MilesBuzz! - When do we cross the line?

I was thinking about this as I laid out my schedule for the next couple of weeks.

Almost everybody's heard of frequent flyer miles. Plenty of people sign up for a card, and then diligently funnel as much of their spend as they can through that card and hope someday, usually in a couple of years, they will have enough for "free" flight to visit grandma in Tuscon. Hah!

Those are the "social drinkers" -- when do you admit you're a full-blown "alcoholic"?

1. The first warning indication is when you sign up for more than one credit card, just to get the bonus. When people ask me, I tell them I have a stack of cc's about an inch thick. They tend to look at me goggle-eyed. "Why do you need more than one credit card? Isn't that dangerous?" Sigh. They just don't get it.

2. The really definite sign, IMO, is the first time you hotel-hop. There is no reason on God's green earth to do that -- it's more than a bit inconvenient and it makes no sense -- unless you're a hard-core, well, FlyerTalker.

This summer -- about 45 nights, all in the same chain, no two consecutive nights in the same place. PITA? Sure. 250,000 points? Priceless!

To paraphrase Snoopy again, "Until it is demonstrated, it is not always clear, the difference between the true professional and the merely competent amateur."

Yes, you're in full-blown "disease" mode if you hotel-hop. It's even worse if you have to turn in hotel receipts for a business trip. :o

Fortunately, my experience with hotel-hopping took me down a category from our usual business hotels. (Usually folks book standard 3-star Hiltons and Marriotts; my hotel-hopping to hit Conquest bonuses took me to every Hampton Inn, HGI, and Embassy in the Tampa area. :D) So no one ever asked any questions...

Yeah, this year I qualified for top-tier status with Hyatt (25 stays, 21 nights, taking advantage of some double-credit promotions), Hilton (28 stays, 33 nights over the last year), Starwood (25 stays, 25 nights, also with some double-credit bonuses), as well as Marriott and InterContinental Group on nights (thankfully). Plus about 20 nights, often one at a time, at luxury chains or non-chains. I think that I've moved from one abode to another something like 180 times in the 300 days of the year so far. Painful at times -- and a sign of illness, or at least irrationality -- especially given that much of this was indeed business travel that required expense submission.

Of course, the plus-side is that I am now an expert -- having stayed at virtually every major hotel -- in a handful of cities (e.g., Albuquerque, Abu Dhabi, Amman, Istanbul) and have made quite a dent in some other places where one could not realistically hope to stay at every major hotel (e.g., Washington DC, Dubai, Atlanta).

Wow...that's a lot of hopping. Were you ever tempted to just call off the dogs and enjoy whichever one of those is your favorite top tier?

That's the dilemma I have right now. I could embark on some Starwood runs - decent promos are out there, and I do enough short stays that hitting Plat on 35-40 nights would be do-able. But I'm generally happy with the Marriotts in the cities I visit most, so why not just hang back and enjoy being Plat there for a while? So far, I'm sticking with the Marriotts... My 2008 mix of business travel will change somewhat to some different cities: if I start seeing a lot of great Starwoods and "average" Marriotts, that might be enough to make me switch.

So far, I'm sticking with the Marriotts... My 2008 mix of business travel will change somewhat to some different cities: if I start seeing a lot of great Starwoods and "average" Marriotts, that might be enough to make me switch.Marriott is my "safe harbor". Their promos tend to be night-based rather than stay-based, so I'm finishing up a complete week at a Marriott this week (ahhhh :)).

Next week, though, it's back to the grind - 4 nights, 4 stays.

Oh, the horror! The horror!

And here I think I've gone overboard because I'm considering doing a mileage run in December. :rolleyes:

Hotel Hopping is the sign of a problem. I did a jump between a Hyatt and a Starwood hotel for a week to take advantage of the FFN promo and Starwood promo.

2. The really definite sign, IMO, is the first time you hotel-hop. There is no reason on God's green earth to do that -- it's more than a bit inconvenient and it makes no sense -- unless you're a hard-core, well, FlyerTalker.


See, you could look at it that way, or as just another example of your fantastic efficiency as a traveler. What is one of the big hassles for a flyer? Baggage. FFers know to only take a carry-on bag. What is one of the big hassles for hotel hopping? Baggage again! But with your small carry-on, you've already eliminated that problem...

Of course, self justification is probably one of the classic signs of having a problem ;)

Yes, hopping is a bit of a p.i.t.a. My project over the last 7 months has a Marriott, CY, Westin, Sheraton, and Hilton all within about 2 miles. Marriott stuck mostly to stay awards (double nights, double points - nice), but SPG and Hilton insisted on stay promos, so I did a lot of hopping.

I'm lucky that my Amex corporate card downloads directly to my T&E system, or it would be an even bigger pain.

The other sign you are in full blown addict mode is when you consider vacation destinations by EQMs.

My wife and I got $300 certs from a trip this past May. Before I considered where to go, I checked both our EQMs for the year. Her's were more important, because she won't MR. We were both a little under 9K away from the next level. That left only one choice for last week, Hawaii. If the status had been locked in, we probably would have gone to SFO or AZ, or maybe to Caribbean.

