Cloudship

In order to obtain Platinum this year, I would have to get 40,000 miles in the next two months. I figure I have an extra $2500 to put towards airfare - this is all on my own dime. Is this an insane idea? Is it even possible?

I fly out of New England, so I have the benefit o easilly doing the transcon runs. But from what I have found so far, it seems like airfares in December are running well over $500. Is there a creative solution I may be missing?

The caveat: I can't stand a flight over 3.5 hours in coach. I have platinum status now, and some miles to spend on upgrades. The problem with that is that you need to book a more expensive flight to get those upgrades.

javabytes

$2,500 to get 40k MQMs should be easily doable. That's $0.0625 per MQM, which is high compared to most people's standards for MR's (things start to get interesting around $0.04 and below). Then again, 40k is a lot to MR. You would get 80k miles out of it, which are worth at least $800, so that partially defrays the cost.

There's a whole forum for mileage runs. Keep an eye on that forum, not only for specific deals, but also for guides on how to find your own using FareCompare, ITA, etc.

CalVol

You could go the DL Platinum AMEX route to lessen the need for BIS miles. I don't know if there are any special offers out there. But, if you did both the personal and the business card you could chop off at least 25% of the BIS miles needed to reach your goal.

DHalltheway

You would need at least 8 Trans con between now and Dec 31st to have enough. While it isn't insane you need to carefully weigh if you have the time to do it as it is 7 weeks to clock in 8 trans cons.

International flights would get you there faster but looking at your inability to endure prolonged Y, it would be tough.

RatherBeOnATrain

The $2500 you are considering on blowing on transcons before 12/31 could easily be used to cover the differentials between SLuT and HQK (or even full Y) fares next year.

The latter options would get you guaranteed FC seats, whereas Plat status gets you the hope of a FC seat.

fti

I totally agree. Why not use the extra $$ to buy your way to the benefits of PM next year? The main benefit that can't be bought is the free award changes on award tickets.

Rather than spend $2,500 now to get to PM by 12/31, why not use the $2,500 to get a lot of MQM's the first two months of 2012? Then you get status through 2/28/14. I spent +-$3K the first 10 days of 2009 that got me from no status to PM for more than 2 years. Then additional travel that year and AmEx MQM bonuses gave me PM for a third year. Much better value than trying to get PM this late in the year IMHO

yohanson

I'd worry about getting the 15K to make Gold first.

peachfront

I have a run scheduled for about 10K miles for $457, and it seems like a lot of these runs have been posted in the deals or trickit threads in the past few weeks/couple months -- four such runs, and you'd be all set with cash back from your $2500. In fact, weren't there some insanely cheap deals just posted from Boston? Don't know if they will be coming back but you never know...I'd say check the relevant threads every day, rather than the Delta thread. However, even though these prices are do-able, I do see a problem with your constraints. Is there a health/size reason why you can't fly more than 3-1/2 hours in economy? (It's none of my business, don't ask me -- ask yourself.) My run is international and so won't allow for upgrades at this price. However, I'm relatively small and if I grit my teeth and get aisle seats (I have already arranged for this), then I should be OK. Seems like it would take forever to get what you need, if you have to take all shorter, domestic, highly likely to be upgraded flights. Of course, if your health or size requires a First seat, then it requires a First seat, and good for you, to be honest with yourself about your needs.

Don't know what's going on with the expensive domestic airfares...my run to London and Paris will be almost as cheap as the flights I was seeing to my folks in Tennessee.

I also agree with some of the other hints that while it's quite valuable to have Gold, it can vary a lot whether or not Platinum adds much extra value. A lot of value of Platinum comes from being excused from the sorts of fees that I rarely or never pay anyway, knock on wood, because I don't have the need for constant ticket changes and other changes that many business travelers would have. Do you really need the Platinum or would the Gold really work just as well? The Creative solution may be to do the runs to be sure you are Gold and bank the rest of the money as a back-up plan for those rare occasions when you get an unexpected fee that you wouldn't have paid as a Plat.

runfit

I agree with some of the others, with one addition:
Look and wait for a nice fare or two to someplace you might like to spend a little time (or have some interest in visiting) BEFORE the end of the year. That way, you roll over the max before Gold - close to 25K. That way you will only have to do a little over 50K in the first two months of next year instead of over 60K. Take two decent trips this year and finish off your PM run early next.

BoeingGuy

What run did you find that will net you 10K miles for $457?

peachfront

MSY-ATL-LHR, CDG-AMS-YVR. Will have to find the scribble that tells the exact BIS miles, but it's something like that. Maybe a tad under 10K. I only need 9,300...

avidflyer

Flyertalk is the home of the obsessive compulsive Mileage Runner. Don't know if you guys have seen this FT documentary (required viewing) and it has been a couple of years so....:

http://www.gadling.com/2009/10/22/mi...flying-a-film/

FWIW you will likely see a few FT'ers you "know" in this video...I know I do

fti

Unfortunately many people don't realize that if they put their money toward buying elite services ala carte or similar it ends up being cheaper in the long run with the same benefits. In this spirit, I am becoming a "free agent" as of March 1st.

peachfront

You really have to look hard at what benefits you use. The Original Poster is apparently a BIG user of domestic upgrades, so I think he would definitely do well qualifying as Gold to get plenty of upgrades without buying First tickets. I'm not as confident that he would get a similar value for the money by adding the additional 25K run to get Plat. It may depend on what routes he flies and how easy it is for him to upgraded as a Gold. My Silver buddy still gets a decent amount of upgrades but I understand that on some other routes he probably wouldn't. To me, ex-MSY, there is no question that I get better value by flying a bit more to retain Gold for the free upgrades as opposed to just purchasing first/business tickets.

fti

I agree, but there are more ways to get into F besides paying cash or free UG's.