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5901 Miles till Platinum, is it worth it?

5901 Miles till Platinum, is it worth it?

Old Nov 22, 2015, 6:41 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by EditingFX
No way to have results sort destinations by price/distance? Seems tedious to look at random destinations.
Well, I did say simplistic :-/ Also looking at the location in your profile, you're not likely to find a whole lot of deals out of ATL on DL...

For longer, more detailed help, start here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...ser-guide.html

that, plus a lot of Googling/reading, is where I started ~5 months ago...
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Old Nov 22, 2015, 7:06 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by kerbo
That's impressive. Is there some easy way to figure these trips out? I can't imagine sitting at DL.com and trying every possible combination of trips to get 6200 miles for $435.

yes it's easy to spend HOURS doing this, and I freely admit that I've done so ... but some of it, I think, just comes from familiarity with the big picture

OP said DTW-based; I know from 6+ years on this board (and many more than that of just being an airline/air-travel geek) that a lot of not-too-distant cities have much better fares than the hub; I know that OP needs ~6000 miles which is ~3000 miles each way (or a 2000-mile trip where a reasonable G/A/P fare might be available) ... FNT-ATL is ~600 miles, ATL-LAX is ~1900 miles, LAX-SAN/LAS/PHX/OAK/SJC/SMF gets the 500-mile minimum ... so doing a search with Flexible Dates (and again knowing that Tues & Wed are typically the best options) and a bit of scrolling thru the options I had that answer in less than 10 min
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Old Nov 22, 2015, 9:43 pm
  #18  
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I am going to go ahead and do a run.
Just need to find the least amount of time I can be gone for the most miles.
Cost isn't really a big issue.
Sure I don't want to spend 4K but under 2K and I am good.
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Old Nov 22, 2015, 10:25 pm
  #19  
 
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I would say it's worth it. My upgrade percentage went up dramatically. YMMV.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 6:33 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by xolinlevh
*cough* Im doing a 25,000 run next week
Wow. What exactly does that look like (itin wise), if you don't mind me asking?
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:25 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by HDQDD
Wow. What exactly does that look like (itin wise), if you don't mind me asking?
I'm guessing it's some variant of this:

XXX->hub->NRT->SIN->NRT->hub->XXX

i have an upcoming trip booked EWR->ATL->NRT->SIN->NRT->LAX->JFK. Cost $800 and should earn close to $800.

was going to fall 4,000 miles short of gold, so instead of paying $350 to go to LAX and back, i can spend just over double and earn 5x the miles, thus having a huge rollover for 2016.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:38 am
  #22  
 
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Try JFK-NRT-SIN-NRT-JFK on Sun - Tue and then JFK-SEA-NRT-SIN-NRT-DTW-JFK on that same Wed - Sat. None of my GUCs have cleared yet, but I'm still hopeful!
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 7:45 am
  #23  
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the term "masochist" comes immediately to mind ...
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 8:34 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by EditingFX
No way to have results sort destinations by price/distance? Seems tedious to look at random destinations.
No need to enter random destinations. Use Google Flights in map view (click Explore Destinations). Set your origin airport and leave destination black. Cheapest flights tend to be on Tue/Wed/Sat two weeks out or more. So it's generally best to search on those days. But it's pretty easy to advance the calendar day-by-day to see what opens up.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 8:38 am
  #25  
 
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Originally Posted by xolinlevh
*cough* Im doing a 25,000 run next week
I'm flying a 24,000 mile trip -- but not a true run starting 12/15. But it is a 2 week trip to SIN, KUL and Oz.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 10:01 am
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by mot29
I'm flying a 24,000 mile trip -- but not a true run starting 12/15. But it is a 2 week trip to SIN, KUL and Oz.
I'm doing a 20K+ MR next week for $700.80, $600 of which was covered by a bump from last December. JFK-NRT-SIN, arrive very early Sat, leaving Wed morning, SIN-NRT-JFK. It did require positioning in JFK, which I was able to make happen. The thing is, I don't really want to stay in SIN, so I'm flying out Sat morning, going to the beach for a couple days, flying back and flying home. I'll do a half day in SIN at the end of the trip, which is enough.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 10:26 am
  #27  
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Originally Posted by HDQDD
Wow. What exactly does that look like (itin wise), if you don't mind me asking?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...i-4-9-cpm.html
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 3:46 pm
  #28  
 
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Don't forget you get additional MQMs if you buy first class, so a shorter & quicker MR in FC might net the MQMs needed more easily. First Class has gotten pretty cheap on a lot of flights, too. Just have to balance the cost vs. miles vs. time.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 4:27 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Florida Boy
Don't forget you get additional MQMs if you buy first class, so a shorter & quicker MR in FC might net the MQMs needed more easily. First Class has gotten pretty cheap on a lot of flights, too. Just have to balance the cost vs. miles vs. time.
It wasn't an MR, but this summer I did JFK-PDX in purchased FC for slightly over $650 round trip.

Considering that the least expensive Y ticket at the time was about $500, the fare difference was definitely worth the cost, especially for the 50% MQM bonus.
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Old Nov 23, 2015, 5:08 pm
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by jrl767
if OP is willing to drive from Detroit to Flint, there is a 24-hr turn departing Tues 8 Dec for $435, netting ~6200 miles
FNT-ATL lv 1205p ar 220p DL1767
ATL-LAX lv 305p ar 515p DL1755
LAX-SAN lv 700p ar 755p DL5811
SAN-LAX lv 825p ar 925p DL5811
LAX-ATL lv 1150p ar 654a DL1354
ATL-FNT lv 932a ar 1125a DL1767
enough time for a shower at the LAX SkyClub, and there are even some decent C+ seats available on 1354 (and only two of the 36 flat-bed J seats are showing occupied ...)
what could possibly go wrong? tehehe....
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