Seat 2A

Every December here at FlyerTalk, the Airline and Mileage Run forums are littered with plaintive bleats from wretched souls who haven’t yet earned the requisite amount of mileage to re-qualify for their cherished elite status. Time is running short and many of them, rather than going out and doing a mileage run to earn the requisite mileage, choose to stay at home and ask the rest of us our opinions on whether or not their frequent flyer program might possibly comp them another year of elite status. Of course, it’s not their fault they haven’t yet earned enough mileage. The most common excuse is that their company cut back on the travel budget.

Amazingly, most of these folks seem blissfully unaware that they could have addressed their potential mileage shortfall back in October or November rather than wait until December when many of the lowest fares have already been gobbled up by holiday vacation travelers. Many of them are only a few thousand miles short of re-qualifying and in most cases, with just a modicum of advance planning, they could have resolved their mileage needs with a quick transcon or a couple of weekend trips down the coast. Rather than actually do this however, a good number of them will instead wheedle and plead at their airline forums where there are always a few kind hearted souls who will offer them a maternal “There, there, it’ll be okay. Perhaps there'll be a challenge…” or they'll help them come up with a mileage run after they've already shown no inclination to at least try and get out of their predicament on their own.

What really galls me is the misplaced sense of entitlement evidenced by those who feel that they ought to be awarded elite status anyway because even though they haven’t met the requirements for elite benefits, they have been loyal flyers. As if one deserves the points for a touchdown even though they only made it to the eight yard line. These could very well be the same people who as children benefitted from that “enlightened” educational approach whereby even though they didn’t put forth the effort to earn a B grade, they were rewarded with one anyway since that was deemed better than possibly damaging their self-esteem by giving them the grade they’d actually earned.

Now I know what many of you are thinking – Jeez, that 2A sure is a hard a$$.... Yeah, I suppose in this regard I am since I grew up in a world where if you wanted something, you went out and actually earned it. Be it an A grade or a new stereo or a better job ~ there were no short cuts. The airlines have presented us with a challenge and a reward. Those of us who meet the challenge are rewarded accordingly. However, to reward those who haven’t met the challenge for whatever reason only serves to cheapen the overall program and denigrate the efforts of those of us who’ve played the game fairly. It’s not the airline’s fault that some companies cut back on their travel budget. In most cases, the signs that budget cuts might affect one’s total amount of travel are evident much earlier in the year. To wait until December to discover or address this is just incomprehensibly shortsighted.

For the past twenty-six years I have been employed as a shuttle/tour bus driver in Denali National Park, Alaska. My job has me transporting park visitors along a primitive dirt road anywhere from 50 to 90 miles into the park and back out again. My job does not require me to fly anywhere on company business, so unlike those who only have to resort to mileage runs if their work related travel leaves them a few thousand miles short of elite status, if I want to enjoy top tier elite status on Alaska or any other airline I need to go out and earn the mileage on my own. All of it. Attaining MVP Gold 75K, the highest level on Alaska, requires me to purchase at least 90000 miles worth of air travel each year.

I used to go on 5-7 day backpacking trips and in the fall, when weather could set in, I'd always pack 8-9 days’ worth of food just in case. That way I wouldn't be left in a bad way if something unexpected happened. Yes, it was an imposition to carry that extra weight but on two occasions I'm sure glad I did.

My yearly effort to attain elite status is approached in much the same way. I always plan on getting a bit of extra mileage over and above trips that I expect I'll be doing anyway - even if the best opportunity to economically accrue that extra mileage comes up earlier in the year. I don't wait until the end of the year because I never know what my schedule and availability might be, not to mention the fact that fares are often higher in December. One thing you definitely won't find me doing is whining in these forums because I got caught unprepared or because events beyond my control threw me a curve in the last month of the year that prevented me from attaining status.

This mileage run is dedicated to all of those folks who wait until December to address their elite qualification shortfalls. If the status and the benefits associated with elite status are truly important, monitor your current and future travels throughout the year. There are plenty of well-established tools here at Flyertalk to assist you. As with any business, anticipation and good planning go a long way towards success. If extra mileage might be needed, you'll find that being alert to great fare sales and taking advantage of them whenever they might occur can save you a lot of money as opposed to waiting until December when you may have neither the time nor the money. The Mileage Run forum always seems to have three or four amazingly low fares listed.

