Originally Posted by asujon

I'm considering booking a mileage run on Christmas Day, having nothing better to do (a change of pace from Chinese food and a movie could be fun) and being 2606 miles away from Silver status on USAirways (and thus Star Alliance Silver).

I found a ticket from SJC-DEN-MCI-PHX-SJC for $264. Looks like that would get me 3146 miles at 8.39 cents per mile.

Is this a horrible value? Is silver status really going to be worth the extra money now, or will I find myself rarely getting upgraded or getting any benefits?

As far as how much I fly next year, I will do at least 6 round trips for sure, but it could be more. I know that's nothing compared to some of the people on here, but the status still might be nice.

One other question - the SJC-DEN flight currently has no seats available (but I can still buy a ticket) - would this make you more or less likely to book, thinking that you could get compensation for being bumped? Would the airline be sympathetic and still give me the miles for the planned trip, even if I got bumped?

Also - with the weather the way it is and it being the holidays, should I even be trying to go to these airports? I'm just trying to get the miles any way I can for as little as possible from the Bay Area

Sorry for all the questions - I'm a newbie at this. Thanks in advance for any replies.