Then, just to make it a no brainer, Hyatt comes out with FFN and I'm booking a hotel for both her and me for the same night, to save a trip to pay with the MC. Gave the second room away to friends.

I just look at this as a way of preserving domestic bliss. Married for 37 years this year and for the life of me I can't figure out why she is staying. Must be the front cabin flights and free hotel nights. Flying and hotel hopping has been in my blood for a long time but I won't do it on trips with my wife-take the most direct route and stay in one place for an extended period or risk marriage breakdown!:eek:

You likely have crossed the line when your force the spouse into this form of abuse;)

firstly, this thread is genius and makes me crack up. I guess I should say, ^to the OP?... :D

Anyway, because MM likes to be different, I have a slightly varried version of addiction and since it's 4am, some of that need not even be explained (btw, that's 4am at my home, and not even on the road where it'd be ok to be up pacing around some hotel room or airport lounge)

==> I have jeaprodized jobs by feeling that CONSTANT urge to be on FT...

==> I have had to "do just one more thing on the computer, honey" to type my thoughts on FT...

==> I have missed great plays on the game to type about the last great play of the game on FT (the Yankees Red Sox thread, for example)

==> I have signed up for things I do not need, gotten too much spam from signing up for things I do not need, spend money on things I do not need and gotten credit cards that do give mile bonuses but do taint your credit and I have spent time calling companies and canceling things too.

==> I have spent valuable time chasing missing miles... and oh, I don't just mean the 4,500 from that flight credit you're missing from last month... I mean the 50 mile bonus or the 500 mile promo thing I printed out from something I did when I should have been outside enjoying the sunshine instead, but I now have a 10 page stapled 'packet' on and I need to call multiple levels of customer service all afternoon into some third party partner company that says it will take up to 10 weeks to give me the miles only to do it again when they don't. Chasing missing miles from scammy promos I always seem to run into even if they seem to work for everyone else on here is my thang. It consumes me. I do work it out and get my miles, but it's an uphill battle every day with every thing. Oh yes, people... I blame myself for picking ALL those battles, but FT is the culprit --hahaha. :D

==> I have dealt with Citibank for credit deals and missing mile offers (that one alone says it all, don't you think?)

I admit this and more!

My name is Jeff and I am a FT-olic

:DMM

Hi Jeff!

Hi Jeff!

:D did the whole room say that in unison?

Finally a confirmation that I am not alone using precious hours and energies chasing the old mighty mile. For many sleepless nights I have been wondering if I should see a shrink to talk about my addiction to Miles!!!:eek:

My worst sin to get Miles? Mrs 2muchfun travels a fair amount for business and is required to book all plane tickets via the company's travel agent who uses a central corporate credit card, hence not giving Mrs 2muchfun Credit Card miles for these spendings. However, they also have the personal CC number of Mrs 2muchfun on file for her personal travelling needs and the always ask which card they have to charge for the trip being booked. Many many times I have gently offered Mrs 2muchfun to call the travel agent to book her (and her clients) expensive J fares as she is always too busy to do so.

And guess what? Many many times I have had to pretend to her that the travel agency used by mistake ;) her personal Visa Gold CC instead of the company central travel corporate credit card! :p. No mistake it was...just the old devil in me!!!

We have raked in hundreds of thousands of CC miles that way before the VP finance cornered my wife... and issued a company memo for that practice to stop.

I had to confess to Mrs 2muchfun of my little scheme... but fortunately my wife loves the free travel benefits and told me to ensure the travel agency makes less frequent mistakes :D for a little while until the dust settles...

I have also gotten her to do hotel hoping after telling her the hotels were booked solid (just a little white lie) and only available certain nights.

I have recommended her to some unknown restaurants for business luncheons just because these restaurants were paying miles via the Rewards Network. Fortunately, they have always been good restaurants.

I have sent many christmas basket to her clients instead of having her secretary do it. Again for miles given by the web portal and for the miles obtained via the spending on her credit card.

And the last one (I have fallen to a new low :D I confess): I gave out Quaker granola bars to the kids at Halloween instead of candies: the local food store had a huge sale on those bars with huge Air Miles bonus, Aeroplan Miles on the packaging and finally a BOGOF coupon on each box, making them virtually free before getting all the Miles. I got the Miles, they got the bars!
I am not sure if these kids will be back to ring our door bell next years!:D

Writing this, I feel I have spent an hour on the couch at the shrink talking about my addiction. I now feel better but I am sure I haven't solve my addiction problem...and maybe that's the way I like it!

2muchfun

Ok, I have to admit.....I've only been on FT for less than a year (best discovery this year, I must say). That makes me a relatively noob. But, I am proud to say I've already completed my first MR this summer on July 4th, and made status (GM) with Delta.

But hotel hopping?!?! Wow... I honestly must admit that I have not heard of this strategy yet. I spend most of my time in the Delta/MR forums, so I don't wander over to the "crazies" in the hotels, haha. Kidding!

