UA MR Help: 8600 short for 1K this year, need run from MFR

[mrm0]

Had a cancellation and I'm short 8600 for 1K on UA this year. I need to make a run originating in MFR or PDX before year-end and I'm having trouble finding anything reasonable for that distance or close to it. Anyone have a suggestion, or a reasonable way to search? Not an expert at hunting down deals.

What's the going PQM rate if you buy them on the site? I heard .19 which is excessive.

[clacko]

max $s for reasonable or max cpm?

[mrm0]

Trying to get status, so max $ rather than max cpm. Thx.
(er, min $, I should say :-)

[soccerref750]

It's more like .30 for buy PQM. Do you have any date restrictions? Ideas what you want to spend?

[AeroWesty]

Some ideas:

UA $986.40 9246 miles
Dec 27 MFR-SFO-IAD-AUA
Dec 28 AUA-IAD-SFO-MFR

Hotel overnights at IAD and SFO


UA $1,095.70 9030 miles

Dec 28 PDX-EWR-POS
Dec 29 POS-EWR-PDX

No hotel overnights necessary


US $1,004.90 9545 miles (final segment on AS)

Dec 28 PDX-PHX-PHL-AUA
Dec 29 AUA-CLT-SFO-PDX

Hotel overnight at SFO


US/UA $973.70 8659 miles (but you get 500-miles SEA-PDX, so it's a bit higher)

Dec 17 PDX-PHX-PHL-SJU
Dec 18 SJU-IAD-SEA-PDX

No hotel overnights necessary

[mrm0]

Wow, .30 now? I don't think paying $2400+ is reasonable to keep my 1K. I had several UA screwups that made me shift to other airlines or I'd be fine again this year.

[mrm0]

These are great, thanks. I'll check them out on .bomb and see what works best. Hoping for a no hotel MR if I can, want to minimize the travel time. And at >2x cheaper than buying the miles it's worth it.

[jbsay]

8551mi for $787.40 on US/UA, leaving Sunday Dec 16 at 6:00pm

Dec 16 PDX-PHX-PHL-SJU (arrive 12:25pm Dec 17)
Dec 17 SJU-IAD-PDX (arrive 8:26pm Dec 17)

Search PDX-SJU on Google.com/flights for UA booking link

[mrm0]

that's great! i cant make it out tomorrow, will check if i can do the same routing during the week. Also thanks for the pointer - haven't tried Google flights yet.

[AeroWesty]

While google.com/flights is a great tool to use, it doesn't list the mileage (that I've found) until you go through the process of locating an itinerary and try to book it. Alternatively, you could look up the mileage of the itinerary offered independently using something like the Great Circle Mapper. You're very tight in this, as you can see some itineraries don't return the full 8,600 miles requested, so please be careful.

Once I have an idea for a workable itinerary, I find ITA far easier to use and manipulate with results from its calendar function. You may even customize ITA to list the total mileage and cost per mile to appear when hovering over the prices once you've chosen a date from the calendar.

[jbsay]

Originally Posted by AeroWesty

You may even customize ITA to list the total mileage and cost per mile to appear when hovering over the prices once you've chosen a date from the calendar.

Really? That's amazing. How does one customize ITA in this way?

[AeroWesty]

Originally Posted by jbsay

How does one customize ITA in this way?

There's a link to turn it on and off in Various results views. I also use the Time Bars format so I can see where the connections are more easily.

[karns]

Originally Posted by AeroWesty

There's a link to turn it on and off in Various results views. I also use the Time Bars format so I can see where the connections are more easily.

Hello again, AeroWesty! I don't see the "Various Results" view. There are only time bars, complete trips and individual flights.

[AeroWesty]

Various results views is the section title at the link I gave. It's not a view in itself.

[mrm0]

It's time I learned some of the tools. I've shifted too many trips off UA and one cancellation loses me my 1K. Need to be ready for these year-end runs. I checked and the PQM purchase option is at .25 today. Want to keep the 1K status to get upgrades on a bunch or international trips next year.