so i missed gold level last year by just a couple thousand miles, so my plan this year is to pick my flights better to gain just those few extra miles and make gold.

for example: i always fly from CMH to PDX and back. if i fly thru minneapolis: CMH-MSP-PDX, i get 2053 miles, however if i fly thru atlanta: CMH-ATL-PDX, i get 2672 miles. sometimes, they stop the plane in cincinnati, and i get another 500 miles. usually, these flights cost about $200 each way.

after reading the mileage run forums, i found a four leg flight with 3750 miles, and it was a cheaper flight, too....good for me! so i went to the delta site, pulled it up on the "multi-city" tab and selected all the legs (CMH-DTW-SEA-SLC-PDX) and the website was happy to book it, if i wanted. so i went to book a round trip ticket, and that's when i got an error message.

so i called delta. and the helpful representative said that booking a flight with MORE than THREE LEGS was ILLEGAL. i asked to speak with a supervisor who cheerfully told me that, yes, any flight with more than three legs was "technically illegal" and would be considered "manipulation" of the mileage program. she then referred me to this quote on the delta website:

"However, use of connecting itineraries in lieu of nonstop and/or direct flights for the accumulation of additional mileage is not permitted."

(https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about...e_credit_rules)

i asked for clarification, since in theory, selecting the atlanta flight over the minneapolis flight would gain me more miles, and thus would be a "manipulation" of the program. she said that's not a manipulation because it's an actual flight you can pick from the delta website when you enter CMH as the departing airport and enter PDX as the arrival airport.

so i reiterated, saying "so any flight i can select from the delta website is considered a "legal" flight as long as it has three, or fewer, legs?". she backtracked and said "no, only the SHORTEST flight would be considered legal". i added, so let's say the shortest flight thru MSP only has first class available, and delta gives me a 50% mileage bonus for flying in first, is selecting first class considered ILLEGAL since i would be maximizing my mileage? wait for it......she said YES.

i suggested "okay, instead, what if i made a weekend vacation trip to honolulu and back, that would give me the extra 10,000 miles i need, is that considered illegal?". she said YES because i wouldn't be "flying legitimately", i would be "taking seats away" from passengers who really wanted to fly to honolulu. i said "but i really WANT to fly to honolulu to get those extra 10,000 miles" and she said that would be a manipulation of the frequent flyer program.

she continued to state that ANY step that i might take, be it adding legs, selecting longer routes, changing fare class, flying to exotic locations in the hope of maximizing miles, is considered "Illegal Mileage Manipulations".

seriously? flying first class is illegal?

my question to all the more experienced flyers....if i book one of these four-leg flights, will delta swoop in and delete all my frequent flyer miles? should i stick with flying the shortest-cheapest-lowest class flight possible? where do they draw the line? at what point is it considered "manipulation"?