Hmmm...this has me thinking though. I expect to be on the road for three months straight this winter, probably in one city, and probably in one hotel. I'm assuming that the purpose of hotel hopping is to qualify through Number of Stays, rather than Number of Nights, right? Ohhh boy, I don't even want to know, ha. This could be hard to explain on the T&E report! :)

I just look at this as a way of preserving domestic bliss. Married for 37 years this year and for the life of me I can't figure out why she is staying. Must be the front cabin flights and free hotel nights. Flying and hotel hopping has been in my blood for a long time but I won't do it on trips with my wife-take the most direct route and stay in one place for an extended period or risk marriage breakdown!:eek:

You likely have crossed the line when your force the spouse into this form of abuse;)

I just MAY be in trouble. Not only did I hotel hop for the entire month of October, but I am making my hubbie hop with me next week in Phoenix in order to get enough FFNs for our trip to Orlando the following week...

AM I A BAAAAAD WIFE???

I just MAY be in trouble. Not only did I hotel hop for the entire month of October, but I am making my hubbie hop with me next week in Phoenix in order to get enough FFNs for our trip to Orlando the following week...

AM I A BAAAAAD WIFE???

Coming from MR DebUA1K, here is my thoughts

When I first met Deb not only had I never heard of FT but the thought of free stuff and lots of flying was alien to me (at 37 when i met her i had flown 3 times in my life) After our 1st trip together (United PS to JFK and a 4 nights at the Marriot Marquis) i was HOOKED. now after nearly 2 years of marriage and many many FT do's listening to MRP Alert's mileage run stories nothing phases me. When Deb told me what her plan was to get us the free nights at Grand Cypress for our Disney trip, any normal persons reaction would have been "are you INSANE?" my reaction "ok baby whatever you need to do" since I only have to suffer thru it for a week i dont complain. The perks WAY out weigh any PITA that i might endure!

M

Hotel hopping is the only way I can make Diamond at HH, so to me the benefits are worth it. I do try to make it less traumatic by almost always scheduling my last night (and sometimes the first night) at the airport rather than downtown, so I always get 2 stays rather than one. That's not too painful.... usually....

Guess I just can't take that first step....

DiscoPapa
With 3 months, you should be able to get top status in a few hotel chains without too much hoping. Some chains give bonuses on stays, some on nights, some after 2, 3, 4 or 5 stays. Normally big bonuses for repeat stays. So you might want to plan your 3 months to max out your benefits and accept that hopping is good for you:p.

Remember that you can convert points from some chains to your airline FF account at a bonus (20K SPG points gets you 25K miles in most FF programs). You maximize your hotel points, you maximize you FF miles!

I see nothing wrong in explaining to your boss that you wanted to try a few different places during this long period. Just to change the environment. Finally I have read on FT that some programs limit their benefits to 30 days stay maximum but I can't remember which one though. Read the fine print of your program. Good luck!


debua1k
If next week your husband tells you, in a heated love exchange, that you have been a really Baaaaad Girl, you will know why :D

2muchfun

I knew I had crossed the line on Thanksgiving Day 2005, when I needed to get from ORD to DFW and I booked my ticket ORD-ATL-MEX-DFW with DL just so I could get all extra miles, instead of flying nonstop ORD-DFW with AA. It helped me make the decision the fact that AA's ticket was 700.00 and DL was 500.00 o/w.

When the immigration officer in DFW asked me how long I had been out of the country I said just a few hours. Crazy eh? I admit it, I'm hooked on the FF game.

Hmmm...this has me thinking though. I expect to be on the road for three months straight this winter, probably in one city, and probably in one hotel. I'm assuming that the purpose of hotel hopping is to qualify through Number of Stays, rather than Number of Nights, right? Ohhh boy, I don't even want to know, ha. This could be hard to explain on the T&E report! :)

Yes, plus some programs (eg Hilton HHonors) limit the amount you can earn from a single stay :td:

DiscoPapa
With 3 months, you should be able to get top status in a few hotel chains without too much hoping. Some chains give bonuses on stays, some on nights, some after 2, 3, 4 or 5 stays. Normally big bonuses for repeat stays. So you might want to plan your 3 months to max out your benefits and accept that hoping is good for you:p.

Remember that you can convert points from some chains to your airline FF account at a bonus (20K SPG points gets you 25K miles in most FF programs). You maximize your hotel points, you maximize you FF miles!

I see nothing wrong in explaining to your boss that you wanted to try a few different places during this long period. Just to change the environment. Finally I have read on FT that some programs limit their benefits to 30 days stay maximum but I can't remember which one though. Read the fine print of your program. Good luck!

Thanks for the help! Looks like I need to spend some more valuable time on FT and hotel programs' websites reading up...I appreciate the info!

. . . I'm assuming that the purpose of hotel hopping is to qualify through Number of Stays, rather than Number of Nights, right?. . .

Right.

