Hey Guys, this is my first non-question thread, just willing to share some of my opinions. Please feel free correct any grammar error or awkward sounding sentences, since English is my second language get prepared for Law School lol

Is it worth to conduct a Mileage Run when you’re about 20,000 miles short from tier 1 to tier 2 in your flight loyal program? (Created by ted.zhang @ flyertalk aka zhangyy @flyertea)

In my case, I’m an American Airline AAdvantage Platinum member which requires flying 50,000 miles a year to be qualified (of course if you’re the top 1% and fly paid first class all the time, half of the mileage requirement will do the job). Currently, I’m 17,000 Elite Qualification Miles (EQM) short to be a Platinum member next year. I’ll downgrade to a Gold member if I can’t make my way to the Platinum. The biggest difference between a Gold and a Platinum member is that the first one is rewarded with 25% extra bonus miles, while the latter is rewarded with 100%. So there’s a 75% difference there.

A little about myself, I’m an international student studying in the U.S. and based in ATL. Normally, I fly back home to PVG twice a year. This generates me around 17,000 base miles per trip. If there’s time available, any city in Europe or, if I’m looking for a three-day retreat, Hong Kong will be my place to relax. These miles are somehow variables since I don't know which airline I’m gonna to take or maybe just because Cathay Pacific doesn't grant miles to low fare class.

All right, back to the topic. I was aware that I’m 17,000 EQM short to be a Platinum member next year. So I decided to conduct my first Mileage Run of my life. Being able to find a roundtrip to PVG for $1000 during thanksgiving, I’m happy to visit my family and enjoy some gourmet food, even though I’m going back in a month, again. (Another story here is that I wasn't able to find cheap airfare from ALT-PVG after Dec. 15, on which I finish my last final. So I decided to sample American and Cathay Pacific’s First Class service, the lowest fare I could book was a $1,800.)

Here is how I think by using T accounts method in accounting. (I only took an intro level financial accounting, so don't blame me if I did anything wrong.)

http://www.flyertea.com/data/attachm....jpg.thumb.jpg


So, with this $1,000 air fare, I can generate 85,000~ 110,500 (or beyond) extra bonus miles. As everyone knows, bonus miles can be redeemed for air tickets. Here in the case of American Airlines, 110,000 bonus miles can be redeemed for a round trip Business- Class from U.S. to China, not to mention 135,000 bonus miles can be redeemed for a RT FIRST CLASS from U.S. to China on CATHAY PACIFIC (I regard it as the best airline around the world) which usually costs around $10,000 USD just for the air fare. Okay, let’s say I only travel twice next year to go back to PVG, that’s 85,000 bonus miles as I calculated. I could redeem a Round-trip Biz Class for 110,000 miles. 110,000- 85,000 = 25,000 this is how much I pay extra in miles for the redemption which I have already earned from previous flight travelling. How much is 25,000 miles worth? That’s a coach ticket within continental U.S. and Canada, usually $300~ $400 in value. Viola, I pay $1000 out of my pocket, plus some extra miles I earned that value at $400, this would award me a round-trip business class from U.S. to China. And it only costs…… $ 1,400 in value. Never the less, with a Platinum membership, I can enjoy lounge access ( $50 per entry ) when travel internationally, free domestic first class upgrade, priority boarding and baggage handling etc. numerous benefits.

I think my math is correct, and made the right decision. What do you think? 