miles and then earn Double miles for flying F on both legs of your connection, thereby earning more miles than you spent and riding F in the bargain!

Alas, I was a hub flyer and could not manufacture miles that way ... I will advance the argument that this constitues earning 2MM the "Real Hard BIS" way. (but will admit to clocking a few during the 1986 Triple Miles frenzy)

Got my first million in only 7 years--

In the C-130 Hercules.I got my 1000 hour pin in the KC-130 ^

It took me 7.5 years to get my first 1mm on AA.

Joined AAdvantage in 2000 - I was 18

Passed 1MM in 2004 - I was 22

Will pass 2MM in 2007 - I will be 25


Will have flown about .8 million miles BIS between airlines since 2000 by next year when I hit 2MM on AA.

Off topic: AAdvantage was born the same year I was!

Do you pay for your flying yourself, or does someone else pay?
And is it mostly MRs or necessary trips?

UA 1MM is similar to AA 2MM in that they both give lifetime mid-tier status.

AA is still easier to earn because all miles count.

UA's version gives more because they hand out some anual upgrade certs; AA only gives them as a one-time perk at each MM threashold.


Actually, AA gives EVIP's to Two Million Milers, not One Million Milers and only one time, not at each threshold.

ExecPlat's get the EVIP's every year they qualify.

Do you pay for your flying yourself, or does someone else pay?
And is it mostly MRs or necessary trips?

I pay for all.

Both MR and necessary, and often combos.

The most I have ever spent in a year on travel is $10K.

That year I redeemed tickets for family and friends worth twice that.

Actually, AA gives EVIP's to Two Million Milers, not One Million Milers and only one time, not at each threshold.

ExecPlat's get the EVIP's every year they qualify.

Actually, I was correct and you are not.

AA does give 4 VIP upgrades at each MM threshold, starting at 2MM.

The official status in UA Mileage Plus terms is "Million Mile Flyer." This is emblazoned on whatever status card you are issued (either Premier Executive, 1K, or UGS). Million Mile Flyers are assured of lifetime Premier Executive status (of course last year there were repeated comments about "lifetime" referring to either the airline or the customer). 1K or UGS status has to be earned every year. But as long as UA honors it's promises, Million Mile Flyers will have no less than 1P status for life.

With Premier Executive ("1P" in UA, two-digit computer shorthand) status comes 100% bonus for paid travel on UA and many flights on Star Alliance carriers. 1P status is recognized as "Star Gold" by all carriers in the Star Alliance. With that comes extra baggage allowance, priority check-in lines, and lounge access when flying Star Alliance carriers, regardless of the class of service which has been purchased. Pretty cool benefit as long as it may last.

There is some disagreement about whether Million Mile Flyers get any additional priority when it comes to clearing upgrade waitlists on UA. Where it may come down to a gate agent decision, everyone agrees that MM status doesn't hurt. On board UA flights, the Million Mile Flyer status is printed on the manifest used by cabin crew. Where there is a meal choice, Million Milers are supposed to be given priority for their meal choice within their status (in other words, a 1K MM would trump a 1P MM).

For the past two or three years, MM Flyers have been given two CR-1 upgrades (Confirmed Region One) which are confirmable at time of purchase for any one way domestic one-class upgrade, including Hawaii. This happens on January 1, regardless of the amount of flying the year before. This is an unpublished benefit, which means it could disappear any year.

When UA flyers cross the threshold of one million miles in actual butt-in-seat flying on UA, UAX, or TED (not RDMs or bonus miles from credit cards, etc, and not codeshares or partner flights), they are given three Systemwide Upgrades (SWUs). This is obviously once in a lifetime benefit. There is no recognition on UA for multiple millions flown, as on DL. Several FTers have logged two, three or four million BIS miles on UA. They don't get so much as an email for the continued loyalty, but they are 1P for life.

waymaker, are you sure about the no special benifits at 2, 3, etc MM? My gosh, I assumed (dummy) that at 2 MM (about 1k away) I would get several swu as a minimum. LOL

First AA miles earned in 1991 - age 25
First Millionmiles - 1197 age 31 - cross on honeymoon,
almost to second million - but divorced well before

I started with Delta around 1994, I will hit 1 Million later this year or early next year. I had about 300K on UA before I got serious about DL.

I started serious business travel in 1989 and achieved 1 million on USAir around 1996. I surpassed the 2 million mark with US in 2001, but stopped flying them when they went into bankruptcy I after 9/11. From 2002-2005, I flew Continental almost exclusively and achieved a million miles on them. I'm now back to flying US since they merged with America West and my miles are safe. Unfortunately, neither US or CO recognized Million Milers to any great extent, like American and United. All I have to show for my loyalty are a couple of leather luggage tags embossed with "USAir Million Mile Traveler" and nothing from Continental. You would think that they would give you Lifetime Silver Elite status at the very least. Is that asking too much?