Or to take advantage of other promotions, e.g., Hyatt's Faster Free Nights, which gives one free night per stay, or recently I have taken advantage of some pretty generous InterContinental and Starwood offers of bonus points per stay. For the truly insane, one could even rack up more Platinum amenities (e.g., 500 bonus points per stay in the case of full-service Marriotts) by hopping. These are all relevant only for redeemable points, however, and not elite qualification credit. With the exception of Faster Free Nights, I don't find it worthwhile to hop just to accrue more points for redemption.

dont worry (pat on the back, look of concern) you are among friends. And there is no better shrink than us. If we were to download all of this to someone, either he'd go mad, or secretly start to lurk in FT and become addicted as well :D

Finally a confirmation that I am not alone using precious hours and energies chasing the old mighty mile. For many sleepless nights I have been wondering if I should see a shrink to talk about my addiction to Miles!!!:eek:

My worst sin to get Miles? Mrs 2muchfun travels a fair amount for business and is required to book all plane tickets via the company's travel agent who uses a central corporate credit card, hence not giving Mrs 2muchfun Credit Card miles for these spendings. However, they also have the personal CC number of Mrs 2muchfun on file for her personal travelling needs and the always ask which card they have to charge for the trip being booked. Many many times I have gently offered Mrs 2muchfun to call the travel agent to book her (and her clients) expensive J fares as she is always too busy to do so.

And guess what? Many many times I have had to pretend to her that the travel agency used by mistake ;) her personal Visa Gold CC instead of the company central travel corporate credit card! :p. No mistake it was...just the old devil in me!!!

We have raked in hundreds of thousands of CC miles that way before the VP finance cornered my wife... and issued a company memo for that practice to stop.

I had to confess to Mrs 2muchfun of my little scheme... but fortunately my wife loves the free travel benefits and told me to ensure the travel agency makes less frequent mistakes :D for a little while until the dust settles...

I have also gotten her to do hotel hoping after telling her the hotels were booked solid (just a little white lie) and only available certain nights.

I have recommended her to some unknown restaurants for business luncheons just because these restaurants were paying miles via the Rewards Network. Fortunately, they have always been good restaurants.

I have sent many christmas basket to her clients instead of having her secretary do it. Again for miles given by the web portal and for the miles obtained via the spending on her credit card.

And the last one (I have fallen to a new low :D I confess): I gave out Quaker granola bars to the kids at Halloween instead of candies: the local food store had a huge sale on those bars with huge Air Miles bonus, Aeroplan Miles on the packaging and finally a BOGOF coupon on each box, making them virtually free before getting all the Miles. I got the Miles, they got the bars!
I am not sure if these kids will be back to ring our door bell next years!:D

Writing this, I feel I have spent an hour on the couch at the shrink talking about my addiction. I now feel better but I am sure I haven't solve my addiction problem...and maybe that's the way I like it!

2muchfun

i think you take the cake.

As much as its a mantra to gain miles I must admit I would treat my wife with a better stick than yours... potentially jeopardizing her job for miles in my book just doesnt cut it. No offense but Im somewhat shocked to be honest.

i think you take the cake.

As much as its a mantra to gain miles I must admit I would treat my wife with a better stick than yours... potentially jeopardizing her job for miles in my book just doesnt cut it. No offense but Im somewhat shocked to be honest.

on the other hand, perhaps the ultimate mantra is:

life should be for life and travel and fun and family, not just about work. :D

The great thing about hotel hopping w/ HHonors is it's usually possible to do so by going just across the street. In Tulsa I'm able to hop between the Hampton and Embassy off of I-44 without even changing restaurants. The big thing is remembering to switch between "Points+Points" for the Hampton and "Points+Fixed Miles" for the Embassy.

I know I crossed the line when -
I'm hopping to London for the weekend for no apparent reason (to commoners). And no longer ashamed to tell people about my MR / bed hop, nor have the energy to explain.

I'm at my best friend's wedding and all I can think of is hoard as many coke caps as humanly possible.

I no longer get out of bed unless I know I'm earning miles / points for the day. :)

Was having a chat with the in-laws yesterday - the consensus is that the line is drawn when one flies for the sole purpose of collecting ff miles.

Was having a chat with the in-laws yesterday - the consensus is that the line is drawn when one flies for the sole purpose of collecting ff miles.
Flying for miles plus status is ok? :D

I love these posts that make me laugh out loud! We have some very eloquent and witty FTers.

Travel for work for me is a 25-mile drive to another company location, so I haven't gotten into MR's or gaining status with airlines. If I want to partake in the game, it's on my own dime. But I have done my fair share of hotel promos and have paid for many a room I've never sleep in. You have to do what you have to do when you don't travel for work. Many's the vacation where the family is thrilled to be staying in the same place for 2 nights. Usually they just say "where are we staying tonight?"

But this post has made me realized I've "crossed the line". This past fall I took my mother on a trip to visit parts of New England, 4 states in 11 days. We stayed 3 nights in Boston free at Hyatt, 1 night free at a Mass Holiday Inn, and 1 night free at Hawthorne in Burlington. But the rest of the nights were all at different places and NONE of them were brand/chain hotels. I couldn't find hotels in the places I wanted to visit using my various points. So the remaining nights were at independents or B&B's with no points or perks earned. The thought never occurred to me to stay longer than 1 night in each place, until after the trip my sister mentioned Mom commented it was a bit much changing hotels every day!

Because I got sidetracked reading & writing on this topic, it's now time to get ready for work. The new Marriott card I had finally talked myself into signing up for this morning will have to wait . . .