Whereas I need 90000 miles to attain my desired status level, for those of you who end up needing five to ten thousand miles at years end, consider that with the super low fares routinely offered over the course of the year, it’s quite possible to earn as many as 6500 status miles (or more) for as little as $240.00. Most of the flights I'm utilizing for this trip cost from $40 to $100.00 one way. The likelihood of finding fares that low in the last three weeks of December is almost impossible.

Procrastination never has served me well. I don’t need all that last minute stress. It’s been my experience that if you want something done, the sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll get it done. So it is that I start out 2012 with a nice amount of overall mileage banked but zero miles in my status account. I’ve got until December 31st to reach the 90000 miles required to attain the elite status I desire. Let’s get started!


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When it comes to planning mileage runs, I’m definitely old school. I don’t have any of those new-fangled KVS planning applications and I’m not overly impressed with the veracity of sites like expertflyer.com. So – I do it the old fashioned way. I scour the internet for deals in markets that I know to offer good routings and I’m always willing to check new markets that I don’t know about. I used to use Fare Compare’s comparison tool until they mucked everything up with the empty promise that a new version will be on line soon. We’re stilllll waiting. I have no doubt there are more efficient means of finding and constructing mileage runs than I employ, but I’m just not that interested in taking the time to learn them. As a result I sift through a hell of a lot of dirt and gravel to find those elusive mileage run nuggets but what the heck – I enjoy the hunt.

Alaska Airlines made my job a lot easier when, back in early December of 2011, they had one of the better sales I’ve seen in quite a while. There were one way fares from Portland to Boston for as low as $100.00 and Seattle or Portland to a variety of destinations in southern California for as little as $40.00 one way. I quickly set to buying a whole bunch of tickets and spent the next month in eager anticipation of this latest adventure. That’s right – adventure. While some FlyerTalkers view a Mileage Run as strictly a last minute solution to be endured rather than enjoyed, I look forward to everything from the flights to revisiting the airports and lounges and even camping out in some of my favorite airport niches. And of course I especially look forward to all those extra miles I’ll be adding to my account.

Friends and acquaintances think I’m crazy, or at the very least in need of therapy. They just can't get past the fact that rather than stay and enjoy some place like Orlando, I’m going to grab a cup of coffee and get right back on a plane. The idea of flying somewhere just for the mileage is simply incomprehensible to them. My patient explanations of Mileage Run economics (such as once earning 21,240 miles from a single $204.00 LAX-BOS roundtrip ticket (flying via SJC, DFW and JFK during AA/AS’s Double Mileage Promotion in 2004, during which, as an MVP Gold, I accrued triple miles) falls on deaf ears. I explain that a single roundtrip ticket from Fairbanks to Seattle usually costs over $700.00. Now, for substantially less than that price, I’ve earned enough miles to fly from Fairbanks to wherever it is in the U.S. or Canada that I really want to visit and stay awhile. With a free stopover in Seattle if I want. Or, I could have done seven or eight LAX-BOS Mileage Runs and earned enough award mileage for a First Class ticket to Australia or South Africa for far less than I’d pay if I bought that First Class seat outright. None of this registers with them. Who in their right mind would want to sit on all those airplanes? It’s like work, I explain. Easy work, during which I’m occasionally upgraded to First Class and between flights get to relax in airport lounges. Of course, like most occasional travelers, they have no real concept of either First Class or airport lounges. Everybody on the plane arrives at the same time is their standard retort.

I’ve decided that more often than not, arguing the merits of Mileage Runs with people who only fly once or twice a year is not worth the effort. It’s a no win situation. You either get it or you don’t. People who only fly once or twice a year generally don’t get it. Even so, I do have a couple of friends and fellow drivers who in addition to their regular travels invested the time and money into taking some mileage runs last year and the year before. One of them did six transcon roundtrips in a row! Now, when they fly to Hawaii each winter, or back to Alaska in the summer, it’s in First Class. They’re already planning for that First Class suite on their next trip overseas.

To be sure, mileage running isn’t for everyone, but for the .000457 percent of the population who do take my rather extreme approach, I’d like to think a big part of the reason we do it and also have a good time doing it is because we actually enjoy flying.

Well alrighty then, let’s head on out to the airport!