I signed up with AA in 1990 when Stewart/Newburgh opened up. (Flying on AA 727's out of there). Did not do any serious flying until 2000. Hit 1M mark in 2004 and now at 1.4M.

1990 - 34 Signed Up
2004 - 48 1M

I hit AA 1MM around age 30, but as most of us know that's not terribly difficult. Especially once you start paying attention to FF miles and reading forums like this one. I was 20 when I joined AAdvantage. I had flown many times before and heard FA's talk about the programs, but never gave it any thought. The think that pushed me to sign up was that I knew I'd have to do 2-3 roundtrips to London.

At the time, I was probably thinking "Cool! That'll be enough for a free ticket home to KC from Chicago!" The thought that an MCI-ORD R/T might not be an optimal use of 25k AA miles would have never entered my mind in a million years. :)

Counting all air travel I've ever done in my life, regardless of airline or whether I even knew about FF miles, using very rough estimates for some defunct carriers, I've done about 800-900k BIS cumulative. Around 300k on AA, 150k US, 105k UA, maybe 75k WN (although that's a really rough guess), and a bunch of <25k figures for all sorts of other airlines.

Disappointed UA does not recognize multiple MM air milage flyers as I am at about 1.9MM this year.
Regards
LWW

AA- 4949miles. started flying late 2005
UA- 24,872miles. started flying 1995
Continental- 2850miles. started flying april 2005
SW- 8credits. started flying january

my numbers seem sad in comparison to everyone elses here. especially my united one since i've been flying since 1995, although i was 9 or 10 when i started flying on it, and i'm currently a college student, so that puts a big damper on things.

Nov 20, 2002 -- joined AAdvantage at age 37

Jan 30, 2006 -- 61k program miles, found FlyerTalk while doing general search for cheaper ways to accumulate FF miles.

May 24, 2007 -- crossed 1MM program miles threshold

January 1993 joined AAdvantage @ age 36
1M somewhere around 2000
will make 2M this year
mostly bonus and CC miles, very few BIS

Latin Pass 1M took a few weeks of flying, many months of follow up to get my miles

About 1.4 million BIS miles, mainly on LH,BA,SQ.
Adds up to about 4 million FF miles in various programs. (Of which I have spent next to nothing...)

1998 age 34
2008 hit MM (butt in seat)

Joined 2000 M&M - now I have more then 2M !! :D

Nov 20, 2002 -- joined AAdvantage

Jan 30, 2006 -- 61k program miles, found FlyerTalk while doing general search for cheaper ways to accumulate FF miles.

May 24, 2007 -- crossed 1MM program miles threshold


So you did 939,000 miles in 16 months? How?

Joined MP in 1982,
Made MM in Februay 2007

Dave

So you did 939,000 miles in 16 months? How?

Probably the same way I went from 280,000 miles to 2MM+ in under two years...signing up for every promo, mileage running, iDining and prodigious use of AAdvantage and SPG credit cards. I was also helped along by close to 700,000 miles worth of the finest shelf-stable swiss cheese money could buy...all of which (save one wedge) was consumed via a very grateful food pantry.

Nov 20, 2002 -- joined AAdvantage at age 37

Jan 30, 2006 -- 61k program miles, found FlyerTalk while doing general search for cheaper ways to accumulate FF miles.

May 24, 2007 -- crossed 1MM program miles threshold

So you did 939,000 miles in 16 months? How?

By taking advantage of as many promotions as I could in the 25th anniversary year, thanks to FlyerTalk. 2006 flying netted me more than a quarter million RDM at 0.9901 cpm. There were lots of other promotions, I think with my taking top honors in earning RDM through Dining Rewards (at least for one who doesn't drink wine) averaging a very nice 22.4 miles/$ (and buying enough gift certificates to last a year!), and even winning 20k miles from AA marketing as the September 2006 Mileage Maniac grand prize winner (and yes, I included it in my income taxes--still came to less than a penny a mile).

I'm really bummed I couldn't find any of that Swiss company's cheese (that was in their AA miles certificates promotion) within two states of me. One guy scored nearly 700,000 miles off that for about a penny a mile!

My goal is Lifetime Platinum status, so I play the game a little differently than most here who are doing it for high status to make their business flying more comfortable. Thus I only shot for the 75k EQM level for the extra 15k RDM Platinum bonus, rather than going for 100k EQM and ExPlat status like most other AA FlyerTalkers here.

Without that exceptional anniversary year, and after using most of the one-time only promotions, my rate has been more normal. Currently at 1.3MM, not counting the potential miles that haven't yet been converted from Starwood points and Marriott Rewards points.

Compared to most others, it's pretty obvious from my FlightMemory maps and repetition stats that the majority of my flying has been Mileage Running. ;)
Steve