Was having a chat with the in-laws yesterday - the consensus is that the line is drawn when one flies for the sole purpose of collecting ff miles.

How about just getting the inlaws into the game itself...

I had always looked for a connection to add miles. Of course my goal at those times was 2p at ua. But hotel hopping started in the past couple years.

I have a co-worker who has the same name as his father... they share a DL SkyMiles account. Together they fly enough to make GM, where seperately one would make FO but the other would have no status. I'm sure this is a breach of the SkyMiles T&C but they've been doing it for the past 5 years with no problems.

This might be going too far, but I'd be tempted to give it a try if my father had the same name as me...

While on vacation I typically change hotels every 2 to 3 nights, especially if I haven't been to that area before.
By that time I'm bored with breakfast setting, done the gym/spa, and visited the bars/exec floor.
Time to try the next one !

Going to Thailand Wed for 5 nts, staying in 3 hotels.

I have a co-worker who has the same name as his father... they share a DL SkyMiles account. Together they fly enough to make GM, where seperately one would make FO but the other would have no status. I'm sure this is a breach of the SkyMiles T&C but they've been doing it for the past 5 years with no problems.You should see the account used by George Foreman and his 5 sons with the same name.

I have a co-worker who has the same name as his father... they share a DL SkyMiles account. Together they fly enough to make GM, where seperately one would make FO but the other would have no status. I'm sure this is a breach of the SkyMiles T&C but they've been doing it for the past 5 years with no problems.

This might be going too far, but I'd be tempted to give it a try if my father had the same name as me...I suspect this could be a problem if they're both in the air at the same time. Other than that, I doubt they're the only father-son pair to do this. I suspect DL, and airlines in general, have bigger fish to fry.

I suspect this could be a problem if they're both in the air at the same time. Other than that, I doubt they're the only father-son pair to do this. I suspect DL, and airlines in general, have bigger fish to fry.

now I know what name to give my son :D:D:D

I hotel hop all the time (except vacations when it's time to actually use the drawers/closets/etc :cool:). The Hilton Family options makes it easy to do ^

I don't know if it is crossing the line or not. My wife charged $10.14 to the room yesterday morning from the gift shop. Someone behind her in line complained because it took too long. Her response? They just don't get the points game, do they?

I think I may have crossed the line with this 4-week mileage run (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=738003)?

When you realize that you're booked solid nearly every weekend (all but 3) between now and the middle of next March on Q-UP and Mistake Fares to various destinations:
MIA-ORD-HNL-DEN-SAT (Q-UP)
LAX-SEA-DEN-CVG-DEN-SEA-LAX (Q-UP)
SFO-SYD-AKL-SYD-SFO (Mistake)
EZE-JFK-EZE (Mistake)
IAH-SLC-ATL-MSY-ATL-SLC-IAH (Q-UP)
DFW-ATL-SEA-ATL-DFW (Mistake Q-UP)
OSL-SVO-HKG (Mistake)
+ More :p

Also, when you start looking forward to three-day weekends so you can nab a cheap one-way out to TPE on BR just to catch a cheap one-way F flight back to rack up ridiculous piles of *A miles (whilst crediting the BR to SkyTeam, of course), all without having to take any vacation time from work...

When you realize that you're booked solid nearly every weekend (all but 3) between now and the middle of next March on Q-UP and Mistake Fares to various destinations:
MIA-ORD-HNL-DEN-SAT (Q-UP)
LAX-SEA-DEN-CVG-DEN-SEA-LAX (Q-UP)
SFO-SYD-AKL-SYD-SFO (Mistake)
EZE-JFK-EZE (Mistake)
IAH-SLC-ATL-MSY-ATL-SLC-IAH (Q-UP)
DFW-ATL-SEA-ATL-DFW (Mistake Q-UP)
OSL-SVO-HKG (Mistake)
+ More :p

Also, when you start looking forward to three-day weekends so you can nab a cheap one-way out to TPE on BR just to catch a cheap one-way F flight back to rack up ridiculous piles of *A miles (whilst crediting the BR to SkyTeam, of course), all without having to take any vacation time from work...I'm impressed, but also appalled at my own ignorance. To wit:

1. What is a Q-UP?
2. How do you find mistake fares?
3. Do you have a life outside of airports?

Why I love FT: I'm not alone.
This year for first time I'll be CO Plat and Marriott Gold and requal Hilton Gold. I only travel on weekends on my nickel. Job doesn't require travel - and I can soooo identify with so many comments on this thead !

I'm impressed, but also appalled at my own ignorance. To wit:

1. What is a Q-UP?
2. How do you find mistake fares?
3. Do you have a life outside of airports?

1. A Q-UP is a discounted First (generally Domestic) fare. They are known on some airlines as Y-UPs (AA), on some as R fares (CO), and NW has strange fares that can begin with a K that book into F. I just use Q-UP as a catch-all, and even the airlines that regularly offer Q-UPs (DL & UA) also offer H-UPs, M-UPs, Y-UPs, etc. They all work on the same principle (discounted domestic F travel at far below full-fare rates). They are extremely useful mileage earners in some programs where you can earn up to 600% mileage bonus (if not more) flying one of those fares. Accordingly, one can often fly those fares at cpm (cents per mile) figures as low as those you would expect to find on a decent Y-class mileage run.

