Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and give me advice.
I have zero status with AA and am a total newbie when it comes to MRs. Apologies in advance!
However, I am seriously considering doing about 13 MRs for the DEQM on AA for LAX-ORD in the months of Jan. and Feb. This will get me fairly close to ExPlat on AA. LAX-ORD is running $239 rt for a total of $3,107 and 89,570 miles, I believe that's .34 cents, roughly. Not amazing, but good, I think. I can easily make up the other 11k with a couple trips I already plan on taking (like the one to get to LAX in the first place). I know I could do two LAX-ORD MRs on two separate PRNs in a 24-hour period, but not sure I could physically do that in economy, so I think I'll stick to 13 separate runs.
I live in Kauai but have a PO box and family in Los Angeles. I changed my address on my AA account to my PO box in CA. I still have my CA driver's license too. So I assume me being eligible for the promo shouldn't be a problem.
I had a decent freelance job in CA that doesn't exist in Kauai (I'm self-employed in another capacity here in HI and not making much here anyway), so I can easily leave my gig here and fly back to CA, stay with family and work at my freelance job in CA for a couple months, which will more than cover the $3k it will end up costing me for ExPlat status. Also, 50% of my work can be done anywhere, so I figure I'll get some work done while doing these MRs, so I really won't be wasting my time necessarily.
Anyhow, most people that seem to do mileage runs do it because they travel frequently or travel a lot for business and they just need a few thousand miles to top off their accounts either to get or maintain status, which obviously comes in handy since they travel a lot.
I, on the other hand, really don't do either -- of course, I would love to travel a lot more and plan to, but I'm still not sure this is a "practical" decision for me. Not sure I really need ExPlat status, but I think I want to achieve it nonetheless, practical or not...and this just seems like a good opportunity with the DEQMs and fairly cheap fares on AA for that route.
Has FT made me a little crazy in the head for even considering this? Spend seven months on this forum and looks what happens...I not only want tons of miles but now status too...
Would others start from scratch just to achieve ExPlat even though they don't travel for business?
I know flying in and out of ORD is not, um, ideal during Jan. and Feb., but I think it can be done, right?? Will the storms and canceled flights make me have a nervous breakdown? Is this just a stupid idea? Are there things I'm missing and/or have not taken into consideration? Does anyone have a better idea or way I should consider getting status differently, if at all? I don't want to do the DEQM for LAX-DFW since it's just more expensive, considering I would have to do about 18 trips at about the same price as LAX-ORD.
I'm open to being talked into or out of this idea. Only people on FT can appreciate this kind of thing. There is really no one else for me to ask/talk about whether this is a good or bad idea -- at least people who wouldn't want to commit you to a mental institution after hearing about it.
Thoughts/opinions are welcome. Thanks!!!