With all of the news and attention surrounding Spirit and Opportunity, the two rovers that have recently landed on Mars as part of a program to explore Mars by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States, I as a frequent flyer could not help but think about the bonanza that a minimum of 70,000,000 miles (approximately 35,000,000 miles each way) could bring to a frequent flyer program.

Once that brief thought entered my mind, other thoughts followed:

• Will ordinary travelers consider interplanetary travel in addition to trans-continental and trans-oceanic travel as part of their itineraries one day in the future?
• If so, would interplanetary travel ever be included in a frequent flyer program — if frequent flyer programs exist in the future?
• If frequent flyer programs do exist in the distant future, would they be similar to the current ones today, or does anyone envision what they could be like in the distant future?
• What might a round-trip to Mars cost — both peak and off-peak and both coach and first class?
• How many months would the journey take?

This light-hearted yet thought-provoking thread is meant to purposely be different from the typical MilesBuzz! thread and is meant to encourage creative discussion pertaining to some of the listed items above. I believe that this topic is so fertile with ideas that there are a plethora of points that have yet to be discussed that I hope other FlyerTalk members will initiate into this thread.

For example, one thought that just occurred to me is that, unlike the distance between two locations on Earth, the distance between Earth and Mars is not static. Does that mean that the amount of miles earned for a one-way trip between Earth and Mars would remain at the minimum all the time, or would it perhaps be as dynamic as the changing distance between Earth and Mars?

Another thought: could you imagine sitting in coach class for seven months on your way to Mars, especially considering the current coach class product of some airlines? Or, if you could upgrade, what would the premium cabin be like, and how many miles would one have to redeem to score an upgrade?

Yet another thought: Why stop at Mars, or even within our own solar system, for discussion pertaining to interplanetary travel?

Please use your imagination. Unlike other topics, the sky is definitely not the limit here.