2. Mileage Run Deals Forum

3. Sure. I work full-time, go to school at night, and have maintained a long-distance relationship for four years (being able to travel every weekend helps immensely, in that regard). All the travel keeps me sane. Otherwise, the 80+ hours/week I spend working, attending class, and studying would drive me nuts.

When you realize that you're booked solid nearly every weekend (all but 3) between now and the middle of next March on Q-UP and Mistake Fares to various destinations:
MIA-ORD-HNL-DEN-SAT (Q-UP)
LAX-SEA-DEN-CVG-DEN-SEA-LAX (Q-UP)
SFO-SYD-AKL-SYD-SFO (Mistake)
EZE-JFK-EZE (Mistake)
IAH-SLC-ATL-MSY-ATL-SLC-IAH (Q-UP)
DFW-ATL-SEA-ATL-DFW (Mistake Q-UP)
OSL-SVO-HKG (Mistake)
+ More :p

Also, when you start looking forward to three-day weekends so you can nab a cheap one-way out to TPE on BR just to catch a cheap one-way F flight back to rack up ridiculous piles of *A miles (whilst crediting the BR to SkyTeam, of course), all without having to take any vacation time from work...

On a related note when your number of ticketed future flights is always over 100 (and over 200 at times!). Seriously, I have a 6 page summary sheet listing one line per flight all my upcoming flights in order to keep track of my schedule.

My name is Jeff and I am a FT-olic

:DMM

Maybe that's it.
Maybe you cross the line when you have to introduce yourself quietly as "a friend of Randy" :D

Maybe that's it.
Maybe you cross the line when you have to introduce yourself quietly as "a friend of Randy" :D

...or if you stalk him or date him. hahahaha
:D:D:D

If you do the mileage thing for fun and/or hobby, then I’m not sure there really is a line. If you lie, cheat, and steal to get miles... then you have crossed a line.

If you do the mileage thing for fun and/or hobby, then I’m not sure there really is a line. If you lie, cheat, and steal to get miles... then you have crossed a line.

How about getting on good enough terms with a waitress at a local IDine restaurant that she brings checks that are paid with cash by other patrons to you so you can put them on one of your 7 Rewards Network credit cards (or if you are over $600 worth of charges at the restaurant on all of the accounts for the month, one of your wife's 7 accounts?)

Some of you are exhibiting extremely abnormal behavior.

Mrs. Fredd and I make at least 2% less effort than several posters here to acquire our miles and hotel stays so your confessions reassure us that we're completely normal! :D

Seriously, great thread OP. ^

^That's priceless Cornroaster. :D :D

We currently own a business where we have to buy a lot of stuff--on a mileage earning credit card, of course. ;)

We are thinking of selling the business and retiring, but maybe we should just find a hot shot manager and hold on to the business, just for the miles.

deleted

OK, a newby here but I find this thread hiarious! Mostly because I'm guilty of almost everything I've seen here!

Cornroaster, I have to admit I've never even thought of the waitress gambit. Very creative! I don't know how the owners of those restaurants would feel about it but...::) I'll give that one some thought.

Here's one that I didn't see in this thread although I'm sure it's pretty prevelent: I'm currently single. It's odd how, when I meet a potential date, the conversation always gets around to, "do you like to travel?" "Are you in any rewards programs?" "How many points/miles do you have?" All the while thinking, how do those programs match up with mine and are they 'blendable'. :D

And, just to let you know, I spend about 40 weeks a year on the road for a major hotel company---one that has a sizeable rewards program. Unfortunately, as such, I don't qualify for their program. The result is that I usually stay at competeing hotels so that I get the perks that come with being in those programs' higher echelons. Try getting that past T & E approvers! :eek: I have to admit though, so far they've been great and understand that life on the road is a grind and all they say is that their OK with it as long as I'm comfortable and it allows me to do my job to the maximum of my ability. Pretty cool, IMO.

And, just to let you know, I spend about 40 weeks a year on the road for a major hotel company---one that has a sizeable rewards program. Unfortunately, as such, I don't qualify for their program. The result is that I usually stay at competeing hotels so that I get the perks that come with being in those programs' higher echelons. Try getting that past T & E approvers! :eek: I have to admit though, so far they've been great and understand that life on the road is a grind and all they say is that their OK with it as long as I'm comfortable and it allows me to do my job to the maximum of my ability. Pretty cool, IMO.

Now, that's amazing!

And welcome to Flyertalk, camargo.

OK, a newby here but I find this thread hiarious! Mostly because I'm guilty of almost everything I've seen here!

Cornroaster, I have to admit I've never even thought of the waitress gambit. Very creative! I don't know how the owners of those restaurants would feel about it but...::) I'll give that one some thought.

