aves17

I'm about 20-30 minutes from MCO, depending on traffic. I am an automotive attorney (representing dealers, manufacturers and auto finance companies), so I can get a fair amount of work done on the planes or in the lounges to offset the time I take off to travel.

supermintyfresh

That makes sense. The prices they charge for wifi on the planes though doesn't...

xraydoc05

Departure Date Departing Status Reservation Name Record Locator
02/07/15 PDX PDX/PDX CSRQQ0 Select
09/21/15 SEA Ticketed on 07/23/15 SEA/MIA XXBWQS Select Cancel San Juan PR
10/19/15 EWR Ticketed on 07/07/15 EWR/DFW YJAAIZ Select Cancel Hong Kong
11/18/15 EWR Ticketed on 07/07/15 EWR/DFW YLWRRZ Select Cancel Hong Kong
11/29/15 LAX Ticketed on 07/22/15 LAX/NRT SCAMJG Select Cancel Jakarta
02/08/16 ORD Ticketed on 07/25/15 ORD/DFW SSFEWR Select Cancel Malasia
Note: Reservations made outside of AA.com may be viewed online. However, payments for these reservations and/or changes to them may only be made by

I must be nuts.

Bluehen1

It used to be for me. Then I got laid off for a while, picked it back up, then got made UA MM when the UA and CO programs combined. No more reason to do it then. However, those weekend runs LAX-SYD-LAX in 2009 did wonders for me when the programs combined since there were double status mile promotions.

I think my craziest was EWR-IAH-HNL-ORD-IAD-SEA-ANC-SEA-IAH-GRU-ORD-LGA then a taxi back to EWR for EWR-DUS for work.

rafernandes

Just curious. . Will slip from Plat to LT Gold for 2016, so I am hoping to do my first time MRs and hope to do only 4-5 that can get me to 100K miles on AA so I can get Ex Plat status starting 2017..
is this feasible, and how best can I do this under $1k per trip assuming each trip gets me 25k miles
Advise from you pros would be appreciated

mikelat

Look for any good deals to Asia. I've seen some trips to PEK, PVG, and HKG come in under $1k. I was glad to snag a SEA-DFW-PEK & return for only $595 for september! Try out google.com.flights and look at originating in ORD/LAX/SFO/DFW. You'll have to deal with positioning to the starting point, or you may find decent fares from your starting point when creating multi-citi itineraries on AA.com or Orbitz.com.

I've found many fares from SFO or LAX where it added <$150 to tack on a SEA-SFO/LAX flight. Even found one originating in JFK that has <$100 for SEA-JFK add on

rafernandes

Ok..U folks are awesome .but as a newbie who wants to do just 4-5 trips in 2016 to get to Ex Plat for 2107, any advise..

mikelat

We don't know if AA is going to make any changes to the program or qualification requirements in 2016. You could very well end up booking 100k in flights and then find out about a spend requirement that might end up requiring double or more spend from you. I'm not doing any MR bookings yet in '16 until there is certainty around requirements for re-qualifying.

rafernandes

@Mikelat - great advise, but I live in Austin, Tx, so how do I may this work. Is a positioning flight a one way from Austin to LAX or look for open jaw .. I'm confused, so please bear with me.
Andrew

rodsren

I don't think it will be over, definitely not for me. I have an iteration I am trying to get the courage to post of the LAX-DFW-HKG $700 fare (approximately) that is a serious MR. I shall do so tomorrow most likely. However, it's not a premium MR and involves a serious amount of possible time in BIS MRing in Y (if AA/US SWU's don't clear, which is ALWAYS a distinct possibility.)

I want to look over the rules carefully so I post the right way. I am basically planning over 90% of my EXP qualification next year on this one, so hope they don't do a change to revenue based minimal until...Never would be nice. Any other EXP’s want to start a campaign to expose the good things about the points versus butt in seat miles that certainly makes obtaining EXP a LOT easier if you fly premium already? And therefore no revisions are needed? Where would we post this kind of thing on flyer talk or is another forum more appropriate?

mikelat

Positioning flights are just ones to get you to the starting point of a posted fare deal/MR and then home when its done. For example, when I've seen deals out of SFO or LAX I usually end up first trying to do a multi-city booking where I put int SEA-SFO, SFO-XXX, XXX-SFO, SFO-SEA. I also look at just doing a separate booking of SEA-SFO and SFO-SEA timing up to connect to the MR flights. If the multi-city is about the same cost as the MR + SEA-SFO & return, then I book the multi-city. Otherwise I look at booking 2 tickets. But, with booking 2 tickets, I'm very careful to ensure plenty of time in case of delays or other issue. However, in most cases I've been able to book using multi-city.

rafernandes

If American would go the route of United and Delta (revenue based mileage) when would we expect to see this announcement ?

If that is the case, is it work to try and do 2 or 3 MR runs to try and qualify for Ex Plat this year before 12/31 (require 82K EQM) , so at least 8 E-Upgrades are banked and status is held for the next 18 months ?
Any thoughts ?

drvannostren

What I always wanna know too though is how to you justify the price? In the US with cheaper fares and 100% earning (outside of the $ quotas) it's a bit easier than in Canada but I can't imagine flying 2 weeks straight just to earn 350,000 miles. Unless the price was so low it made perfect sense. The opportunity cost to earn those miles has to be factored in, but also what are the value of the miles?

I think doing 1 MR to re-qualify or bump up your status makes sense at the right price. Because there's a value gained. I'm not sure how much tangible value there is from some US earners though. With AP status gets me lounge access. Which isn't amazing, but it means snacks/drinks so tangibly every time I go to the airport or make a connection I "gain/save" $10 by having a couple drinks/snacks that I eat "free" in the lounge rather than pay. Now I wouldn't eat/drink at EVERY single airport stop I make, but most of them I would. So I could chalk that up to at least $500 a year. So if I was a few thousand miles short and I could get them for $500 or less it'd make sense. But flying all over the globe I can't work the math out.

I earn by segments, and I do chase them to a certain extent but I don't specifically fly 1 day turns. If I'm gonna spend $500 or whatever on an airfare, I want to spend at least 1-2 days in that city. So yea, I'll fly from YVR-DFW to watch a Vancouver Canucks vs. Dallas Stars road game, because it's more than just the flight...I just make sure it's on Star Alliance so that my earning counts.

I'd love to see some mathematical breakdowns from anyone. I'm not criticizing at all, I WANT to make this work for me I just can't so far.

brewdog11

Yes. Plane (err, plain) and simple.

I enjoy spending time on planes, I can get work done or relax, and I get to see a different place for a little while.

It's hard to get the prices and timing to work out, but if they do, ^^^^!

Satblaster

YES YES and YES Its the fact I got the deal not if made sense or not