canadiancow

I can find a same day Saturday turn:
SFO-IAH-DEN-GRR
GRR-CLE-DEN-SFO

Bookable on united.com, but you have to search for it on hipmunk.com

Credit to http://www.theflightdeal.com/2013/06...ing-all-taxes/, but my cpm is lower

I only see it Oct 26 and Nov 2, and I just booked one Oct 26.

maradori

FML fare might be gone? I went on matrix for Oct26 and Nov2, SFO-GRR ua ua+ and both dates are $418

canadiancow

I'm seeing that now too

With a lot of these fares, it seems like you really have to jump on them within an hour two.

bobbysfca

Cpm may have been good, but a run that starts at midnight and continues 23 hours until 11PM with no flights that are long enough to do more than barely nap ... well, that sounds brutal.

I'd pay a bit more to get a run that wouldn't leave me debilitated for a week afterwards!

canadiancow

I actually find these are easy to recover on. By the time I get home, I can fall asleep right away, and after a good night's sleep, I'm good to go.

For me, it's harder if this were to return at 4pm. I'd get home, be exhausted, pass out, and wake up at midnight. Then I'm screwed for a week

Banton

This is a very tough route to get rest.

maradori

My thoughts exactly, which is why I also put myself though these type of agony flights. Doing the necessary time to get the rewards at the end.

Congrats on being able to get a tix on this MR canadiancow. Not sure how you get to the airport, but the only scary part of this MR is arriving past 11pm. I've had many many close calls almost missing the BART when the last flight gets delayed.

canadiancow

If I can just go to the airport after work, we have a shuttle that drops off at Millbrae BART, so in this case, I'll leave work on Friday, make my way from Millbrae to SFO, then just sit at the airport until it's time for my flight. In this case, I can leave work around 9pm, take a shuttle to BART, BART to SFO, and I'll probably arrive between 10:00 and 10:30. I will do this for the outbound on this MR.

If it's not feasible to leave from work, and BART is running, I take BART when I have carry-on only (which I do for an MR).

If it's outside of BART hours, I pay $16 for a shared van service. I'll probably be booking one of those to get home after the MR.

Quiltingatty

There's no way I could do that kind of MR. Those red eyes were great when I was in my 20s. Now I'm pretty picky and only take flight when I can sleep in a bed! :-)

LufthansaFlyer

Nice to see something to GRR.....MR'ing from here sux.

k2o

I agree...TVC is just as bad!

PV_Premier

there is a saying, friends dont let friends fly midcon redeyes. i only had to do one SMF-IAH to understand the saying.

BThumme

Bad? I would say horrid. For a couple of trips I've had to plan, I've looked to maybe start from TVC instead of GRR or AZO. It's always been at least an extra $150-200.

Still, I think GRR is the perfect size of an airport - not too big, not too small, and has a wide variety of destinations. Being in SAN currently, I would jump all over this if it wasn't (expired) and so far in the future.

Bradhattan

Please Note: All referenced fares below are no longer available! Also note that the sale prices advertised were from airlines other than Delta. I simply searched to see how well Delta matched others' sale prices and found some winners!

Patience and research (and perhaps a willingness to travel a bit). MR's from GRR and surrounding are possible. 2 weeks ago or thereabouts, I picked up a GRR -ATL -SFO-ATL-GRR for $242 = 4.3 cpm on DL, also that week when I went back to buy another SFO run, it was gone.

So I checked some other city pairs on sale.

UA had advertised SBN (SouthBend, IN - a mere 1 1/2 hr. drive from GRR) to SAN don't remember UAs price but DL came in at $249.?? The routing is unusual and great for MQM's - SBN - DTW -JFK - SAN (1 hr and 20 min turn) -ATL -DTW -SBN. This one is an incredible 3.8cpm!

Last, yes it is a little bit of a drive but I picked up a DL MDW -MSP -MIA - MSP -MDW for a mere $152 = 3.7cpm!

So it is possible to find them. What has worked for me is:

1) Check FlyerTalk Mileage Runs Forum, daily - or multiple times daily! Also read the Mileage Run Discussion Subforum. Even if the deal is not for your airline, check and see if your airline is matching! Also check First/Business class fares on cheap RT tickets; sometimes they are low (ie, RT GRR to SFO via ATL, Econ tix were $202, I think, and FC (no BE flats) was $650 and some change) So FC can be affordable and you get class of service bonus on your MQMs.

2) Check TheFlightDeal

3) Check airfarewatchdog (AFWD) for deals from your home airport - then using Matrix ITA and using a filter to get only your airline of choice, see if that airline is matching other carriers' deals. If no deal, then go back to AFWD and check deals from airports close by.

Happy Hunting!

LufthansaFlyer

I use the tools you reference, but after factoring in driving to SBN, MDW or anywhere, it actually jacks up the CPM beyond it making sense. the $80 in gas/parking/wear and tear defeats the purpose IMHO. I did book 8 of the GRR-SAN deals with creative routing including CLE, ORD, IAH, DEN, and a few others. Fares ranged from 184-190 AI. With 500 min EQM's it shot the PQM's straight up!