Here's one that I didn't see in this thread although I'm sure it's pretty prevelent: I'm currently single. It's odd how, when I meet a potential date, the conversation always gets around to, "do you like to travel?" "Are you in any rewards programs?" "How many points/miles do you have?" All the while thinking, how do those programs match up with mine and are they 'blendable'. :D

And, just to let you know, I spend about 40 weeks a year on the road for a major hotel company---one that has a sizeable rewards program. Unfortunately, as such, I don't qualify for their program. The result is that I usually stay at competeing hotels so that I get the perks that come with being in those programs' higher echelons. Try getting that past T & E approvers! :eek: I have to admit though, so far they've been great and understand that life on the road is a grind and all they say is that their OK with it as long as I'm comfortable and it allows me to do my job to the maximum of my ability. Pretty cool, IMO.

camargo Welcome to FT. We are glad to have people like you on the board. Drop in to the Delta Lounge for a virtual cocktail with the gang.

I just MAY be in trouble. Not only did I hotel hop for the entire month of October, but I am making my hubbie hop with me next week in Phoenix in order to get enough FFNs for our trip to Orlando the following week...

AM I A BAAAAAD WIFE???
After one stay at the Cavalieri Hilton, my DH is now EAGER to hotel hop. FlyerTalk convinced me of the wisdom, but he had to see it to believe it. Ahhh, ye of little faith...

QUOTE=camargo " .. I have to admit I've never even thought of the waitress gambit. "

You're not alone, apparently -- Saturday nite at the WAS-minido, hardly anyone paid attention when GrizShel took charge of collecting for the cumulative bar-tab ~ until he pocketed the wad of cash & pulled out his Marriott card.

The :smackforehead: looks around the table was Priceless :D :D :D

-
Oh yeah .. I'm guilty of mattress AND car-rental hopping in MCO SFO & OGG !
/.

1. The first warning indication is when you sign up for more than one credit card, just to get the bonus. When people ask me, I tell them I have a stack of cc's about an inch thick. Mrs. Gargoyle maintains a spreadsheet to track the cards, pmt due dates, earliest cancellation date to still get benefits, and last cancellation date before annual fees kick in...

Was having a chat with the in-laws yesterday - the consensus is that the line is drawn when one flies for the sole purpose of collecting ff miles.Old 60's rock song- "break on thru to the other side..." what the in-laws don't understand is that they are on the wrong side of the line.

I have a co-worker who has the same name as his father... they share a DL SkyMiles account. Fly enough out of a small station and the DL ground crew gets to recognize you pretty quickly.

I don't know if it is crossing the line or not. My wife charged $10.14 to the room yesterday morning from the gift shop.One time last year my wife was doing the books and spotted a .02 ¢ charge on my DL Amex. (Kinkos has some self service machines which require credit cards, and I only needed one copy). :p

The other sign you are in full blown addict mode is when you consider vacation destinations by EQMs.

My wife and I got $300 certs from a trip this past May. Before I considered where to go, I checked both our EQMs for the year. Her's were more important, because she won't MR. We were both a little under 9K away from the next level. That left only one choice for last week, Hawaii. If the status had been locked in, we probably would have gone to SFO or AZ, or maybe to Caribbean.

We did the same thing, but it worked out for the best. We booked a trip to Hawaii a few years ago to accumulate miles, but ended up loving it, so now we go at least once per year.

We're both mileage whores, so we are the perfect couple (Our second date, in 2001, was spent curled up on the couch watching a video of the new NW terminal in Detroit that a friend of mine at the airport sent me.) for this, although sometimes, she takes it a bit too far. For instance, she had the opportunity to stay at the George V in Paris for work, but turned it down to stay at a Hilton.

Mike

^We are thinking of selling the business and retiring, but maybe we should just find a hot shot manager and hold on to the business, just for the miles.This brings up the idea of a travel IRA (which bothers some people who jump on the devaluation wagon). Not only do I want to have enough cash to be comfortable, I don't want to have to spend any of it on travel (at least for a very long time) - and my wife and I plan to do a lot of traveling.

singlemalt writes:

Not only do I want to have enough cash to be comfortable, I don't want to have to spend any of it on travel (at least for a very long time) - and my wife and I plan to do a lot of traveling.

I think we have that covered with our Fly-RA. :D

I think we have that covered with our Fly-RA. :D:D

is it a no-load fund?

there was a guy 2 years ago who _lived_ on air canada planesl for 2 solid months because at the time Air Canada was dumb enough to give out STATUS miles for flying on their passes.

it was a $7,000 pass good for unlimited travel within Canada for 2 months.

he would do stuff like fly short haul an hour or two during the day then take a long haul cross canada flight to sleep. and shower in the maple leaf lounges.

he ended up with just over 1 million aeroplan miles.

st7860: Yeah, yeah. It's always, "There was a guy..."!

You know that until you accept who you are, like Marathon Man in #12, above, you're no good to yourself or to the rest of us..... :D

OK, I'm not much better. In fact, I'm gonna make a reservation - er - resOLUTION, today, just because I will have so much fun breaking it.

My name is Firewind, and ---

Ooooookay, I know...

My name is Rick, and I'm a Travel-holic.

