Originally Posted by
LeviLewis
I recently took a new job that has me traveling 2-4 times a month. Its a little frustrating because the flights i take are all pretty short 600-800 miles. I am wondering if its worth it to take a connections every time I travel even though it would increase my travel time by 1-2 hours each way just to hit that award level? Also if any of you seasoned travelers have any tips or hints towards making the best of traveling i would greatly appreciate it.
Where are you flying from/to primarily? When I was based in FAT I made easy 120 segments on a few double connections on transcons (via SFO or LAX). the fare engine isn't as kind these days but you can still force routing using multi-city booking. The obvious downside is irrops but if you have a flexible schedule there was some compensation for your vacation fund.
Now I'm in NW WA and these options are more limited unless i want to get on the UX puddle jump again, and I really don't miss that, particularly the delays and cnx. I now just try to route through a transcon (either SFO, IAD, EWR) as they net more miles than the midcon connections.