Happy New Year to all my "Fellow Travelers"! :D

st7860: Yeah, yeah. It's always, "There was a guy..."!



i'm not sure what you mean. I thought everyone knew that story. The guy in question is/was even a pilot(for a different airline)


http://gcmr2005.blogspot.com/

Until I read this over on MileBuzz a few months ago I though we were all a fairly sane bunch:

How about getting on good enough terms with a waitress at a local IDine restaurant that she brings checks that are paid with cash by other patrons to you so you can put them on one of your 7 Rewards Network credit cards (or if you are over $600 worth of charges at the restaurant on all of the accounts for the month, one of your wife's 7 accounts?)

Another sign that you're an addict:

- Your company books you into a Ritz-Carlton on a business trip and you're deeply disappointed because you can't collect any miles or points.

When you seriously consider buying small, yet expensive items, on your miles earning credit card for slightly less than retail...with the intention of selling them on ebay for just enough money to recoup your expenses.

Another sign that you're an addict:

- Your company books you into a Ritz-Carlton on a business trip and you're deeply disappointed because you can't collect any miles or points.

The true addict would pay for a stay at the hotel of their choice around the corner.

i'm not sure what you mean. I thought everyone knew that story. The guy in question is/was even a pilot(for a different airline)


http://gcmr2005.blogspot.com/

Nice story.

Nice story.

yes. and if you read it carefully, you will notice that, while nearly living on airplanes for 2 months, he still had time for his part time job(right seat on a 747 cargo from North America to Europe one a week)

When you seriously consider buying small, yet expensive items, on your miles earning credit card for slightly less than retail...with the intention of selling them on ebay for just enough money to recoup your expenses.

Count me in for this too. I actually started an ebay business just to get miles.

rgds,
drew

For the last couple of years, I sold fuel for corporate business jet charters. One of my clients would pay for his fuel with an AA Citibank Visa card. A flight from the west coast to Europe was an easy $15k charge, and he did that regularly. He would then use the AA points to move his crews around when he had to -- the pilots did not keep the miles.

Does anybody know if there are limits on the amount of points he could earn in a year? (As an aside, one of the pilots told me they had to pay off the balance multiple times per month to keep up with the charges they were making.)

Does anybody know if there are limits on the amount of points he could earn in a year? (As an aside, one of the pilots told me they had to pay off the balance multiple times per month to keep up with the charges they were making.)

If he has status on AA there is no limit to the number of points he can earn annually. If not, it is determined by the particular Citi card, and could range from 60k to 150k for the annual mileage cap.

There's a guy in Coupon Connection who is spending ~ $5 mill a month on his credit card.

And another guy who just spend $300K which he dumped into BA (with their 50% bonus) for 450K miles.

So, any limits certainly have ways around them.

The rest of us can only sigh wistfully. :)

There's a guy in Coupon Connection who is spending ~ $5 mill a month on his credit card.

And another guy who just spend $300K which he dumped into BA (with their 50% bonus) for 450K miles.

So, any limits certainly have ways around them.

The rest of us can only sigh wistfully. :)

Yeah, he's my new hero. Him and Austin Stevens (http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/austinstevens/austinstevens.html). ;)

Great thread. I'm glad I'm not alone.

Co-workers think I'm nuts for hotel hopping on business trips. I tell them why (Marriott & SPG bonus opportunities, for now) and they look at me with glazed over eyes.

When they ask why, oh why, and I tell them I did a week in California for $1200 for family of four (including SD zoo, Legoland, Knott's Berry Farm, LaBrea Tar Pits, Aquarium of Pacific, meals, rental car, gas, hotel, airfare) they get more interested.

Now, during the quiet hours of the day emails pop up asking how they can join the fray or over dinner whilst travelling they ask for more info. I tell them to visit FT and read and read and read.

All y'all are the best. I've built many a vacation with matched status on frequent flyer programs, free hotel rooms, free flights, free car rentals using info from FT.

Oh, yeah, Mrs. Wolfie went to sleep hours ago wondering why I'm still on the 'puter! Gotta get my FT fix!

Woo-hoo.

I had 21 stays in early November and working in Northern Alberta made it hard to get that SPG Plat status so dearly wanted.
Bought a ticket on eBay for the Oilers - Flames match as well as 1 night at Westin and the second at a outskirts 4 points hotel (double stays) in Edmonton.
I went all the way by bus, and it was by far the most atrocious hockey game I've seen.
Already made 4 mattress runs (officially weekend treats) so far this year at the local Sheraton.
I'm Ole and also an FT-olic.

I suppose I could start ordering ink in huge amounts and then spending all my time trying to sell it on campus.
00inkjets gets me 25% cash back on MrRebates as well as purchase miles on the full spend.
In fact, I have bought a brand new snowboard with gear as a result of 10% off gc.com converted into $1000 REI certs. With a few discounts and some dividend, I'm selling it used at a profit: about 6000 miles and $0.

This brings up the idea of a travel IRA (which bothers some people who jump on the devaluation wagon). Not only do I want to have enough cash to be comfortable, I don't want to have to spend any of it on travel (at least for a very long time) - and my wife and I plan to do a lot of traveling.

I was wondering what the hell I am thinking about spending >10 hours a week trying to earn 3000 miles (FOR FREE) rather than working for a certain $80.